Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Four Corners journalist Adele Ferguson's investigation into the 7-Eleven business empire exposed revelations of dodgy bookkeeping, blackmail and the mass underpayment of its workforce, and that exposure showed that this has been a continuing practice for some time and it was also a practice under the previous Labor government. The allegations made in the Four Corners program are concerning. While the majority of employers do the right thing and treat their workers with the decency they deserve, we have a responsibility to ensure we are doing all we can to address the instances where workers' rights are being compromised, which is why the government continues to undertake targeted compliance activities across several departments.

Exploitation of workers in Australia, whether domestic or foreign, is unlawful and any employer engaging or paying workers below those conditions are breaking the law. All visa holders must be employed in line with Australian pay, conditions and workplace entitlements under the Fair Work Act. All employers, as we know, are legally required to treat and remunerate all of their employees, including foreign visa holders, with work rights in accordance with Australian workplace law.

Both the Department of Immigration and the Fair Work Ombudsman are active in ongoing compliance campaigns to ensure that visa holders are being paid in accordance with Australian pay and conditions. I find the member for Bendigo's comments interesting because Fair Work was established under the Gillard-Rudd government and therefore, on that basis, I would have expected them to have been very active in addressing this issues within that period. In hindsight, it is always easy to criticise. Governments have enduring departments that undertake this work so when information is exposed, the department then follows through.

Mr Champion interjecting—

It is interesting, member for Wakefield, that you were in government for six years. Why did you not address this then? This is not just now; it did happen. The Four Corners expose implied greater than what you are saying. The government actively encourages overseas workers who have concerns that their workplace rights are being compromised to contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 131 394 or the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The Fair Work website has material translated in 27 languages and includes fact sheets.

In June 2014, the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced a long-term inquiry into systemic workplace issues at 7-Eleven franchises. As part of this inquiry, the Fair Work Ombudsman made unannounced site visits at 20 7-Eleven stores across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane on 13 September 2014. These site visits identified contraventions in a majority of stores. This inquiry remains ongoing.

In January 2010, the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced legal proceedings against a company operating 7-Eleven stores in Geelong and South Yarra in Victoria and against two individuals responsible for setting and adjusting the employees' pay rates, resulting in a court compensation order of almost $90,000 and a penalty of $150,000. A total of $30,000 in penalties recovered from the individuals was paid to the employees. The Fair Work Ombudsman later wound up the company.

I want to go to a couple of comments that reflect this issue in the long-term context. When you consider the coalition's record compared to Labor, Labor cut staff funding at the Fair Work Ombudsman from 900 in 2009-10 to 723 in 2013 when the then minister, Bill Shorten, stopped being the responsible minister. When you cut then you leave an agency exposed in the work covered, member for Wakefield. Bill Shorten had the power to take action when he was minister and he did nothing. Brendan O'Connor had the power to take action when he was immigration minister but the evidence shows that he did nothing.

Labour hire companies, like all Australian employers, are legally required to treat and remunerate all of their employees, including foreign visa holders, with work rights in accordance with Australian law. I hope that we do not see a continuance of this in the future and that those who break the law face the consequences of the penalties that are applied. I would encourage those who have visas that work in conditions where the salaries are not commensurate to certainly expose that to the relevant agencies.

Debate adjourned.

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