With a broken promise from a former employer to become her visa sponsor, Hong Kong native Lana* "fell victim to a trap" experienced by many working-holiday visa holders in Australia.
Six years ago, she embarked on her Australian “journey” after securing the visa. After arriving in the northern Queensland city of Cairns, she secured a job as an administration officer with a Chinese tour company.
She admitted she had little knowledge about working conditions and regulations in Australia, including minimum wage laws and employee entitlements.
Employed in one of the most popular tourist cities in Australia, Lana worked between 60 and 80 hours per week, earning $15 per hour - The .
“My ex-employer paid in cash but did not include any tax or superannuation,” she said.
After doing some research, she realised that she was being underpaid, so she decided to confront her employer.
Her employer was willing to negotiate, allowing her to work flexible hours, but Lana was obligated to handle phone enquiries for the company 24 hours a day.
Despite earning a monthly salary of $2000, Lana found it difficult to make ends meet.
A broken dream
Lana used to think that the working holiday visa program could help her eventually migrate to Australia, but she said it instead provided her with "false hope”.
She blamed her former employer.
“He promised that the company was going to apply for sponsorship [permanent visa] for me to stay in Australia."
As her visa expiry date approached, she decided to follow up with the application and approached her boss.
She recalled that he said: “Okay, if you pay 200,000 yuan, then I will apply the sponsorship visa for you."
However, following consultation with a number of migration agents, Lana found that her job didn’t fulfil a skill assessment to apply for a permanent work visa.
She realised that her employer had lied to her.
A common practice
Lana said she is owed thousands of dollars in lost wages but doubts that she would ever recover the money.
"On the day of departure, the company signed a ‘wages repayment agreement’ and guaranteed to repay the money,” she says while assuring that she hasn’t seen a cent of that money.
Although Lana returned to Australia to confront her ex-employer, she was rejected at the door.
She believes the exploitation of backpackers and working holiday visa holders is common among Chinese employers.
In order to see justice done and to reclaim her lost wages, Lana made a claim in the Small Claims Tribunal.
“My confidence in chasing back the money is 50/50 because my case was a long while ago and a part of the claim is already beyond the statutory time. I am still waiting for the application process but guess I am only able to claim back half of the underpayment.”
Despite the disappointment, Lana reapplied and managed to obtain a skilled worker visa as a teacher and was granted an Australian permanent visa.
How can visa holders seek assistance?
After a two-year inquiry by the federal , the report concluded that wage theft is widespread. Possibly as many as half of all temporary migrant workers are being underpaid.
To assist in reporting cases, the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website provides information in various languages.
"No matter what cultural background you are from, multi-language workers can seek advice or assistance with an interpreter service,” a spokesperson from the Fair Work Ombudsman told SBS Cantonese.
“It allows members of the community to report workplace concerns to the FWO in your language, without being identified.”
In cases such as Lana’s, the Ombudsman said: “The best option for a worker located outside Australia is to lodge a claim via the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website at www.fairwork.gov.au via the My Account service, including 482 and 457 visa holders.”
A statutory time limit of six years applies to the ability to enforce compliance. It is usually six years from when the entitlement is due to be paid.
For more information about Australian’s work rights, please visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website at or in-language materials available at .
*Not her real name.
