New laws protecting migrant workers will take effect in July 2024! The updated Migration Act in Australia increases compliance and targets employer exploitation. Study up on these significant adjustments.

With the goal of reducing migrant worker exploitation, the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 has made significant revisions to the Migration Act 1958. The purpose of these revisions is to guarantee fair competition among businesses and to discourage employers and other labor chain participants from abusing persons on the basis of their immigration status.

Commencing on July 1st, 2024, the new legislation aim to:

>Minimize the mistreatment of contract migrant laborers.
>Boost employer compliance.
>Boost the effectiveness of justice in the workplace.

The following three newly created work-related offenses make it unlawful for sponsors, labor hire middlemen, and employers to:

> Force or threaten to violate the terms of a temporary visa holder’s work-related visa.
> A non-citizen lacking a valid visa may be coerced or pressured to accept or consent to a work-related arrangement.
> Take advantage of a worker’s temporary visa status to your advantage at work.

 These rules cover a range of situations in which exploitation could take place, such as:

>paying migrant labor too little.
>forcing migrant laborers to put in more hours than their visa permits.
>threatening to revoke a migrant worker’s visa while stressing that this is not within the jurisdiction of employers.
>forcing foreign laborers to give up their passports.
>forcing foreign laborers to engage in unwelcome sexual behaviors.
>forcing migrant laborers to put up with subpar living circumstances, like insufficient food, housing, or access to electricity and running water.

Regardless of their visa status, all migrant workers are covered by these rights. This covers people who are allowed to work, people whose visas have expired, and people who are working against the terms of their visa.