In the past few years, more and more exploited workers have been sharing their stories and pursuing legal action. Many of these are international students being paid as little as 5 or 6 dollars an hour. Despite lawsuits against companies like 7/11 allowing many voices to be heard, these international workers are still being underpaid on a massive scale in Australian urban centres.
One of the most significant reasons for this is a fear of deportation due to violation of visa restrictions. There are positives, however. Policy experts say that the new Victorian wage theft legislation attack the root of the issue.
Produced By: Declan Hoare
Featured In Story: Edward Cavanough, Director of Policy at the McKell Institute, and Jessica Downey, Assistant Director of Wage Theft Investigations at the Wage Inspectorate Victoria
First aired on The Wire, Thursday, 15 July 2021