Despite global attention to worker rights violations experienced by temporary migrants, we lack a clear evidence base to understand the extent and nature of these abuses. This article presents findings from a pilot of a Migrant Worker Rights Database. This pilot measures rights abuses of former Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) entrants to Australia from 1996 to 2016. This visa was the key formal temporary visa into Australia over this period. The pilot codes all available court cases that 457 visa holders brought before the national workplace relations tribunal, the Australian Fair Work Commission and relevant state and federal courts and tribunals, to capture legally recognised rights abuses that migrant workers experienced on the ground. It also codes coverage in three daily newspapers of these rights violations. This combined evidence base generates a series of rights violations, or ‘events’, that are then analysed to present patterns of rights abuses of migrant workers on the 457 visa. Key findings are that ethnic background and occupational status of migrants appear to inform the level of reported rights abuses. Further, legal representation of migrant workers assists in successful outcomes, particularly through the Fair Work Ombudsman – a government body empowered with enforcing compliance with workplace laws (197).
AldridgeALevineK (2001) Surveying the Social World: Principles and Practice in Survey Research, Buckingham: Open University Press.
2.
AllenD (2009) Reducing the burden of proving discrimination in Australia. Sydney Law Review31: 579–605.
3.
AndersonB (2010) Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, Employment Society24: 300–317.
4.
AndersonDTipplesR (2014) Are vulnerable workers really protected in New Zealand?New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations39(1): 52–67.
5.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2013a) Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013, Version 1.2. Cat. No. 1220.0. Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/1220.0.
Australian Senate Education and Employment References Committee (2016) A National Disgrace: The Exploitation of Temporary Worker Visa Holders, Canberra: Parliament of Australia.
8.
BasokTCarascoE (2010) Advancing the rights of non-citizens in Canada: A human rights approach to migrant rights. Human Rights Quarterly32: 342–366.
9.
BenhabibS (2003) The Rights of Others: Aliens, Residents and Citizens, New York: Cambridge University Press.
10.
BergL (2016) Migrant Rights at Work, New York: Routledge.
11.
Berg L and Farbenblum B (2017) Wage Theft in Australia: Findings of the National Temporary Migrant Worker Survey Sydney. Sydney: Migrant Worker Justice Initiative, UNSW Law, UTS. Available at: http://apo.org.au/node/120406.
BoeseMCampbellIThamJC (2016) Ethnicity at work: A comparative study of temporary migrants’ pathway into co-ethnic exploitation in Melbourne’s cafes and restaurants. In: ThamJC (ed.) International and Comparative Perspectives on Australian Labour Immigration, Melbourne: University of Melbourne.
14.
BoucherA (2016a) Gender, Migration and the Global Race for Talent, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
15.
Boucher A (2016b) Australia’s De Facto Low Skilled Labour Immigration Program. Melbourne: Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Research and Policy, pp. 45–56.
16.
Carens J (2013) The Ethics of Immigration. New York: Oxford University Press.
17.
CastlesSKosackG (1986) Immigrant Workers and Class Structure in Western Europe, New York: Oxford University Press.
18.
Cerna L (2009) The varieties of high-skilled immigration policies: coalitions and policy outputs in advanced countries. Journal of European Public Policy 16: 144–161.
19.
CholewinskiRGuchteneirePPécoudA (2009) Migration and Human Rights: The United Nations Convention on Migrant Workers’ Rights, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20.
Citizenship Immigration Canada (CIC) (2013) Facts and Figures 2012: Immigration Overview: Permanent and Temporary Residents, Ottawa: CIC.
21.
ClibbornS (2015) Why undocumented immigrant workers should have workplace rights. Economic and Labour Relations Review26(3): 465–473.
22.
Clibborn S (2016) Multiple frames of reference: Why international students in Australia are underpaid. In: International and Comparative Perspectives on Australian Labour Immigration Conference, July. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.
23.
DarcySTaylorT (2009) Disability citizenship: An Australian human rights analysis of the cultural industries. Leisure Studies28(4): 419–441.
24.
DauvergneC (2013) How the charter has failed non-citizens in Canada – Reviewing thirty years of supreme court of Canada Jurisprudence. McGill Law Review58(3): 663–728.
25.
Deegan B. (2008) Visa Subclass 457: Integrity Review. Canberra: Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) (2016) Subclass 457 Visa Holders in Australia at 30 June 2016 – Comparison with previous quarter. Available at: www.datagov.au.
28.
Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) (2015) Subclass 457 Visas, Granted Pivot table, 2015–16 to 30 June 2016 with previous year. Available at: www.datagov.au.
29.
Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) (2007) Immigration Update, 2006–2007, Canberra: Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
30.
Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) (2008) Immigration Update, 2007–2008, Canberra: Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
FacchiniGMaydaMMishraP (2011) Do interest groups affect US immigration policy?Journal of International Economics85(1): 114–128.
34.
FarbenblumBBergL (2018) Remedies for migrant worker exploitation in Australia? Lessons from the 7-eleven wage repayment program. Melbourne Law Review41(3): 1035–1084.
