Backpackers warn fellow travellers about some of the working conditions in Bundaberg

While many backpackers boast about their positive experiences working in Australia’s food bowl, some have told fellow travellers to avoid this Queensland region amid claims they were mistreated while working on local farms.

With the promise of warm temperatures and pristine beaches, it’s no wonder more than 200,000 backpackers from across the world flock to Australia every year.

Queensland is home to a variety of farms that provide perfect conditions for growing, and the Sunshine State has proved to be a popular place for travellers in search of farming work to count towards an extended visa.

Bundaberg, coined “the food bowl of Australia”, sits on the tip of the Southern Great Barrier Reef with red, rich volcanic soil laying across its landscape, providing an abundance of agricultural opportunity.

Bundaberg sits on the tip of the Southern Great Barrier Reef, which draws thousands of tourists and backpackers to the region every year.

The region’s farms offer a number of year-round and seasonal jobs picking everything from strawberries to chillies, with work and hostel accommodation readily available to backpackers.

As enticing as these factors are to excitable, young travellers wishing to make positive lifelong memories in Bundaberg, some have been left with memories of the complete opposite.

A Facebook group named Backpackers Australia is riddled with posts warning fellow travellers not to live and work in the Bundaberg region.

While some people were quick to comment that they had positive experiences in Bundaberg with “no problems”, other travellers told nightmare stories claiming mistreatment by contractors and farm staff.

One of the farms in question has denied the allegations made against them.

Backpackers warn fellow travellers not to go to Bundaberg for work.

Backpackers warn fellow travellers not to go to Bundaberg for work.

The NewsMail spoke to two men who shared their stories of working and living as a backpacker in Bundaberg so other travellers looking for farm work could stay vigilant about poor working conditions.

French backpacker Valentin Egger was learning to be a chef in Byron Bay before he crossed the Queensland border amidst the pandemic in March, 2020.

The now 30-year-old had a background in farm work in New South Wales and had no trouble finding work at a Bundaberg farm.

Other travellers left positive reviews in the same group about working in Bundaberg.

Not only did his visa not allow Valentin to work full time during the pandemic, but the farm had him sign a piece-rate contract, which would mean he was paid per bucket of produce, rather than by the hour.

He thought the pay was extremely low for an all-day outdoor job, but was desperate for the work.

“There was no decent money at all, I already had two years of farm work behind me,” Valentin said.

He grew concerned when he realised the picking season was already over, and would instead be paid for pulling out weeds by hand and covering the soil with film instead.

He would earn just $30 a day for his efforts.

“It wasn’t acceptable for me. No one told me that they would pay such money,” Valentin said.

Valentin was told he would be paid a piece-rate to pick fruit, instead, he was paid a piece-rate for pulling out weeds by hand and earned just $30 a day for his efforts.

“I told them I wouldn’t work for less than a hundred dollars a day, but they kept trying every day to make me change my mind.”

He said the farm employed mostly Asian workers but hired Europeans because of border restrictions.

“I believe they couldn’t get more Chinese workers because the border was closed for Covid and I think it was tricky for them,” Valentin said.

“I believe they were taking Chinese workers because they were maybe willing to get paid less than the average.

A backpacker makes mention of how people were treated during covid in Bundaberg.

“They were always creating this environment of pressure where the managers would say it’s normal to make that money at the beginning and then say look at where they are, they’re managers.”

At the same time, he was paying a minimum of $125 a week to live at the farm’s dedicated hostel.

Valentin said people were so unhappy with the working conditions, they would hide in the rooms just to avoid being taken to the farm.

“I think some of them managed to hide under the blanket because there were too many people at the management who were so bad,” he said.

After 10 days of work, he decided to quit.

“That was funny because there was never anyone at reception, because they would have people [going in there to say there were] unhappy with the conditions, but finally, I went in there late at night and told them I was leaving,” Valentin said.

Backpackers warn fellow travellers not to go to Bundaberg for work.

He requested his deposit back of two weeks rent, but claims it was never returned.

