Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023, and I do support this bill in principle. The bill seeks to amend the Migration Act 1958 to strengthen employer compliance measures in relation to protecting temporary migrant workers from exploitation. The latest figures available reveal that on average there around 1.6 million temporary visa holders with a full or partial right to work in Australia each year. Obviously many of us speak in this place regularly about the importance of immigrants and migrants into Australia not just for economic reasons but also because they have built our society and will continue to do so. Our economy, our businesses and our country rely heavily upon temporary migrant workers to fill shortages within our existing labour market and increase the overall productivity of Australia. Our industrial relations system should be flexible, it should be diverse and it should definitely protect all workers, including temporary migrant workers.

Although this is not the driving purpose of the temporary work regime, many temporary migrant workers decide to pursue full Australian citizenship through legitimate means available to them through immigration policies. When I attend ceremonies at my local councils, Liverpool city and Sutherland shire, it is always a pleasure to meet and welcome many of our newest Australians from all around our globe, many of whom started their Australian journey as temporary migrant workers. The work performed by temporary migrants is important. It is valued by employers and Australians overall. Temporary migrant workers have predominantly worked in the areas of agriculture, food production and meat processing, but they've also been required, when our economy has needed it and individual employers have needed it, in a full range of various goods and services across our economy.

Employers value employees as a rule. However, no system is perfect, and temporary migrant workers can be at risk of exploitation. This bill seeks to implement recommendations of the former coalition government's 2019 report of the Migrant Workers' Taskforce, and I think it's important to remember the task force was established in 2016 under a coalition government to identify proposals for improvements in the law, law enforcement and investigation and other practical measures to identify and rectify cases of migrant worker exploitation. The task force was chaired by Professor Allan Fels and included members from a wide variety of government agencies. The report made 22 recommendations in total, and the coalition while still in government accepted in principle all 22 recommendations. The stated purpose of this bill is to implement particularly recommendations 19 and 20 of the task force's report. This bill includes some measures contained in the Migration Amendment (Protecting Migrant Workers) Bill 2021. So this was work which was commenced under the former coalition government.

In particular the bill introduces criminal offences for employers who coerce temporary migrant workers into working in breach of their visa conditions and establishes a mechanism to prevent such employers from employing additional migrant workers for a period of time. These protections are appropriate. I do support these protections. I support this bill. However, this does not in any way mean that I am saying that the vast majority of employers, or indeed a very large minority of employers, exploit their temporary workers. The bill also provides measures to deter employers from exploiting temporary migrant workers, including mechanisms to encourage voluntary compliance and increase penalties for breaches of relevant workplace laws. There are also amendments introduced to remove some of the disincentives for temporary migrant workers to report exploitation where currently they may fear that their visa status would be in jeopardy if they did so. These all are appropriate measures.

Temporary migrant workers form a very important part of our national economy and workforce. Overall, they are valued and supported by their employers. It is appropriate that these workers are afforded the full legal protections to guard against some opportunities that may exist for exploitation. Migrants, including temporary migrants, have helped to build our country and will continue to do so into the future. Our industrial relations system should be flexible and diverse and include protections for all of our employees, including temporary migrant workers. Temporary migrant workers and having a viable and diverse workplace allow businesses to adjust their individual workforces when needed to meet the inevitable ebbs and flows in demand for goods and services across the country. We live in a global society. We operate in a global commercial world. Most of our employers are honourable and really do look after all their workers, but it is appropriate that safeguards are put in place, particularly for temporary migrant workers. And for those reasons, I commend this bill to the House.

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