More than 60% of international students in Sydney underpaid – survey

The Guardian
Wednesday 17 February 2016


New research shows 60% of international students in Sydney earn less than the national minimum wage, and many more miss out on the mandatory casual loading and other penalty rates for evenings and weekends.   

The findings come from a survey of 1,433 international students working in Sydney by a Sydney University business school academic, Stephen Clibborn.


Of 274 students working part-time jobs, 60% said they were paid less than the national minimum of $17.29 an hour, and 35% were paid $12 an hour or less. International students reported receiving no pay slips (50%) and feeling threatened or unsafe at work (35%).

Chinese students suffered the greatest rates of underpayment – 73.5% were paid below the minimum wage.

Of the 43 surveyed Chinese students working as casual waiters 100% were underpaid. The minimum wage for a casual waiter is $23.09 when a 25% loading is applied to the award rate.

Clibborn said underpaying international students was common across the board and the underpaying of Chinese students was particularly shocking. 

Underpaying international students was most common in retail and hospitality industries. “Those are areas where you also find working holiday visa holders, and I expect their experience is similar,” he said.

Clibborn said almost all international students were aware the national minimum wage was about $17 an hour but felt they had no choice but to work for less because they believed their work experience or English skills would be insufficient to get another job.

“They felt they didn’t have prospects of finding a job in the legal labour market ... [and had] no choice but to operate in a completely separate labour market. In that labour market, broadly speaking the range of expected pay is $10 to $15,” he said.

Some workers earned nothing in their first few shifts because they were classed as “training”.


The research comes after revelations 7-Eleven has underpaid its workers by at least $4.36m, a figure expected to rise substantially when a total of about 1,500 claims are settled. So far the Fels wage fairness panel has found workers were underpaid an average of $23,000 each.

Clibborn said: “It’s great that the atrocities within 7-Eleven stores are getting the attention they deserve, but it’s the tip of the iceberg of exploitation of migrant workers ... A lot of other people are suffering.”

The president of the Council of International Students Australia, Nina Khairina, said international students often did not speak up about underpayment because they feared losing their jobs or being reported to the immigration department for working above the maximum number of hours they are allowed.

“Students are more concerned about paying for their living and education expenses, so if their wage covers the cost, even if it is under the legal wage, they will do it anyway,” Khairina said.

In its workplace relations review final report, the Productivity Commission noted the vulnerability of migrant workers and recommended the government give additional resources to the Fair Work ombudsman to crack down on underpayment, particularly of migrant workers.

A Fair Work ombudsman spokeswoman said one in 10 requests for help is now coming from visa holders. “This trend concerns the agency and is why we devote considerable energy and resources to ensuring employers of overseas workers understand their workplace obligations, and the workers themselves are educated about their rights,” she said.

The Fair Work ombudsman’s 2014-15 annual report found there were almost 340,000 international students in Australia. The agency received 181 requests for assistance from people on student visas. In response, the regulator launched a campaign targeting international students.

The report said the agency was “active in industries known to employ significant numbers of international students, including hospitality, cleaning, convenience stores and trolley collecting”.
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United Voice’s national secretary, Jo-Anne Schofield, said the Sydney University research showed many industries “rely on gross exploitation of international student workers by unscrupulous employers”.   

United Voice represents workers in the contract cleaning industry. Unpaid “training” shifts were common in the industry.

Schofield called on the federal government to give an amnesty to visa workers who had breached work conditions so “international students can come forward so we can at least see the extent of the problem and what needs to be done to end exploitation”.

Government and crossbenchers urged to support new bill to protect Australians from epidemic of exploitation at work
United Voice
Thu 25 Feb 16

United Voice welcomes today’s announcement by Brendan O’Connor that on 15 March Labor will introduce a new bill in Parliament to protect working people from bosses who make a business of exploiting their employees.   

Jo-anne Schofield, National Secretary of United Voice, says “United Voice welcomes this bill and urges every member of the House of Representatives and every Senator to stand up for the people they represent by supporting it.

“In workplaces across the country too many workers are vulnerable to exploitation.   

“The system is not working.

“Underpayments, sham contracting, cash in hand payments, bullying, violence, unrealistic workloads, and dangerous working conditions are rife in too many industries.   

“This is an Australia-wide problem, affecting people working in big and small business.

“United Voice has been reaching out to workers. What we see is not pretty and removal of rights is becoming the norm.

“While brave individuals have come forward to expose the illegal activities in their workplaces, this is not enough.

“What is urgently needed is strong legislation to stop these illegal and unethical employers in their tracks.  That is why this bill is so important.

“It is the responsibility of every Parliamentarians, regardless of their political affiliations, to work constructively together to restore decency in our industrial relations system.

“In the meantime, we urge any person who believes their employer isn’t doing the right thing to contact their union.

“If a business can’t make a profit without ripping off people, they shouldn’t be in business. It’s as simple as that,” says Jo-anne Schofield.

Easy fixed.  Ban non-citizens from working.

Swagman wrote on Feb 26^th, 2016 at 1:28pm:


Hmmm I suppose stop the seasonal fruit pickers from Fiji as well?  After a week's work, they earned something like $50 after cost deductions.

I read that somewhere in the papers recently.

stunspore wrote on Feb 26^th, 2016 at 3:35pm:


Yes, what is it about non-citizens that you misunderstand? 

...oh yeah sorry.  It's just what the Collective tells you to understand.   

International students are supposed to have sufficient independent resources to live and study in Australia without needing to work here and they are not allowed to put their work commitments ahead of their studies.  That many don't have enough funds and absolutely must work, often much more than they are allowed, just shows that they have gamed the system or that the system is designed to be gamed.