I'm a migrant worker being treated unfairly

It can be difficult to deal with unfair treatment when you’re a migrant worker. Migrant workers and visa holders, including international students, have the same workplace rights as all other employees in Australia.

On this page:

How to discuss your workplace rights

Before you start – information you need

  • Information about your workplace entitlements.
  • Translated information in our Language help section.
  • Your employer’s business details, such as their ABN or registered address. This information can be found on a pay slip, employment contract or visa documentation.

Steps to take

1. Find out what the rules are

2. Speak to your employer if you feel comfortable

  • Once you’ve worked out your pay, talk to your employer to try to resolve the issue.
  • Remember, an employer can’t cancel your visa. Only the Department of Home Affairs external-icon.png can cancel a visa.
  • There are protections in place for visa holders who haven’t been able to comply with their visa conditions due to workplace exploitation. We have an arrangement with Home Affairs to support visa holders who come to us for help. Visa holders can seek help without fear of visa cancellation, even if they’ve breached their work-related visa conditions. This arrangement is called the Assurance Protocol. Read more on our Visa holders and migrant workers page.

3. Contact us for help

If you need more support

You can contact us for more information. We won’t contact your employer unless you give us permission to do so.

If you would like to talk to us using a translator, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450. They will call us for you and interpret your question.

Other common workplace problems

Tools and resources

Related information