FEATURE REPORT
Off The Books:
Lessons for Industry
Two-thirds of migrant workers in Australia are paid less than they are legally owed. Our recent Off the Books report presents the first national evidence of an interlocking system of migrant exploitation, drawing on the voices of 10,000 migrant workers across Australia. Businesses can now access the industry-level data and tools needed to flag underpayment and modern slavery risks - and effectively intervene.
A practical guidance for business
What the Off the Books findings mean for your business
This guidance is the industry companion to Off the Books, produced with the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner and Walk Free. It shows where underpayment hides, and explains four red flags that identify high risk of forced labour indicators. Due diligence tips are accompanied by clear guidance on what businesses can do when they find noncompliance or forced labour indicators. This includes how to verify, remediate, and protect workers from retaliation.
INTERACTIVE CHARTS
Two ways to explore survey industry data
Compare data
across industries
Interactive charts comparing wages, hours, employment structure, and pay practices across every industry in the survey.
- Wages
- Hours
- Employment structure
- Pay practices
Explore a data snapshot for your industry
Scroll through the headline numbers for each sector. Underpayment, contractor and casual employee engagement, pay practices and after-hours conditions.
- Hospitality
- Cleaning
- Agriculture
- Construction
- and 14 more
Explore demographics of survey participants in each industry
- Gender
- Job location
- Nationality
- Year of arrival
- Visa
- Union membership
WANT MORE THAN INDUSTRY DATA?
Off The Books is the first of five reports based on our national survey on the working conditions of 10,000 migrant workers across Australia.
Subscribe to get each report as it’s published.
“My manager informed me that casual employees don't receive superannuation."
"For someone like me, when you get a job, you naturally stick to it regardless of the conditions."
"[Employers] pay less than the minimum wage to their employees and always threaten them that they will kick them out of the job."
"They use your visa conditions for try to intimidate about your job."
"Truly modern day slavery."
"I had to endure years of emotional hardship"
"They get underpaid, cannot take sick leave, if they try to take one day off from work the employer fires them"
"I never trusted that I would not face ramifications regarding my visa"
"My employer pay me 16$/hrs and she said "because you are training" it's make me feel so bad"
"I made 20$ in one day, one didnt let me have a break for 12 hours"
"We are also working as hard as Australians do. We all are human."
"Some people dont care about the worker and they treat their worker as a servant"
"They think they can shout, offend and humiliate foreign employees."
"Racism is a big issue. People make faces, say stuff to migrants. They make fun of the accent and treat us differently. "
"As an immigrant, I do not expect any help from anyone"
"Employers often take advantage of the vulnerability in which we migrants live"
"Most people expect migrants have to work harder, longer hours and less wage! As we are migrants!"
"Immigrants work so hard and are treated so bad."
"Employers pay below the minimum hourly wage, or even less than 20 Australian dollars per hour."
“My manager informed me that casual employees don't receive superannuation." "For someone like me, when you get a job, you naturally stick to it regardless of the conditions." "[Employers] pay less than the minimum wage to their employees and always threaten them that they will kick them out of the job." "They use your visa conditions for try to intimidate about your job." "Truly modern day slavery." "I had to endure years of emotional hardship" "They get underpaid, cannot take sick leave, if they try to take one day off from work the employer fires them" "I never trusted that I would not face ramifications regarding my visa" "My employer pay me 16$/hrs and she said "because you are training" it's make me feel so bad" "I made 20$ in one day, one didnt let me have a break for 12 hours" "We are also working as hard as Australians do. We all are human." "Some people dont care about the worker and they treat their worker as a servant" "They think they can shout, offend and humiliate foreign employees." "Racism is a big issue. People make faces, say stuff to migrants. They make fun of the accent and treat us differently. " "As an immigrant, I do not expect any help from anyone" "Employers often take advantage of the vulnerability in which we migrants live" "Most people expect migrants have to work harder, longer hours and less wage! As we are migrants!" "Immigrants work so hard and are treated so bad." "Employers pay below the minimum hourly wage, or even less than 20 Australian dollars per hour."
UTS Law Faculty and UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice are proud supporters of the Migrant Justice Institute. MJI is a charity registered with ACNC. ABN 84654507758.