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🇦🇺 Australia /Crime & Justice

How ABNs are increasingly being used as a tool for exploitation

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • International students and other temporary visa holders in Australia are frequently paid less than the wages required under the Fair Work Act.
  • A study commissioned by the Commonwealth attorney-general’s department estimated that international students alone lose about $3.18 billion a year through underpayment.
  • Researchers said employers increasingly use Australian Business Numbers, rather than cash payments alone, to disguise underpayment and exploit migrant workers.

Mai felt proud when she landed her first job in Australia. The international student at the Australian National University believed the work would let her live independently, support herself and afford rent without relying on her family.

Instead, she said, her employer at a Canberra hospitality business began calling her day and night and asking her to work at short notice. The business paid her a flat rate below the minimum wage, including for weekend work. Mai also said her recorded start and finish times were sometimes rounded down.

At that time I was really happy because now I can live by myself, be more independent, not rely on my family and actually can afford the renting.

· MaiThe international student described what her first Australian job initially promised.

“Everything was so hard to afford and even paying rent is now more difficult and you're actually working for a lot of hours but like your effort is not anywhere, it's not showing,” she said. She chose the name Mai to protect her identity and said she was afraid to complain because her parents might worry and she feared the consequences.

Everything was so hard to afford and even paying rent is now more difficult and you're actually working for a lot of hours but like your effort is not anywhere, it's not showing.

· MaiShe described the effect of alleged underpayment on her living costs and sense of security.

Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum, who founded the Migrant Justice Institute, said underpayment often signals broader exploitation of temporary visa holders. The institute’s study, based on the experiences of almost 10,000 migrant workers, found that international students may be short-changed by about $3.18 billion each year.

The report said the problem was “not by accident, and not by a few rogue employers.” Farbenblum said workers who were underpaid more heavily were also more likely to have their passports confiscated, work very long hours without breaks, or face threats of harm or violence. Employers may also threaten to report workers to immigration if they speak up.

Not by accident, and not by a few rogue employers.

· Migrant Justice Institute reportThe report characterized migrant worker underpayment as a systemic problem rather than isolated misconduct.

Cash-in-hand payments remain common, with one in four workers receiving at least some wages in cash, Farbenblum said. But employers increasingly use Australian Business Numbers, or ABNs, to keep migrant workers formally classified as independent contractors while underpaying them. An ABN is an 11-digit number that identifies a business.

One of the things we see, particularly for migrant workers, is a threat to report the worker to immigration if they speak up or if they do anything.

· Bassina FarbenblumThe researcher described how immigration threats can deter temporary visa holders from reporting exploitation.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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