Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Migration is central to the story of Australia. As the daughter of a migrant, I know firsthand the contribution that migrants make to our wonderful and diverse society and the opportunities Australia can provide for those who come to our shores to work, study and live.

When migrants come to Australia, they expect a fair place to live and work. But too often they're subject to exploitation. We have heard shocking stories of trafficking, sexual exploitation, wage theft, bullying and assault. One of my constituents told me how she suffered such exploitation. She came to Australia on a training visa, working for an accounting firm. She worked for the firm for six months yet never received her full wages she was owed. Similarly, other trainees suffered. Her story is all too common.

Research by the Grattan Institute suggests that one in six migrants who recently arrived in Australia experience some form of exploitation at work. This is a terrible affliction for the individuals affected, but it also harms the vast majority of Australian businesses who are doing the right thing, and it damages Australia's ability to attract the workers we need for the economy to prosper. As well as being a place to live and work, Australia has for decades provided a home for people who have lost theirs because of wars, disasters and atrocities. But the Nixon review identified that the migration system has not been working for those with genuine claims for asylum. Because of inadequate resources and a process that lacks robustness and integrity, humanitarian pathways have been clogged up by people who are trying to game the system. The tragedy is that people with genuine claims, who are genuinely fleeing persecution, have been made to wait for years on end to have their cases assessed, forcing them to depend on charities and the community to make ends meet. Many others seeking asylum have also been denied the right to even a life in the community and, instead, have faced many months in detention.

Today, the average period for which the Australian government holds people in detention is a staggering 708 days, and 124 people in detention today have been detained for over five years. The sad truth is that our migration system has been exploited and politicised. We need to have an honest, compassionate conversation about migration, not further wedging based on fear of people overseas. Several of the measures identified by the Nixon review are welcome—in particular, the increase in resourcing for home affairs and the prioritisation of asylum claims. But this must not be the limit of reform, and there are real challenges that I do not believe the government is addressing. First, the new 'first in, first out' rule for asylum claims is great for those submitting new claims, but it leaves many of those with an existing claim waiting even longer. Especially given the current cost-of-living crisis and the difficult situation of many people seeking refugee status in this country, those whose circumstances suggest that they have a genuine protection claim must be better financially supported whilst their claim is processed.

Second, we must improve the integrity of our migration program in other areas, particularly in student visas. Australia offers international students generous rights to stay and work here after they graduate, and that is appropriate in many, many cases. These people make a huge contribution to Australia and often become permanent residents. But the Grattan Institute shows that, in some cases, we give false hope to thousands of graduates who will never gain permanent residency. This is adding to population pressures and threatens Australia's reputation as a destination for tertiary study. Indeed, only half of temporary graduates secure full-time employment, and most are working low-skilled jobs, earning less than $53,000 a year. In various reviews, the many examples of student visa holders who are not studying genuine programs and are not even attending their claimed course of study give further cause for concern.

Unfortunately, I think the federal government's policy is moving in the wrong direction in this area. The recent decision to allow many graduates to stay and work for even longer without any restrictions based on their ability to actually get a job in their area of study and their ability to support themselves over this period of time is going to lead to a doubling of the number of temporary graduate visa holders in Australia by 2030. It is a situation which is not in the interests of our economy or the graduates themselves and, again, sets unrealistic expectations about their ability to move to Australia permanently. I urge the government to give this issue further scrutiny.

Third, we need to get on with implementing the priority reforms to our skilled migration system. The government has set out a very positive direction of travel to create a more streamlined approach for businesses to employ skilled migrants. But we need to get on with implementing this.

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