Authorities call for national response to address systemic problem
Australia's largest ever survey of migrant workers has revealed widespread underpayment that employers cover up with further systemic non-compliance.
The Migrant Justice Institute's survey, which polled 10,000 migrant workers, revealed that two-thirds of employees were paid less than they were owed under the Fair Work Act.
For international students alone, the underpayment reaches around $61 million every week, or $3.18 billion per year.
According to the findings, the widespread underpayment is not an isolated practice, but a part of a bigger system of exploitation against migrant workers.
"The worse the underpayment, the more likely the employer also issued misleading or no payslips, denied superannuation, paid cash, made wage deductions, and engaged in practices that are indicators of modern slavery," the report read.
"These aren't separate problems caused by scattered rogue employers. For the first time, our data shows this is a single system of non-compliance."
Bassina Farbenblum, co-executive director of the Migrant Justice Institute, said their findings showed that many migrant workers were afraid to speak up amid threats to their employment.
"Nearly 10,000 workers told us again and again of their fear – of losing shifts, of immigration consequences, of being reported to authorities by the very employer who was underpaying them," Farbenblum said in a statement.
"Some workers were explicitly...
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