A group of academics – Joanna Howe, Alex Reilly, Stephen Clibborn, Diane van den Broek & Chris F Wright – have jointly penned article in Fairfax claiming that the exploitation of temporary migrant workers increased in the wake of visa reforms in 2005 which allowed backpackers to extend their visa for a second year. Therefore, backpackers working in the agricultural sector may face further exploitation if the federal government proceeds with a proposal to extend their working visas for a third year:
These significant reforms effectively create an agriculture visa without necessary checks and balances.
The visa extension makes backpackers dependent on employers – a recipe for exploitation. And it fails to oblige employers to protect against exploitation…
Unlike agricultural visas in New Zealand, Canada and the United States, and unlike Australia’s own Pacific seasonal worker program, there is no pre-approval of employers. Nor is there systematic ongoing regulation to ensure compliance with workplace laws. Without these safeguards, these changes to the working holiday visa risks reinforcing widespread exploitation of workers…
Several major studies have found that backpackers are ripe for exploitation.
In 2016, the Fair Work Ombudsman undertook an inquiry into Australia’s backpacker visa scheme, which noted that “many backpackers are being subjected to underpayment or non-payment, unlawful deductions, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions and other forms of exploitation”.
The Senate’s scathing report, entitled A National Disgrace: The Exploitation of Temporary Work Visa Holders, also documented the abuses of Australia’s Working Holiday Maker visas system, which was “consistently reported to suffer widespread exploitation in the Australian workforce”.
Whereas the 2017 National Temporary Migrant Work Survey found that one in every seven temporary migrant fruit and vegetable pickers were paid $5 an hour or less, and a third earned $10 an hour or less.
At present, there is no labour marking testing before farmers can hire a backpacker. Current backpacker visa arrangements also require no preference whatsoever for local workers.
Given the documented abuses, Australia’s working holiday visa scheme is one policy makers should be trying to fix or shrink, rather than expand.
