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Immigration Daily News Immigration department’s biggest problem is getting bigger
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Immigration department’s biggest problem is getting bigger
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.
While the Fair Work Act afforded all workers the same rights, Dr Clibborn said as illegal workers had no legal rights to work, any employment contract they entered into was legally void.
"It is unsurprising we don't have more of these cases, given if they report exploitation, they are basically exposing themselves as undocumented workers and risk deportation," he said.
While the Fair Work Ombudsman had focussed on industries including cleaning, agriculture and tourism, Dr Clibborn said the Ombudsman needed more resources.
There were only 93 compliance inspectors and 70 inspectors for dispute resolution and "early intervention" for the nation's 11.6 million-strong workforce.
The Productivity Commission is also examining issues including the minimum wage, industrial dispute and unfair dismissal laws, and will report later this year.
Comments
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Wednesday, 11 March 2015This sort of speculation reminds me of the 1980s when it was seriously suggested that 70% of the Australian economy was the black (untaxed) economy and that we all loved it. There are no studies of the illegals, and there will not be any. If we wanted to stop it, we would create Draconian laws and enforce them for a couple of years until the employers and employees realized that they could be caught and vigorously prosecuted. It is never a surprise to see people stop at red lights when they know they might get a heavy fine for running them.
Immigration blog
Interesting post.
No number of Fair Work Inspectors, DIBP Compliance or "Integrity" Inspectors will be able to manage the the uniqueness of the Australia's employment-economics circumstances.
Australia has a land area of 7.68million km2, 2.9 people per km2
Netherlands has a land area of 41thousand km2, 498 per km2
Both countries have similar total populations.
Economic drivers in Australia are mining and food and fibre.
Most of these activities occur in sub-urban, regional and remote Australia. distance , logistics and simple "knowledge" make it VERY difficult for administrative compliance to have effect. Compliance officers in SYD, MEL, BNE, ADL and PER may also have little, if any, experience of the "world" beyond city limits.
Matters of non-compliance with Fair Work, Immigration or Tax come to light vila events such as a:
fight at the local pub
poaching of workers
"That's not fair" dob ins.
Access to so called "semi-skilled" workers or in reality "essential labour" is confounded in regional and remote Australia by:
an overly complex and discriminatory temporary work visa program - the notorious 457 visa.
a misnamed Permanent sponsored program (it's a nomination program) which is also mired in streams that dam up.
and an overly secretive and at times dysfunctional Labour Agreement Section.
The above inclines employers to employer persons unlawfully but that in no way justifies the ends.
The author believes that any temporary entrant must be registered with the ATO and FWA and then let smart databases do the rest.
This in theory could ultimately see the end of human decision making on sponsorships and nominations. Allowing MORE human resources for compliance and keeping the playing fields less inclined to those who can easily break the current system.
Thanks,
MJ