Australian Immigration Daily News

Rising immigration and greater amounts of overseas travel have transformed the food and beverage industry over the past two decades, sparking strong growth in the variety of dining options available in Australia.

These factors have resulted in a higher prevalence of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) migrant workers employed within the industry. Over 36% of workers employed in the food and beverage services industry were born outside of Australia, compared with 30.4% of employees generally. Of those born overseas, a large proportion were born in Southern Asia - 6.2% compared with 4.3% for employment
as a whole.

Due to cultural and language barriers, migrant workers often fall into the vulnerable worker category. This is particularly the case in the food and beverage industry, where in the 2016-17 financial year FWO has seen 31.6% of completed disputes from visa holders; notably higher than the 18% for all FWO completed disputes in same year.

The most commonly identified visa types held by workers were:

 Working Holiday Visa 417 (174)

 Other Visa (149)

 International Student Visa 500 (64)

 Migrant Worker (Skilled) 457 Visa (54).

Source: Hospitality-Workers FWO-report.pdf