Migrant workers in Australia, including international students, are being underpaid by an estimated $3.18 billion per year, according to a study commissioned by the Commonwealth attorney-general's department. Researchers found that some employers are asking prospective staff to obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN) to avoid paying entitlements under the Fair Work Act. This strategy is used in conjunction with other forms of exploitation, such as confiscating passports, forcing workers to labor for long hours without breaks, and making threats of harm or violence. Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum, who co-authored the study, expressed concern that migrant workers are reluctant to speak up due to fear of losing their visa status.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Thousands of migrant workers in Australia are being underpaid by billions of dollars, according to a report from the Australian National University. The 19,000 workers surveyed included International student Mai, who said her employer at a Canberra hospitality business paid her below the minimum wage and rounded down her hours on paychecks. Researchers found that employers are using a new tactic to avoid paying entitlements under the Fair Work Act: asking employees to create an Australian Business Number (ABN) so they can be classified as contractors rather than employees, thereby avoiding labor laws. This is a change from previous years when cash-in-hand payments were more common. The Department of Home Affairs has a temporary visa allowing workers to stay in Australia while pursuing workplace exploitation claims, but there are concerns that few people are taking advantage of this option.
Written for “Wage Theft Scandal” on 2026-09-07,
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Leaning score -0.65 for article 6030 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-07
In short:
Cash-in-hand is no longer the preferred strategy some employers are using to underpay migrant workers, researchers say.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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it → afford → hours
Mai, who has chosen that name to protect her identity, said she was "really afraid to speak up".
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she → choose → identity
So I would stay by myself, try to go get through all of it by myself,"she said.
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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.
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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.
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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".
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passport → say → row
"And in some cases threats of harm or violence," she said.
"
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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.
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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.
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cash → lose → visas
"So we used to see that the way of keeping migrant workers off-the-books was to pay in cash.
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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
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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.
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we → say → situation