Investigators target hostels providing cheap fruit pickers

SUBSTANDARD backpacker accommodation will be targeted in a renewed crackdown on dodgy fruit picking practices across the state.

Cherrie exports from Glenburn Orchards at Cygnet are increasing to China after heavy promotion and marketing. (L-R) Cherries on the tree ready to be picked.

SUBSTANDARD backpacker accommodation will be targeted in a renewed crackdown on dodgy fruit picking practices across the state.

With the strawberry season already started, a Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) team will head back to Tasmania after a blitz on properties last summer.

Backpacker hostels that double as providers of cheap labour – often tourists with poor English and little knowledge of their rights – will be among their targets, the FWO’s Ray Smith said.

“We remind them to take steps to ensure that these workers are receiving their lawful entitlements,” Mr Smith said.

The Sunday Tasmanian revealed concerns from reputable backpacker hostel owners about their industry in January.

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Operators said they continued to have worries, saying Asian tourists were often the targets because they were less likely to question the deals they were on.

Workers had been known to lose their jobs if they changed hostels and could be forced to pay a premium for services such as transport, one operator said.

The Sunday Tasmanian is aware of serious concerns about some new hostels in the pipeline for this season.

On-farm accommodation also could be an issue, one labour contractor said.

So-called “looting” – where fruit pickers received only food and board in order to work enough days for a visa extension – led the contractor to complain to authorities that pickers were being treated like “prisoners”.

The less-regulated berry industry was causing most concern, the contractor said.

The FWO inspected 20 properties last summer and ­remained concerned about the behaviour of some labour firms and growers without proper contracts in place for workers.

Employees are entitled to piecework agreements, which allow competent pickers to earn 15 per cent more than the hourly rate of about $21.

“The FWO continues to caution growers who accept offers of labour well below this level from labour hire providers who turn up at their properties,” Mr Smith said.

Fruit Growers Tasmania spokesman Phil Pyke said he shared concerns about backpacker hostels but no concerns had been raised with his organisation about growers.

“The growers know what their obligations are and have to abide by all the standards set,” Mr Pyke said.

Mr Smith said the FWO would focus on cherries, berries and apples this season.