One in six migrants are paid less than the national minimum wage according to a new report by the Grattan Institute, which says governments have failed to stop exploitation of migrant workers with sexual harassment, bullying, and unsafe working conditions also rife.
The report suggests between 5 per cent and 16 per cent of employed recently arrived migrants – or between 27,000 and 82,000 workers – are paid below the national minimum wage of $21.38 (for adults over the age of 21), compared to up to 9 per cent of all Australian workers.
And between 1.5 per cent and 8 per cent of recent migrants – between 6,500 and 42,000 people – are underpaid by at least three dollars an hour.
