Earlier in the week, Four Corners broke a huge story about the exploitation of farm and factory workers with 417 (working holiday) visas.
“Labour-hire companies, like all Australian employers, are also legally required to treat and remunerate all of their employees … with work rights in accordance with Australian workplace law,” she said.
“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 worker’s rights are being compromised. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is currently investigating the employment of 417 visa holders by on-hire labour firms.”
“We’re just in the process of putting some terms of reference together and putting a committee together to actually do the investigation,” she said.“We’re hoping to get some pretty quick outcomes around how we can actually regulate probably some of the worst labour hire practices that we’ve seen in a long time. The inquiry will look at and investigate recommendations for the best possible form of regulation.”
“We need to get the message out loud and clear that every unethical labour contractor that’s operating needs to know that these activities won’t be tolerated in Victoria.”
