ABF, Home Affairs operation hits hospitality firms to shield foreign workers

The ABF and Home Affairs department have launched a six-month blitz across all states and territories to weed out exploitation and abuse of migrant hospitality workers.

Australian Border Force Commissioner Gavan Reynolds. Picture: Martin Ollman / NewsWire

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Australian Border Force officers and a special investigative unit in the Home Affairs department have launched a six-month blitz across all states and territories to weed out exploitation and abuse of migrant hospitality workers.

The ABF and Department of Home Affairs Sponsor Monitoring Unit, which polices employers who sponsor foreign workers, are using new laws to execute a nationwide, intelligence-based operation cracking down on ­hospitality businesses that are breaking the rules.

ABF officers, who are targeting more than 100 workplaces ­including in regions where operations have not previously been staged, have already progressed investigations into more than 30 employers engaged in suspected migrant worker exploitation. The hospitality businesses have been linked to under payment, unlawful deductions and excess hours.

A core focus of the blitz is hospitality employers who are charging back migrant workers with the costs of their sponsorship.

During and after the Covid pandemic, hundreds of hospitality businesses across the country shut their doors due to high costs and severe labour shortages, which forced many business owners to sponsor migrant workers for jobs including chefs.

Hospitality business owners in the regions have reported greater challenges in finding workers than those in the capital cities.

Under pressure from the Coalition, the Albanese government has pledged to lower high levels of migration recorded in the wake of the pandemic.

Home Affairs Department SMU national superintendent Jason Boyd said the crackdown was focused on ensuring hospitality “employers are not financially abusing migrant workers by charging back costs of their sponsorship”.

“Migrant workers have the same work conditions, rights and protections as Australian citizens. Yet we know some employers are tempted to illegally demand money … or underpay migrant workers in violation of sponsorship obligations,” Mr Boyd said.

“We are sending an abundantly clear message to employers that Australia will not tolerate exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers or the visa system.”

The operation is using new rules and penalties, which were introduced in July last year, to stop employers using a person’s immigration status against them.

Mr Boyd, who confirmed more than 50 hospitality operators had already been subject to unannounced visits by investigators, said “this is one of the biggest nationally co-ordinated SMU ­operations I’ve been involved in”.

“These new powers really give us an enhanced range of options now to deal with those doing the wrong thing and to protect vulnerable workers. Employers using foreign workers must comply with Australian workplace and immigration laws.”

Regardless of their migration status, visa holders and foreign workers in Australia hold the same workplace entitlements as other employees.

Employers identified as breaching workplace rules face heavy penalties, including fines, civil prosecution and being declared a prohibited employer.

Home Affairs, which is seeking public information and tip-offs about foreign worker ex­ploitation – which can be made online anonymously – last month closed applications on a $13.25m grant program to fund awareness for migrants on their workplace rights.

Guidelines for the grants program, dubbed “protecting ­migrant workers”, outlined that applicants must be a union, a ­registered not-for-profit organisation or accredited legal centre.

National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke attacked the program as a “taxpayer-funded membership drive for unions”.

After applications for the grants scheme opened, Home ­Affairs assistant secretary Zoe Moses said education played an important role in “achieving compliance, addressing exploitation and upholding the integrity of Australia’s migration system”.