Worker amnesty calls backed by former ACCC boss Allan Fels

An amnesty of undocumented workers to address a looming shortage of farm workers has won support from a new quarter — in the form of the former boss of Australia’s competition and consumer watchdog, Professor Allan Fels.

Professor Allen Fels has supported a push for an illegal farm worker amnesty. Picture: Shaney Balcombe

FORMER ACCC boss Professor Allan Fels has called on the Federal Government to give “serious consideration” to an amnesty of illegal workers, given the impending labour shortage about to be felt by horticulture farmers across Australia.

Professor Fels, who chaired the Migrant Workers’ Taskforce, said COVID-19 has created a scenario where farmers would be left critically short of workers come harvest time, giving rise to the need to legalise Australia’s undocumented workforce that estimates have put at between 60,000 and 100,000 people.

“I believe serious consideration should be given to an amnesty for the majority of illegal temporary workers,” Professor Fells told The Weekly Times. “In the present circumstances there is quite a strong case for giving a one-off amnesty without fear of creating a very harmful precedent for the long-term.”

He said due to restrictions on international travel, a one-off amnesty would be unlikely to trigger a flood of illegal workers into the country, which was flagged as an impediment to granting undocumented workers legal working rights by Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge last week.

Professor Fels led the federal government’s Migrant Workers’ Taskforce, which was made up of multiple government agencies including Border Force and the Fair Work Ombudsman, following revelations of systemic underpayment of wages at 7-Eleven stores. The task force found wage underpayment of migrant workers was widespread and entrenched and recommended tougher penalties including criminal sanctions and a bolstered FWO.

Support for an amnesty of illegal workers has gained momentum in recent weeks as state governments scramble to find a solution to the horticulture industry’s work shortage of 26,000 staff by March.

Professor Fels’ call is supported by Dr Joanna Howe, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide and a leading expert on the legal regulation of temporary labour migration.

Dr Howe recently co-authored a report that found Australia’s undocumented labour force was at risk of catching and spreading COVID-19 unless their immigration status was addressed. She said the coronavirus pandemic had created a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for the Federal Government to address the challenge of horticulture’s undocumented workforce.

“There is an urgent need for an amnesty to resolve the significant drop in working holiday makers that is going to leave fruit and vegetables rotting this harvest,” Dr Howe said.

“We’ve removed the mainstay of their workforce and haven’t been able to replace it. Attempts have been made but the reality is they won’t replace the huge contribution of working holiday makers to this sector.

“With closed borders there is a unique opportunity to address the ongoing and endemic challenge of undocumented migrant workers that has existed in the horticulture industry for decades. These workers are highly skilled in horticulture and the industry could really do with access to that group right now.”

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