‘He threatened to break my arms’: Backpacker ‘verbally and physically attacked’ on Qld farm

MATT and fiancee Becky are on a dream round-the-world trip, but their farm work in Australia has been marred by emotional and physical abuse.

Backpackers have repeatedly shared horror stories from Aussie farms. Picture: Josh Woning

A BRITISH backpacker has become the latest in a long series of young fruit-pickers claiming they have been mistreated and exploited on an Australian farm.

Matt Workman, a chemist from Liverpool in the UK, says that during his first fortnight working in an orchard in Queensland, his supervisor was verbally abusive and physically attacked him.

“I arrived in Australia three weeks ago with my fiancee and started apple picking two days after,” he told news.com.au. “Within our first two weeks at the farm, the supervisor has hit me on the arm and threatened to break my arms.”

The travel blogger said he was trying to drive a tractor for the first time, with little instruction, when his supervisor hit his arm off the wheel, bent his thumb back and shouted: ““Do you hear that f***ing sound, if you leave that starter motor running again I’ll break your f***ing arms. The last guy who did that nearly got his lights punched out.

“I feel threatened to the point I have asked my fiancee to shout ‘watch out!’ if she sees him running up behind me again.”

Matt Workman says he and his fiancee Becky have faced terrible conditions while completing their farm work in Australia.

Matt and his fiancee Becky are on a round-the-world trip, and found a working hostel that would send them out to complete the 88-day farm work that allows non-Australians to extend their one-year working holiday visas by an extra 12 months. But when locals heard which farm they had been assigned to, Matt says they were warned to stay away from their boss.

The traveller says he and his fiancee on occasions made as little as $30 ($4.29 per hour) for a seven-hour working day because their earnings depend on how many bins they fill, and the apples are mostly rotten and have to be thrown away.

While they liked their hostel, their beds cost $205 per person per week, plus a $50 per person refundable bond, leaving them struggling for cash on their meagre earnings. “There is also no Wi-Fi at the hostel and it will cost you $4 every time you need to do a wash, so when you first arrive at the hostel you will have to pay $510 as a couple before earning anything,” said Matt.

The accommodation was “spacious and clean” with friendly owners, but Matt felt uneasy at being sent to work at a farm where he felt unsafe.

The travel blogger and his partner are on a round-the-world trip.

“I have seen people crying, people fear being sacked and kicked out of the hostel with nowhere to go in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “We have seen numerous people come and go from the hostel, most of them have been forced to leave after being fired.”

Worst of all is the intimidation on the farm. “We experience verbal abuse every day,” he said. “It is impossible to make a complaint without risking being evicted without notice.

“We have witnessed a total of 15 people leave the hostel in the first two weeks due to being fired from their jobs or not being able to cope with the supervisors.”

He said a Swedish backpacker who had broken her toe on the farm and taken two days off was told by the supervisor, “It’s not hard to come to work.” Another farm worker who put his feet on the man’s sofa was forced out of his house and others were fired from a nearby farm for being “too slow” or bruising the delicate fruit.

“If he finds more than three apples in a bin with bruises then the bin will not be counted and we will not receive any pay,” said Matt.

He and Becky have now moved to the packing shed for what Matt calls “backbreaking work” but are finally being paid by the hour and achieving minimum wage.

The British backpacker says he has contacted the Queensland Workplace Bullying Line and was passed on to Police Line, but is apprehensive about taking the matter further.

“They have instructed me to go to the police station” he said. “I am still unsure if I will do this as I am quite nervous of the outcome.”

The safety of foreign workers employed on Australian farms has come under the spotlight in the past few years after dozens of allegations of verbal and physical abuse, exploitation, sexual assault, underpayment or no payment and dangerous conditions.

Backpackers working on a farm in Queensland. Pictures: Jack Tran/Courier Mail

The growth in outsourced, flexible and temporary work has been a defining change in Australia’s labour force over the past 30 years and is seen as vital to industries such as agriculture.

But there are serious concerns over the “labour hire” industry, through which third party companies typically find backpackers employment on farms.

A report into labour hire in Queensland published in June 2016 highlighted “exploitation and mistreatment of workers, the undercutting of employment conditions, and a range of other illegal or questionable practices.” It said some firms saw labour hire as a way of cost-cutting by minimising responsibilities towards their workforce, and that such employees often faced low rates of pay, fewer opportunities for training and higher rates of occupational injury than others.

The inquiry received evidence of “manipulation and mistreatment” of vulnerable — particularly overseas — workers, with employees required to provide sexual favours to obtain work; workers placed in overcrowded, substandard accommodation at a high price; employers holding workers’ passports and trapping them; a lack of safety equipment or training; and a failure to provide pay slips, pay tax or pay the minimum wage.

The Anti Discrimination Commission Queensland (ADCQ) reported that some residents also raised concerns that it was extremely difficult or impossible for locals to obtain temporary work, perhaps because permanent residents had a better awareness of their employment rights, and would not tolerate the working conditions.

Australia is one of the few countries in the world with no regulation or licensing arrangements for labour hire companies, in the face of growing pressure from the International Labour Organisation.

Vans carrying hordes of backpackers to work on a farm just outside Gatton in Queensland. Pictures: Jack Tran/Courier Mail

Several commenters said better resourcing of the Fair Work Ombudsman would lead to better enforcement of the rules, with the FWO often failing to inspect the most notorious farms, or advertising when it would hold inspections, allowing rogue operators to evade detection.

A spokesperson for the FWO told news.com.au it released its 417 Visa-holder Inquiry Report into workplace conditions and wages in October, making a series of recommendations around enhancing the regulatory framework, information, education, compliance and support, highlighting cases of worker exploitation in regional Australia.

Earlier this month, Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James appeared before the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017.

The FWO’s Harvest Trail Inquiry has concluded and the findings will be released later this year. Enforcement action has been initiated against a number of horticulture employers as a result of the inquiry, including against labour-hire company HTA Farmings Pty Ltd for alleged serious contraventions of record-keeping laws relating to 265 employees.

The FWO is also working with Taskforce Cadena, the Phoenix Taskforce and other state and federal agencies to share intelligence relating to overseas workers’ rights in regional areas.

In the 2015-16 financial year, 76 per cent of litigations started by the FWO related to alleged exploitation of overseas workers. Backpackers on working holiday visas accounted for the highest level of pay disputes raised with the agency, most of them casual workers in NSW or Queensland.

The National Farmers’ Federation said in a statement supplied to news.com.au that these stories were not typical of what happens on Australian farms and that work was being done to protect workers.

The mother of British backpacker Mia Ayliffe-Chung, who was murdered at a hostel in Home Hill, Queensland, is running a campaign to raise money to uncover the truth about farm work and protect other young people. You can donate to Rosie Ayliffe’s fundraising page here.

Employers and employees, including international students, seeking advice or assistance can visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94. The FWO also recently launched an Anonymous Report function so community members can highlight potential workplace issues.

If you have a story about farm work, email [e-mail].