Australia markets itself as a welcoming nation of opportunity, a "fair go" society that benefits from high immigration. Yet a landmark new survey reveals a harsher reality: systemic exploitation of temporary migrant workers, where two-thirds are underpaid, often in ways that entrench vulnerability and distort the labour market.

A major 2024 survey of nearly 10,000 temporary visa holders (mostly international students) by the Migrant Justice Institute paints a grim picture. Key findings include:

65% of migrant employees paid below their legal entitlements under the Fair Work Act.

36% paid below the national minimum wage.

Average underpayment of $8.80 per hour, with a quarter short-changed by at least $10/hour.

International students alone lose an estimated $3.18 billion annually ($61 million per week).

This isn't isolated "rogue employer" behaviour. Researchers describe a "single architecture of exploitation": underpayment clusters with sham contracting (misuse of ABNs), cash-in-hand payments, falsified payslips, unpaid superannuation, and casual rosters that give employers total control.

Temporary migrants' visa insecurity amplifies the power imbalance. Fear of losing shifts, visa cancellation, or deportation silences complaints. Many know their rights but accept exploitation anyway, believing it's their only option or fearing blame.

A particularly uncomfortable aspect is co-ethnic or "previous migrant" exploitation. Established migrant business owners, often from the same communities, frequently underpay newer arrivals. Historical cases (e.g., 7-Eleven scandals, Korean restaurants) show employers citing a "going rate" for migrant labour within ethnic networks, undercutting Australian standards while relying on cultural familiarity and language barriers.

Newcomers trust co-ethnic employers for jobs in hospitality, retail, cleaning, or agriculture, only to face cash deals, excessive hours, and withheld entitlements. This creates a cycle: earlier migrants climb by exploiting later ones, turning migration into a stratified underclass system rather than broad uplift.

Vulnerable groups, international students, backpackers, and sponsored workers with limited English, local networks, or savings, bear the brunt. High living costs, education debts, and family remittances back home leave them desperate for any work.

This exploitation isn't victimless. It:

Suppresses wages for all workers by creating a cheap, compliant labour pool that undercuts locals and previous migrants in low-skilled sectors.

Distorts business competition: Compliant firms lose out to exploiters who treat wage theft as a core model.

Strains social cohesion: Public resentment grows when immigration appears to import vulnerability and export fairness, fuelling debates over housing, infrastructure, and services.

Erodes trust in the migration system. Australia holds ~1.8 million temporary visas (excluding NZ), a scale that's "impossible to regulate properly," as Macrobusiness notes.

Past inquiries (Migrant Workers Taskforce, Fair Work Ombudsman reports) and minor reforms haven't fixed the structural drivers: temporary visa dependency, weak enforcement, and economic incentives favouring volume over quality.

From a perspective focused on sustainability and fairness, this exploitation provides a strong case for tighter immigration controls, particularly on temporary and low-skilled streams:

1.Protect Vulnerable Migrants: Fewer temporary workers mean less oversupply in exploitable jobs. Prioritise skilled, permanent pathways with better integration support over mass student/backpacker inflows that feed the underpayment machine.

2.Safeguard Australian Workers and Wages: High temporary migration can depress wages and conditions in certain sectors. Reducing the pool reduces employers' ability to rely on desperate labour.

3.Improve Enforcement Feasibility: With 1.8+ million temporary migrants, regulators are overwhelmed. Smaller, higher-quality intakes allow genuine oversight, harsher penalties (including criminal ones and banning repeat offenders), and better visa protections.

4.Sustainability: Rapid population growth via migration exacerbates housing shortages, infrastructure strain, and cost-of-living pressures. Exploited migrants often end up in precarious situations that burden welfare and community services long-term if pathways fail.

5.Better Outcomes for Migrants Themselves: Selective migration raises average quality, reduces exploitation risk, and promotes genuine success stories over a hidden underclass.

Advocates for high migration often frame controls as "racist" or economically suicidal. But ignoring exploitation risks turning Australia into a cautionary tale: generous intakes without robust safeguards create second-class workers and public backlash. Countries like Canada and others tweak systems toward points-based permanence and stronger labour market testing.

Fixes exist: stronger Workplace Justice Visas, proactive audits in high-risk industries, banning sham contracting for migrants, better information for arrivals, and tying employer sponsorship to compliance records. But these treat symptoms. Real reform needs volume controls alongside enforcement.

The "darker side" of Australian immigration isn't about people; migrants are often hardworking and aspirational. It's about policy failure: a system that imports vulnerability at scale, allows wage theft to become normalised (especially within communities), and burdens the vulnerable while claiming moral high ground.

Two-thirds underpaid isn't a bug; recent data shows it's a feature of the current settings. Addressing it honestly, with tighter controls on temporary migration, genuine enforcement, and focus on quality over quantity, would benefit existing Australians, settled migrants, and newcomers alike. A true "fair go" demands nothing less.

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2026/05/two-thirds-of-migrants-in-australia-are-underpaid/