35.
Four Corners (2015a) 7-Eleven: The price of convenience. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney, 30 September.
36.
Four Corners (2015b) Cleaning company accused of underpaying staff. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney, 16 December.
37.
FudgeJ (2012) Precarious migrant status and precarious employment: The paradox of international rights for migrant workers. Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal34: 95–132.
38.
FudgeJ (2016a) Precarious migrant workers and sexual harassment. International Labor Rights Case Law2: 285–289.
39.
FudgeJ (2016b) Justice for whom? Migrant workers in Canada. In: BrodieJ (ed.) Inequalities and Social Justice in Contemporary Canada, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
40.
GraycarRMorganJ (2005) Law reform: What’s in it for women? In: BahdiR (ed.) Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, Ontario: University of Windsor, pp. 393–419.
41.
HammarT (1985) European Immigration Policy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
42.
HariAMcGrathSPrestonV (2013) Temporariness in Canada: Establishing a Research Agenda, Toronto: CERIS.
43.
HausL (2002) Unions, Immigration and Internationalization: New Challenges and Changing Conditions in the United States and France, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
44.
Healy G (2008) Migration not helping skills shortage. The Australian, 16 October, p.4.
45.
HoweJ (2013) Is the net cast too wide? An assessment of whether the regulatory design of the 457 visa meets Australia’s skill needs. Federal Law Review41: 443–470.
46.
HoweJ (2016) Examining a temporary migrant worker’s ability to make a complaint of sexual harassment. Alternative Law Journal41(2): 102–104.
47.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2004) ILO Migration Survey 2003: Country Summaries, Geneva: ILO.
48.
JuppJ (2007) From White Australia to Woomera, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
49.
KimPHPinkleyRLFragaleAR (2005) Power dynamics in negotiation. Academy of Management Review30(4): 799–822.
50.
Landman T (2005) The scope of human rights: From background concept to indicators. In: AHRI-COST Action Meeting. Colchester: Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, pp. 1–36.
51.
Landman T and Carvalho E (2010) Measuring Human Rights. London/New York: Routledge.
52.
LumKPriceMEBanksD (2013) Applications of multiple systems estimation in human rights research. The American Statistician67: 191–200.
MaresP (2016) Not Quite Australian: How Temporary Migration Is Changing the Nation, Melbourne: Text Publishing.
55.
MoneyJLockhartSWesternS (2016) Why migrant rights are different than human rights. In: FreemanGPMirilovicN (eds) Handbook on Migration and Social Policy, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 399–418.
56.
NylandCForbes-MewettHMarginsonSet al.(2009) International student workers in Australia: A new vulnerable workforce. Journal of Education and Work22(1): 1–14.
57.
PioreM (1979) Birds of Passage: Migrant Labor and Industrial Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
58.
RamMEdwardsOMeardiG (2017) Non-compliance and the National Living Wage: Case Study Evidence from Ethnic Minority and Migrant-owned Businesses, London: Low Pay Commission.
59.
ReillyA (2012) Protecting vulnerable migrant workers: The case of international students. Australian Journal of Labour Law25: 181–208.
60.
RuhsM (2013) The Price of Rights: Regulating International Labor Migration, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
61.
RuhsMMartinP (2008) Numbers vs. rights: Trade-offs and guest worker programs. International Migration Review42: 249–265.
62.
SharmaN (2006) Home Economics: Nationalism and the Making of “Migrant Workers” in Canada, Toronto: Toronto University Press.
63.
SoysalY (1994) Limits of Citizenship, Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.
64.
Spaeth HJ, Epstein L, Martin AD, et al. (2015) Supreme Court Database Code Book brick_2015_01. Available at: http://supremecourtdatabase.org.
65.
StandingG (2014) The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, London: Bloomsbury.
66.
ThamJCCampbellI (2011) Temporary Migrant Labour in Australia: The 457 Visa Scheme and Challenges for Labour Regulation, Melbourne: Melbourne Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, University of Melbourne.
67.
ThamJCCampbellI (2014) Labour market deregulation and temporary migrant labour schemes: An analysis of the 457 visa program. Australian Journal of Labour Law26: 239–272.
68.
Tham JC, Campbell I and Boese (2016) Why is labour protection for temporary migrant workers so fraught? An Australian perspective. In: Howe J and Owens R (eds) Temporary Labour Migration in the Global Era: The Regulatory Changes. London: Hart, pp.173–200.
69.
UnderhillERimmerM (2015) Itinerant foreign harvest workers in Australia: The impact of precarious employment on occupational safety and health. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety13: 25–46.
70.
UnderhillERimmerM (2016) Layered vulnerability: Temporary migrants in Australian horticulture. Journal of Industrial Relations58(5): 608–626.
Walker J (2008) 457 nurse sacked for arriving pregnant. The Australian, 29 November.
74.
WongTGestJ (2013) Organizing disorder: Indexing migrants’ rights and international migration policy. Georgetown Immigration Law Journal28: 257–267.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
