The Assistant Minister for Immigration has reported the following statements with respect to cracking down on worker exploitation:

 

A Darwin-based company has been fined over $175,000 for breaching sponsorship obligations under the subclass 457 visa programme. Choong Enterprises Pty Ltd were found to have breached their sponsor obligations under the Migration Act. The court found that Choong Enterprises had paid 457 visa holders as little as $12 an hour, failed to abide by its record keeping obligations, had knowingly produced false pay records and had illegally recovered the costs of migration agent fees from four visa holders, among other contraventions. It found that that the director of Choong Enterprises, Ronald Choong, had aided and abetted these breaches.

 

Exploitation of workers in Australia, whether domestic or foreign, is unlawful. Any employer engaging or paying workers below those conditions is breaking the law. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash said that all 417 visa holders must be employed in line with Australian pay, conditions and workplace entitlements under the Fair Work Act or relevant state legislation.  “Any allegations of underpayment should be referred to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO). Labour-hire companies, like all Australian employers, are also legally required to treat and remunerate all of their employees, including foreign visa holders, with work rights in accordance with Australian workplace law. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is currently investigating the employment of 417 visa holders by On-Hire Labour firms,” Minister Cash said.

The Australian Government has gained crucial intelligence in its investigations into a possible labour hire scam in Victoria’s Gippsland area. A joint operation between Immigration and Border protection investigators and Transport Safety Victoria today targeted workers on buses that were believed to be heading to a farming operation when they were stopped on the South Gippsland Highway near Longford.  One person was found to be an unlawful non-citizen and the operation has provided investigators with vital intelligence to progress their crackdown on illegal work practices. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, said this comes on the back of the new taskforce revealed by the Government to tackle unscrupulous practices, particularly in the labour hire industry. “This Government is extremely serious about combatting the issue of illegal work, as well as labour hire contractors who exploit foreign workers,” Minister Cash said. “There is no place in our community for employers or contractors who mistreat foreign workers or profit from underpaying them and we will actively pursue prosecution and heavy fines for both individuals and companies.”