Unions, legal organisations back ‘world-first’ workplace justice visa

The federal government has received widespread support from organisations countrywide for implementing “groundbreaking reforms” to improve protections for migrant workers.

A national coalition of more than 40 community legal centres, unions, business organisations, and welfare and human rights groups has supported the Australian government’s migration law reforms to reduce widespread migrant worker exploitation.

Migrant exploitation in Australia is a significant issue that has needed government attention. A survey conducted by the Migrant Justice Institute, which spanned eight years and surveyed over 15,000 migrant workers, revealed that approximately 75 per cent of respondents earned below the minimum casual wage, with 25 per cent earning less than half of that amount.

Additionally, the survey discovered that nine out of 10 underpaid workers refrain from taking action, often choosing to remain silent due to the fear of jeopardising their visa status of residency in Australia.

The federal government introduced the Migration Amendment (Workplace Justice Visa) Regulations 2024 to amend the Migration Regulations 1994.

The amended legislation introduced a “world-first” Workplace Justice visa that will allow exploited migrants to remain in Australia temporarily for a short period to assert their workplace rights and hold employers responsible for labour violations and modern slavery.

Additionally, the new amendment will provide temporary migrant workers with additional protection against visa cancellation by guaranteeing that a worker’s visa will not be revoked if they come forward to report exploitative employers.

This legislation was introduced in response to the government’s commitment made at the Jobs and Skills Summit following the findings of the Migrant Workers’ Taskforce report, the Nixon Review, and the Migration Strategy. These findings highlighted the damaging effects of migrant worker exploitation and acknowledged the harm it inflicts upon the migrant worker and their family.

In addition, earlier this month, the federal government introduced the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024, which amended the Migration Act 1958 to implement new laws addressing migrant worker exploitation.

The Australian government expressed how this amended legislation aims to “reduce temporary migrant worker exploitation, increase employer compliance, and improve workplace justice outcomes”.

The Department of Home Affairs invited key coalition leaders, including the Migrant Workers Centre, Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), Migrant Justice Institute, and Unions NSW, to participate in the “co-design” process for the Workplace Justice visa.

The legal director of HRLC, Sanmati Verma, expressed how these measures are just the initial step in ensuring that migrant workers receive equal treatment in the workplace.

“Migrant workers are a part of our community – they are our friends, our neighbours and our coworkers. These hard-won protections – including a guarantee against visa cancellation and a Workplace Justice visa – are just the first steps in ensuring that migrant workers are treated equally at work, and are not held to ransom by bad bosses because of their visa status,” Verma said.

Laurie Berg, co-executive director of the Migrant Justice Institute and associate professor at the UTS faculty of law, said: “At last, this new visa ends the cycle of employer impunity for exploitation in Australia because the government has made it possible for migrants to safely enforce their labour rights. This is a powerful new tool to combat modern slavery.”

The CEO of the Migrant Workers Centre, Matt Kunkel, also emphasised that “unscrupulous employers have weaponised visa insecurity, hiding the true magnitude of migrant worker exploitation. These new protections will embolden workers to shine a light on those employers and give them a real chance at justice. They are an important step forward in ensuring all workers, no matter where they are from, are safe and respected in the workplace.”