A Darwin-based hospitality business has been ordered to pay a record fine for exploiting at least 10 foreign 457 Visa workers as cheap labour; illegally forcing them to pay migration agent costs and forging documents to mislead Immigration officials.

Choong Enterprises Pty Ltd, the Director of Choong Enterprises, and one other person were found to have breached their sponsor obligations under the Migration Act. The fine amounting to over $175,000 was ordered by Justice John Mansfield who said the “civil penalty regime” was integral to “secure the integrity of the Australian labour market by ensuring people who are sponsored to work here are not employed in a manner that undercuts standard employment conditions”, and added that “It also protects those who are brought to Australia and who are vulnerable to exploitation.”

The offending took place at the expense of 10 Filipino workers employed as cooks, restaurant managers and food and beverage supervisors by the Nightcliff-based business — which operates a number of restaurants and cafes in Darwin and the NT — between 2009 and 2012. The company director Ronald Choong was found to have gained a direct benefit by enabling the offending as the sole director and shareholder, according to a report in the NT Times.

“This is the first civil penalty application my Department has undertaken in the Federal Court, and is the largest civil penalty any court has imposed for a breach of sponsor obligations,” Minister Cash said. “This action highlights the fact that the Government takes any alleged breach of 457 visa sponsorship very seriously and will pursue court action if appropriate.”

The court found that Choong Enterprises had paid 457 visa holders as little as $12 an hour, failed to abide by its record keeping obligations, had knowingly produced false pay records and had illegally recovered the costs of migration agent fees from four visa holders, among other contraventions. It found that that the director of Choong Enterprises, Ronald Choong, had aided and abetted these breaches.

“The stiff penalty this company has received should send a warning to other sponsors: if you fail to meet your requirements, my Department may impose administrative sanctions, issue an infringement notice, execute an enforceable undertaking, or apply to the federal court for a civil penalty order,” Minister Cash said in a media release.

“The Department is constantly monitoring 457 sponsors to ensure they are operating appropriately. The overwhelming majority of businesses act in good faith and therefore have nothing to fear, but we want to send a strong message that if you breach your obligations, you can expect to face the consequences.”

In imposing the penalty, the court took into account that Choong Enterprises Pty Ltd no longer has any 457 visa holders in its employ and admitted its wrongdoing to the court.