Popular bakery chain Breadtop pays Amanda Yang, 21, $10 an hour though she should legally be paid $20.30.
International students in Victoria are being paid well below the legal minimum wage and the state government is offering fewer supports to protect against exploitation.
The International Student Legal Advice Clinic, once part of the Western Suburbs Legal Service (WSLS), no longer exists because the state government has pulled its funding.
A spokesperson for the WSLS was unable to explain why the funding had stopped.
Another government funded program, “Welcome to Victoria,” designed by the state government to encourage employers’ good treatment of foreign workers, including students, is on “pause”.
Monash University’s multicultural employment consultant Danny Ong was collaborating with the state government on this program until earlier this year.
“We didn’t have the resources to get people [employers] to sign up,” he said.
Mr Ong’s position was created by the university in April and he said it’s the only one of its kind in the country.
He said exploitation of international student workers was rife in 2003 when he arrived in Australia.
“The question is, 10 years later, how much has the country progressed in making a safe working environment for international students”? he asked.
Unaware of their rights
Council of International Students Australia president Thomson Ch’ng said the large number of students being exploited was due to lack of education about the Australian working environment.
“Not many of them are aware of the workplace regulations in Australia and if you’re not aware you’re putting yourself at risk of being exploited by your employers”, he said.
The hospitality trade union, United Voice, launched the campaign getrespect! a couple of months ago to raise awareness of international students and to collect evidence of rights abuses.
Workplace lawyer Charles Power said those in un-taxed cash-in-hand jobs risked being left “high and dry” if they injured themselves.
The Fair Work ombudsman provides help to international students however Mr Power said foreign students in need were “falling through the cracks”.
Mr Ong said there were “a lot of grey areas” in the Fair Work Act in relation to international students.
Half the legal pay rate
Mr Power said Fair Work Australia outlines the casual minimum wage for adults to be between $20-$22.
Malaysian student Song Chin Ho, 22, worked for five months in a restaurant before her boss increased her pay from $9 to $9.50. To reward her as a longer term employee, her pay rose to $10 and her boss began paying her tax.
Chinese student Amanda Yang, 21, who works for $10 an hour at bakery chain Breadtop, applied for a $27-an-hour library job in her university but said getting it was unlikely because competition with local students was intense.
