Labor plans to stamp out the exploitation of migrant workers, but it won’t succeed until we treat it like tax avoidance

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The exploitation of migrants is widespread in Australia. Our recent report for the Grattan Institute, Short-changed, found that as many as one in six migrant workers are paid less than the national minimum wage, which is meant to be the least a worker in Australia can be paid.

Underpayment is also a significant problem for preexisting workers – we estimate that between 3% and 9% of all employees are paid less than the minimum wage – but it is far more common among migrants.