Superannuation a pillar in systemic migrant worker exploitation

The systematic exploitation of migrant workers sustains substantial parts of Australia's economy, according to a new study that calls out superannuation as one hotbed that helps obfuscate underpayment.

As part of this, international students alone are estimated to be short-changed by about $61 million every week or $3.2 billion per year, the Migrant Justice Institute, a nonpartisan law and policy organisation, lays out in the newly published report Off the Books: Inside Australia's Hidden System of Migrant Worker Exploitation.

The study examined nearly 10,000 migrants on temporary visas. They include international students, backpackers, graduate visa holders and employer-sponsored workers.

The Migrant Justice Institute overwhelmingly found employers that do not issue or provide misleading payslips, deny superannuation payments and pay in cash all aid in practices that are indicators of "modern slavery."

"These aren't separate problems caused by scattered rogue employers. For the first time, our data shows this is a single system of noncompliance," the report read.

Most migrant employees find they are either not paid super or paid an amount less than their entitlement.

Some 27% either did not receive super, did not know whether they received super or did not know what super was. Non-payment of super was reported as three times worse for casual employees.

A further 41% received super, yet their super was found to be underpaid because it was calculated based on underpaid earnings.

Only a third (32%) of employees reported they received super that corresponded to their correct entitlements.

More broadly, two-thirds of migrant workers are paid less in wages than they are owed under the Fair Work Act.

More than a third are paid below the national minimum wage of $24.95 per hour or $948 per week.

The study also found that exploitation is structural and often deliberate. High rates of casualisation and sham contracting through ABNs also play a part in concealing underpayment.

Commenting on the findings, Australian Anti-Slavery commissioner Chris Evans said these are not isolated cases of bad employers.

"This is a system that produces vulnerability at scale and enables willing employers to exploit it. That demands a national response, not another round of piecemeal measures," he said.

"Increased enforcement will help individuals, but it will not change the system. We require a reset. The vulnerabilities that allow exploitation to flourish must be extinguished to allow fair treatment for migrant workers."

Furthermore, one third of migrant workers reported experiencing at least one forced labour indicator, including being made to work in unsafe conditions, excessive hours or different hours than agreed, long periods without breaks, being tricked about the job and being unable to leave a job they wished to leave.