The crackdown follows the handing down of a report by former Victorian police commissioner Christine Nixon, to help address migrant worker exploitation and more effectively prevent, deter and sanction abuse of Australia’s visa framework.
The review also found “abuses of sexual exploitation, human trafficking and other organised crime” in Australia’s immigration system.
The Federal Government said it would not turn a blind eye to the exploitation of Australia’s visa system and would spend $50 million on tougher immigration compliance and help protect the integrity of the visa and migration system. It will also tighten the rules on migration agents “to stop exploitation of the system”.
Ms Sitou said while the former government “talked a big game”, it “fundamentally neglected the immigration system” by reducing the number of compliance officers by over 50 per cent.
She can’t believe how “a man was allowed to enter Australia and live in my electorate and run human trafficking operations even when he was kicked out of the UK for doing the very same thing”.
“Criminals and gangs have been exploiting weaknesses in our visa system left by the former Coalition government,” she said.
If anyone suspects immigration non-compliance, they should head to the Home Affairs website homeaffairs.gov.au.
“Similarly, if there is a labour-exploitation element, they should contact their relevant union or the Fair Work Ombudsman,” Ms Sitou said.
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles said by once again prioritising integrity in immigration, “we’re able to protect vulnerable communities from exploitation, and make our visa system fairer for everyone”.
Migrant worker exploitation crackdown
A CRACKDOWN on the exploitation of migrant workers and the misuse of the visa and migration system, has been welcomed by Federal MP for Reid, Sally Sitou.
