Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, I present the committee’s report Temporary visas … permanent benefits: ensuring the effectiveness, fairness and integrity of the temporary business visa program, together with the Hansard record of proceedings, the minutes of proceedings and documents presented to the committee. I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

The 457 program has been somewhat in the news recently, due to various events, so it is an opportune time for us to be tabling this report and providing a number of recommendations to improve the program. The temporary business visa program—they are more commonly referred to as 457 visas—was established to address areas of skills shortages within Australia. No-one can deny that there is a skills crisis in this country. A serious lack of investment by this government has created a situation where the 457 visa program is required to deal with the shortages.

The problem comes when a program is managed in a manner that leaves it open to abuse by those seeking a source of cheap labour rather than a means to fill a skills shortage. The 457 visa program should never overshadow the need to invest in the training and skills of working Australians. That is why Labor has set out a broad-ranging program investing in an education revolution that will help relieve the skills shortage. From trades training schools in high schools to $111 million to encourage more maths and science teachers, Labor understands how important it is to address future skills shortages while at the same time ensuring that we are able to deal with the current skills shortage.

From the outset, let me say that Labor agrees broadly with the report that has been tabled. Labor supports the recommendations detailed in the report, although we feel that some have not gone far enough and too many of them should have been in the original 457 program. The lack of an explicit recommendation requiring migrants to receive market rates of pay is the most glaring omission. That the 457 program can still be used to undercut local market rates of pay and conditions rather than to fulfil legitimate skills shortages is bad for visa holders and bad for Australian workers. Ultimately, it has the effect of driving down wages and conditions and potentially taking jobs away from working Australians, and that is something that this program should be avoiding.

Whilst this report recommends many improvements, it is very important to point out its shortcomings. A mechanism for ensuring market rates of pay for workers on 457 visas would address the most pressing shortcomings that we feel exist in the current scheme. It is striking that there is no reference to market rates of pay, because the principle of equal pay for equal work is a fundamental one. The 457 program is still not operating under this principle; indeed, it makes it easier for employers to underpay their 457 workers, compared to Australian workers. A simple requirement that employers pay their 457 employees the same as an Australian working in the same position would rectify this.

It is extremely concerning to us that there have been widespread reports in the media about the abuse of 457 visas. The workers coming here on 457 visas have the potential to be exploited, and a number of cases of abuse have been reported in the media. This is unacceptable. I will use the example of Filipino farm supervisor Pedro Balading, who was working in the Northern Territory. It is alleged that he died after being thrown from the vehicle he was riding in. It is further alleged that he was brought to the country under false pretences to work in a job that was not the one he was told he would be working in. He then faced the indignity of having his wages garnished for his living expenses—something that should never have occurred. Mohammed Nayem, from Singapore, was forced to work a 50-hour week, yet was paid for only 38 hours. As well, he had $100 deducted from each pay packet for his living arrangements—that is, to share a converted office with five other men.

These men do not deserve to be exploited like this. It is these abuses under this program that most concern us, and this report does not go far enough in addressing them. I believe that, for the 457 program to operate effectively and to ensure that the workers coming over here are properly protected, a much stronger oversight capacity needs to be exercised. As I mentioned earlier, the recommendations in this report are welcomed, but some do not go far enough. Labor is worried about the reported abuses, and we are also concerned that there is little scope for adequate oversight in the 457 program. That is why we are pleased to see the committee has recommended that a comprehensive complaints mechanism be available for 457 workers so that they can confidentially report concerns about their employment conditions. It is of the utmost importance that individuals can lodge a complaint without the fear of retribution from their employer. This simple facility should have been part of the original scheme, but it was not. Whilst this recommendation is good, a complaints mechanism is useless unless it is widely available so that 457 workers are fully aware of their rights and responsibilities before they start their job. A complaints mechanism would allow workers to record any instances of employers abusing their employees and provide a greater degree of safety for employees.

So what is Labor’s answer? Under a federal Labor government, employers would be required to pay market rates of pay to their employees. A fair system would ensure that 457 visas were used for genuine areas of skills shortage—which, after all, is the main aim of the program. It would also ensure that employers sponsoring 457 workers are not undercutting Australian wages and conditions. Australia needs a temporary work visa program, but it has been deliberately poorly managed by this government.

The skills shortage, as I mentioned earlier, is a real issue for many industries, and the 457 visa program can help address this in the short term. However, in the long term, nothing can substitute for large-scale investment in training. The existing 457 program has the hallmarks of the Howard government: it is unfair and poorly thought-out. Labor would make the changes that I have laid out in my speech to make this program beneficial not only to all the Australian employers who need a skilled workforce but also to migrants hoping to establish themselves in Australia.

We commend this report to the Senate because it addresses a number of concerns that have been expressed with regard to 457 visas, but we point out that it does not go far enough. Also, I believe that a large number of these concerns should have been addressed in the original program rather than waiting until this report was completed to point out the shortcomings.

I thank all those who provided submissions to the inquiry. We were well able to gauge the mood of the public throughout the course of our hearings and we heard a wide range of opinions. I thank the committee secretariat for all the work that they have done in helping get this report together. I also thank the other members of the committee who contributed to the final report. I hasten to note that, during the hearings, witnesses made statements which we could not have verified because the witnesses felt too intimidated to appear before us. I commend the report to the Senate.