His faith in humanity was restored when he was taken in by generous Bargara Palms Motel owner and human rights advocate, Amanda Slade who let him stay rent-free until he got back on his feet.

After his experiences, Val realised how much he wanted to help people in difficult situations and is now studying a Bachelor of Social Work on the Gold Coast.

He said he would warn anyone against working at that particular farm.

“Run away from this place honestly because very bad management there, I wouldn’t trust those guys.”

Alexey Chernenko, 26, said one of his incidents left him so shaken he went to Fair Work and Queensland Human Rights Commission with his complaints.

Alexey was born in Israel and had spent most of his life there before starting a new life in Ukraine, Ukrainian.

He travelled to Bundaberg with the Israeli passport in hand to take up the Australian Government’s Workforce Shortage Incentives Program.

“I decided to go to Bundaberg not because I had to like many others do, but because there were incentives from the government in place and I wanted the extra [money],” he said.

“I contacted Palm Tree Backpackers and came to an arrangement with them to start working at an organic farm.

“On the day I arrived to Bundaberg I got a message from the hostel manager telling me that the farm are not interested in hiring me.

“Obviously stressed out as I was low on money at this point, I begged the hostel manager to talk to the farm.”

Alexey claims that once they realised he was Ukrainian, they had a sudden change of heart, but the problems didn’t end there.

“Suddenly, the farm was okay with hiring me,” he said.

“I started working there and the supervisor was very rude and treated every non-Asian backpacker like garbage, talking down at us, calling us names.

“After one and a half weeks in that place I decided that I worth more than being treated like this and quit.”

The owners of the farm rejected the allegations.

In a response to the News Mail a legal representative for the farm said as noted in your correspondence the person in question was engaged to work on our client’s farm property.

“In relation to the suggestion that any supervisor was rude and treated non-Asian staff/backpackers like garbage or called them names our client firstly has no knowledge of such complaint as one was never made to them or any senior personnel at the business.

“Indeed, it is the case that the vast majority of casual workers generally drawn from the backpacker community are of European extraction and there is a general racial mix which is predicated on availability and previous work history.

Alexey Chernenko says he was racially vilified by one farm and unfairly dismissed from another.

“Further enquiry by our client also indicates that the complainant gave an indication that he was leaving the employment after about a week-and-a-half not due to any alleged poor treatment but rather that the work was too dusty (at that stage crop treatment/spraying was underway).

“Again no alleged ill-treatment was ever raised prior to his departure.

“Our clients remains disappointed at the comments made due to their untruth but do not propose to take the matter any further or make any further comment thereon.”

Alexey further said he was again treated poorly on another farm in the region.

“The next job I got offered by the hostel was a packing shed,” he said.

Alexey stated that while the job was significantly “better” than his previous farm experience, the main supervisor was allegedly abusive.

“The main supervisor in the place was rude and angry, and she would just yell at everyone around her without a reason,” he said.

“I just tried to avoid her and do my job to the best of my abilities, but obviously I couldn’t dodge all of her yelling and insults and had a couple of times when she screamed at me too.

“Then one day I get a call from the hostel manager telling me that the supervisor doesn’t want me to come back to work because “he doesn’t smile enough”, which is far from being a legitimate reason to let someone who works hard, go.”

The NewsMail reached out to the farm for comment, but they did not respond by the deadline.

These claims are not the first time people have spoken out about poor conditions in Bundaberg.

Former Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers Chairman, Allan Mahoney told Australian Story in 2017 that Fair Work Australia needed to step up by policing dodgy operators, stamping out a cash culture and delivering harsher penalties.

Earlier this month, the Fair Work Ombudsman told the NewsMail that their Agriculture Strategy involved targeting employers in 15 regions where there are indications of high risks of non-compliance across a two-year period, of which included a local Bundaberg farm.

“The Fair Work Ombudsman is conducting an investigation in relation to SSS Strawberries,” the spokesperson said.

“As this matter is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment further at this time.

Originally published as Backpackers warn fellow travellers about some of the working conditions in Bundaberg