Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
16%
3 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
68/100
ABC News (AU)'s corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
In short:
Cash-in-hand is no longer the preferred strategy some employers are using to underpay migrant workers, researchers say.
asserted
researchers → use → workers
Those business owners are instead asking prospective staff to create an Australian Business Number (ABN) with the aim of avoiding paying entitlements under the Fair Work Act.
asserted
owners → ask → Act
The Department of Home Affairs has a temporary visa allowing people to remain in Australia longer to pursue workplace exploitation claims but there are concerns uptake is very low.
uncertain
uptake → have → claims
International student Mai was full of pride when she landed her first job in Australia.
asserted
she → land → Australia
"At that time I was really happy because now I can live by myself, be more independent, not rely on my family and actually can afford the renting," the Australian National University student said.
asserted
student → live → renting
But she said her employer at a Canberra hospitality business began to call her day and night, asking her to work at short notice, for which she was paid a flat rate below the minimum wage, even on weekends.
asserted
she → say → weekends
"Even sometimes when I saw my check-in and check-out sheet it was often rounded down, and I mean that's not fair and quite sad,"Mai said.
asserted
that → see → sheet
"Everything was so hard to afford and even paying rent is now more difficult and you're actually working for a lot of hours but like your effort is not anywhere, it's not showing."
asserted
it → afford → hours
Mai, who has chosen that name to protect her identity, said she was "really afraid to speak up".
asserted
she → choose → identity
So I would stay by myself, try to go get through all of it by myself,"she said.
asserted
I → stay → myself,"she
Passports taken, no breaks, threats
Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum, who founded the Migrant Justice Institute, said the underpayment of temporary visa holders, such as in Mai's case, was often a clue that those businesses were committing other forms of exploitation.
asserted
businesses → take → exploitation
She has co-authored a major study into migrant worker exploitation commissioned by the Commonwealth attorney-general's department, finding:
"International students alone may be short-changed by around $3.18 billion per year," the report said.
uncertain
report → co → year
Associate Professor Farbenblum said they had found "that the more that people were underpaid, the more likely they experienced conditions like having their passport confiscated or being made to work very long hours with no breaks, often two weeks in a row".
asserted
passport → say → row
"And in some cases threats of harm or violence," she said.
"
asserted
she → say → harm
One of the things we see, particularly for migrant workers, is a threat to report the worker to immigration if they speak up or if they do anything.
asserted
they → see → anything
They're really fearful of losing their visa and they need to pay for food and pay their rent."
How ABNs are used for exploitation
Associate Professor Farbenblum said one of the biggest insights from the report, which heard from close to 10,000 migrant workers in Australia, was that cash-in-hand was no longer the preferred strategy to underpay employees on temporary visas.
asserted
cash → lose → visas
"So we used to see that the way of keeping migrant workers off-the-books was to pay in cash.
asserted
way → use → cash
We're still seeing one in four paid at least some of their wages in cash, but what we're seeing now is increasing use of ABNs
asserted
seeing → see → ABNs
," she said.
"Then there's no record of these people as employees and their pay can't be compared against their entitlements under the Fair Work Act."
Workers can pursue exploitation claims
The Department of Home Affairs introduced a temporary visa in 2024 to allow people to remain in Australia for up to 12 months to pursue a workplace exploitation claim after their previous visa had expired.
The Commonwealth also has a Strengthening Reporting Protections Pilot which promises the Department of Home Affairs "will not cancel your visa if you have breached a work-related visa condition, and there is a link between that visa breach and workplace exploitation" that is reported.
But there are concerns very few temporary visa holders ever report workplace exploitation.
The ABC has asked the Department of Home Affairs what the uptake has been for its migrant worker protections but the department has not yet responded to the questions.
Mai said she believed almost no one came forward.
"A lot of my friends around me, they also get underpaid ... because we are international students, we just want to have the income, so we accept the situation and just follow it,"she said.
uncertain
we → say → situation
The Aporia