According to University of Sydney Business School's Dr Stephen Clibborn, the "biggest problem facing immigration authorities" is the increasing number of undocumented immigrant workers in Australia. There are few signs that anything is being done about it despite the systematic exploitation of these workers by employers, according to a report in the Daily Examiner.

UNDOCUMENTED immigrant workers need the same protections as Australian workers, if Australia is to avoid an American-style problem of mass exploitation of illegal workers, says Dr Stephen Clibborn in a submission to the Abbott government’s Productivity Commission review of workplace relations.

Dr Clibborn's submission has warned that Australia faces "the real risk of passing the tipping point that the United States passed many years ago where exploitation of a large undocumented immigrant workforce becomes the norm in some sectors".

He said while there were no hard figures on the extent of the problem, estimates had tipped at least 100,000 undocumented workers in 2011, which he believes has likely risen, due to an extra 62,700 visa over-stayers recorded in July 2013.

Dr Clibborn said a 2011 review of the system described it as the "biggest problem facing immigration authorities", and the lack of protections for workers, and fear of being exposed, was fertile grounds for exploitation.

He also said the Fair Work laws needed better enforcement.

In order to boost its economy and sustain future growth, the migration levels of Australia needs to be increased by about 30% per year according to independent modelling by the Migration Council of Australia (MCA).

The higher migration numbers would boost Australia’s economy by $1.6 trillion, says a new report from the MCA who warned that reducing the migration intake would have a profound impact on labour participation, productivity, the national skills base and income. Without a strong migration program Australia’s economy will suffer and it will not hit its projected population target of 38 million by 2050 - the projected population target of the government’s intergenerational report.

‘What we get in terms of gains is quite amazing for Australia, and something that we should be encouraging,” MCA's CEO Carla Wilshire told the ABC.

“Migration will be adding $1.6 trillion to Australia's GDP. So in a single year, about 40 per cent of GDP will be owing, in some form, to the migration program that we run,” says Ms Wilshire.

She states that a healthy migration program is critical to address the country's fiscal deficit and the ageing population. The MCA notes that migration by 2050 will increase the labour market participation by 15 per cent. This is going to have an impact on fiscal revenues for government, because migrants are generally younger, more skilled and have a higher employment participation rate. Thus they contribute more to the tax base and rely less government welfare services.

“In fact, there's less of a spend per migrant in terms of government services. And so when you combine those two factors (tax contribution vs reliance on welfare), their impact is to contribute more in some senses to the government's fiscal bottom line,” says Ms Wilshire.

The MCAs report warns that if the government does not increase the migration program, or even worse, stop the migration program all together, the consequences would be very significant.

Complaints have emerged that the Department of Immigration (DIBP) is recklessly dishing out wrong advice to callers on their helpline.

Faceless, unaccountable, just plainly wrong and recklessly dangerous. There is no other way to describe DIBPs Immigration Helpline. Or should we call it the "To-Hell-Line". The Migration Alliance has received complaints that DIBP's 131 881 helpline is dishing out bad advice to unwary visa applicants.

Callers who put down the phone after waiting 30 minutes may well be the lucky ones. It's like missing a doomed flight.

You have to wonder which is worse: advice from an unregistered practitioner or advice from DIBPs helpline? Or are they both about the same because they are often wrong and with no liability whatsoever.

RMAs (Registered Migration Agents) have complained that, everyday people call DIBPs 131 881 helpline with hope for some direction with their visa applications or status. Instead, they are misled with “wrong, incorrect, incomplete or half-baked immigration advice.”

DIBP has made it illegal to offer commissions out of Training Benchmark A funds and is now conducting an audit of known training institutions allegedly misusing training funds. 

Late last year, Sydney TAFE was reportedly under investigation for alleged fraud in its use of millions of dollars from a training program for students on 457 visas. “Sydney Institute of TAFE generated $3.3 million last year from migration agents who were paid $380,000 in commissions for recruiting students on 457 visas” according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Convenor of Migration Alliance, Christopher Levingston says:

"It is understood that following the investigation Sydney TAFE was given a clean bill of health and that the allegations in the SMH article were without foundation.  It is understood that the allegations were made to the journalist by a former disgruntled TAFE employee.   As far as MA is aware any commissions paid to RMAs by Sydney TAFE did not come out of training benchmark payments made by employers.  'Commission payments' were made from other general funds held and maintained by Sydney TAFE".

The Migration Alliance then published on this blog that that a full audit of Training Benchmark A should be undertaken by the DIBP or some other body to ensure that the funds are spent properly and not left sitting in accounts or even worse being improperly misdirected.

That audit is now well underway. DIBP has confirmed that it is currently conducting an audit of known providers in response to recent allegations of misuse of funds contributed for the purpose of meeting the subclass 457 training benchmark requirements.

What exactly ‘known providers’ means is not explained but surely they must start out with those offering a ‘40% commission’.

DIBP also requires Benchmark A funds are directed to an ‘industry training fund’.  These are statutory authorities responsible for providing funding for training of eligible workers in certain industries. Therefore, no payments can be made to TAFEs, Universities or ‘recognised industry bodies’, where there are statutory industry fund operating in the same sector as the applicant. Contributions to private registered training organisations (RTOs) do not satisfy the requirements of Training Benchmark A.

DIBP has indicated that it is not concerned with the payment of commissions per se. Commissions just cannot be paid out from the funds received for the purposes of meeting the benchmark.

On a related issue, the Migration Alliance noted that the Victorian Training Market Half Year Report revealed that some TAFEs were at financial risk. Migration Alliance wrote to Senator Michaelia Cash, Assistant Minister, DIBP and Kim Vance, Director, Program Delivery DIBP with these facts and the concern that employers are being encouraged to send funds to institutions that may be at financial risk.

"As top any prohibition or threat to withdraw an approval of a Training Organisation by reason of the payment of a commission does not have any statutory basis and may well be a threat but nothing more". says Christopher Levingston.

Is unregistered migration practice helping women from Hong Kong pose as English language students to gain entry into Australia to work in the country's lucrative sex trade? According to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) a spokesman for the Australian department of immigration said it was not aware of language schools being used as fronts for illegal sex work however women's advocated groups say the problem is rampant.

The DIBP spokesmen, oddly enough, pointed out to the SCMP that those on student visas could legally work for up to 20 hours per week while attending classes. Prostitution is legal in Australia. Does DIBP see the issue then as working in excess of 20 hours?

Women's advocate groups in Hong Kong warn that these young women lured into Australia by syndicates risk falling into sex slavery and debt bondage.

“The practice has been going on for several years and some schools are complicit in facilitating the work, according to sex workers' associations and sources close to the prostitutes,” states the report referring to sources from women’s advocate groups in Hong Kong.

The Australian media also recently highlighted the issue noting that perceived higher wages and an easier lifestyle have long lured Asian sex workers to Australia. A University of New South Wales study found that more than half of Sydney's prostitutes were Asian.

"In the past three weeks, I have met up with 17 new ladies who have travelled to Sydney from Hong Kong on student paperwork supplied by the school, so they can enter Sydney and commence working in brothels," according to an unnamed SCMP source who claimed to have helped the women settle in Australia. The women typically hailed from towns in the New Territories and can earn about HK$60,000 (AU$10,000) per week by working seven-day weeks in Sydney's brothels, the SCMP source said.

Paperwork from the schools helped them pass immigration but was quickly discarded upon arrival, said the source, adding that the women even joked about not attending class.