international education
campusreview.com.au
Suffering in silence
New report reveals the
exploitation of international
students in Australia.
By Wade Zaglas
A
new report has found that more than
three in four international students
in Australia are being paid less than
the minimum casual wage, and one in four
said they were receiving less than half the
minimum wage in their lowest paid job.
The report’s authors say the findings
highlight the “need for deep reforms to
labour enforcement to seriously disrupt
wage theft in Australia”.
The International Students and Wage
Theft in Australia report was led by
Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum
from UNSW Law and Associate Professor
Laurie Berg from UTS Law.
It found that underpayment of
international students is not a new
problem, with the proportion of underpaid
students remaining unchanged since 2016.
Such underpayments have continued
despite the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO)
stepping up efforts to improve wage
conditions in the last three years and the
government introducing more severe
penalties against unscrupulous employers.
“Our findings show that tinkering around
the edges of the problem is having little
effect,” Farbenblum says.
“Wage theft is endemic for migrant
workers and indeed many Australian
workers in certain industries.
“To seriously disrupt wage theft in
Australia, we need urgent reforms to labour
enforcement and student visa conditions,
as well as a new wage recovery tribunal.”
The study was based on a national
survey conducted in 2019. In addition to
wage theft, the survey also uncovered a
raft of other issues international students
encountered at work, including sexual
harassment, accidents and injuries,
working very long hours, and termination if
a complaint was made to the employer.
Perhaps the most troubling finding in
the repot was that almost two-thirds of the
students didn’t seek information or help to
address their workplace issues.
“They suffered in silence, often because
of visa concerns or fear of job loss. Our
findings confirm many who complained
were in fact sacked,” Berg said.
“Their visa concerns are also valid –
there’s nothing to stop the labour regulator
sharing information with immigration
authorities if a student has worked more
hours than her visa allows.
“Employers exploit students’ immigration
vulnerability knowing they won’t
complain for fear of being reported to the
Immigration Department.”
KNOWLEDGE GAPS AND
MISCONCEPTIONS
The study also evaluated the students’
knowledge of their working rights in
Australia and minimum wage rates.
“A common misconception is
that international students accept
underpayment because they don’t
know minimum wage rates in Australia,”
Farbenblum said.
“However, we found the overwhelming
majority knew they were being underpaid,
but believed it was somehow their fault,
and that they had broken the law by
accepting below minimum wages.
“We did, however, find some gaps
in students’ knowledge that can be
addressed. These include a lack of
familiarity with casual loadings, penalty
rates and other entitlements, and their
eligibility to claim the tax-free threshold.”
Students’ English language proficiency
had a bearing on the results, with
underpayment more common (91 per
cent) among international students with fair
or poor English. In contrast, 68 per cent of
students with good or very good English
experienced underpayment.
“Surprisingly, wage theft wasn’t linked to
students’ level of education or the program
they were studying,” Berg said.
“Exploitation was as common among
masters students as it was among
English language students. And very
low wages were most common among
bachelors students.
“Clearly this is about enforcement of
labour law for vulnerable foreigners rather
than about the particular characteristics of
some international students.”
HOW COVID-19 HAS AFFECTED
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Since the survey was conducted, socialdistancing
measures and poor economic
conditions have resulted in many
international students losing their casual
jobs. As they were ineligible for JobKeeper
and JobSeeker assistance, many could not
meet their basic living expenses.
“The COVID-19 shutdown has created
a humanitarian crisis among international
students and other migrant workers in
Australia. Many have been unable to pay
their rent and joined foodbank queues,”
Farbenblum said.
“With the easing of restrictions,
international students will likely be even
more vulnerable to exploitation due to
their highly precarious financial status
and desperation for work in the tightly
constrained labour market.
“Nobody has documented the extent of
this crisis, so we launched a nationwide
survey of temporary migrants in Australia to
do just this.” ■
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