Earlier this week the Australian government announced further measures to protect temporary work visa holders, by providing additional resources to help them understand their rights as workers, and ensure they have access to information about their workplace rights.
Following various incidents of exploitation of temporary workers, the government has been rolling out several improvements to their systems and processes. One that has already been implemented is the improvement of visa grant notices issued to the visa holder when they are granted their visa. The aim of this is to ensure workers understand their rights when it comes to wages, discrimination, bullying, and harassment.
The government has also recently launched a Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT), available on mobile devices; calculate.fairwork.gov.au, that will allow workers to check their pay rates and enable them to easily identify any issues.
Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator Michaelia Cash said that for temporary visa holders the best defence against being underpaid or treated unfairly in the workplace is to know their rights.
“All workers are entitled to the same pay, conditions and protections under Australian law, regardless of whether they are a temporary visa holder, a permanent visa holder or an Australian citizen,” Minister Cash said.
FCB Smart Visa will continue to provide information relevant to the temporary skilled migration programme when it becomes available. If you would like to discuss how these changes will affect you or your business, or you are interested in further information, please call an FCB Smart Visa migration agent on 02 9922 5188.
