This bill became law on Feb 20th, 2024.
Immigration, border & security
Employers can be punished for pressuring a visa holder to take work that would break their visa work rules or protect their migration status.
Employers were exploiting temporary migrant workers by pressuring them to break visa rules or accept abusive jobs, a gap highlighted by the 2019 Migrant Workers' TaskforceThe 2019 review that found temporary migrant workers were being exploited and recommended changes that became the basis for this bill.. The bill creates new offences and penalties, lets ministers ban offending employers from hiring more migrants, and requires their names to be published.
Australia already had workplace protections, but employers could still use visa conditions and fear of removal to pressure temporary migrants and unlawful workers into accepting underpayment or other exploitation, a gap the Migrant Workers' TaskforceThe 2019 review that found temporary migrant workers were being exploited and recommended changes that became the basis for this bill. identified in 2019. The Albanese government responded by introducing this bill in 2023 amid what ministers called a crisis of exploitation in workplaces, and Parliament passed it in February 2024 so migration law could add new offences, public naming and hiring bans for offending employers.
The main criticism was that the bill could fall short in practice if migrant workers still feared visa consequences for reporting abuse and if employers were left with unclear or overly burdensome compliance duties. These concerns were raised mainly by conditional or supportive voices, including Allegra Spender, Dan Tehan and unions calling for a stronger visa-safety guarantee, rather than by outright opponents.
Hon Andrew Giles MP introduced this bill. It passed on the voices.
Did it become law?
Yes
Became law 20 Feb 2024
Final passage
Passed without a counted vote
Members called out ‘aye’ or ‘no’ — no individual votes were recorded.
Passage speed
243 days
From introduction to the latest recorded parliamentary step
Meaning
Employers can be punished for pressuring a visa holder to take work that would break their visa work rules or protect their migration status.
Employers can be punished for pressuring an unlawful migrant to accept work by making them fear being forced to leave Australia.
The Immigration Minister can ban an employer from hiring new temporary migrants if that employer has had a migrant worker sanction within the last 5 years.
Home AffairsThe federal department that administers migration rules and will publish details of employers who are banned under this law. must publish the name and identifying details of each banned employer on the department’s website.
After a ban ends, the employer must give Home AffairsThe federal department that administers migration rules and will publish details of employers who are banned under this law. details of new non-permanent migrant workers they start employing for the next 12 months.
(aa) where a person coerces, or exerts undue influence or undue pressure on, a lawful non‑citizen to accept or agree to an arrangement in relation to work:Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 final Act text
(d) the first person’s conduct mentioned in paragraph (a) results in the worker believing that, if the worker does not accept or agree to the arrangement, there will be an adverse effect on the worker’s continued presence in Australia.Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 final Act text
(1) This Subdivision provides for the Minister to declare a person to be a prohibited employer for a specified period if:Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 final Act text
(1) If the Minister makes a declaration under subsection 245AYK(1) in relation to a person, the Minister must cause to be published on the Department’s website the following information:Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 final Act text
(4) After a person stops being a prohibited employer, the person must give the Department specified information about certain lawful non‑citizens who the person allows to begin to work in the 12 month period after so ceasing.Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 final Act text
Context
Australia already had workplace protections, but employers could still use visa conditions and fear of removal to pressure temporary migrants and unlawful workers into accepting underpayment or other exploitation, a gap the Migrant Workers' TaskforceThe 2019 review that found temporary migrant workers were being exploited and recommended changes that became the basis for this bill. identified in 2019. The Albanese government responded by introducing this bill in 2023 amid what ministers called a crisis of exploitation in workplaces, and Parliament passed it in February 2024 so migration law could add new offences, public naming and hiring bans for offending employers.
Migrant Workers' TaskforceThe 2019 review that found temporary migrant workers were being exploited and recommended changes that became the basis for this bill. report calls for migration law changes
The report was publicly released with recommendations that later became the basis for new offences and employer sanctions in this bill.
Hansard ↗Government introduces the bill after citing a crisis of exploitation
The minister said too many workers were vulnerable because of the visa system as the government moved to strengthen employer compliance rules.
Hansard ↗Parliament passes the bill
Both houses agreed on the same text, clearing the way for employer bans, publication of offenders and new migration offences to become law.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Royal AssentThe formal step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament. turns the bill into law
The Act completed the legal change needed to let migration law directly punish employers who misuse workers' visa status.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Referred to Committee (22/06/2023): Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee; Committee report (31/08/2023)
Referred to committee
APH bill page notesThe bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber. Later message exchanges with the other chamber were still recorded afterwards.
Third reading agreed to
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber considered amendments before the bill moved to the next stage.
Committee of the Whole debate
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
The House dealt with Senate amendments or requests so both chambers could settle the bill in the same form. The main amendments were: The APH record separately lists four voice outcomes: 25 government amendments were agreed, the House accepted Senate amendments, Senate amendments 1 to 24 were agreed, and a committee-stage question on keeping Division 2 of Part 6 of Schedule 1 was defeated.
Consideration of Senate message
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Finally passed both Houses
The Governor-General gave Royal AssentThe formal step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament., turning the bill into an Act.
Key criticism
The main criticism was that the bill could fall short in practice if migrant workers still feared visa consequences for reporting abuse and if employers were left with unclear or overly burdensome compliance duties. These concerns were raised mainly by conditional or supportive voices, including Allegra Spender, Dan Tehan and unions calling for a stronger visa-safety guarantee, rather than by outright opponents.
No party represented in the debate opposed the bill, but several supporters wanted stronger safeguards or cleaner implementation.
Workers may still be too scared to report abuse
A key reservation was that the bill did not yet give an ironclad guarantee that migrant workers who report exploitation would be safe from visa cancellation or other migration consequences, which could blunt the reform's effect.
Risk of extra red tape for legitimate employers
Coalition speakers said protections were needed but warned the scheme should not saddle employers, especially small business, with unnecessary compliance burdens while targeting only the minority doing the wrong thing.
The law would need strong enforcement and clear guidance to work
Some backers argued the bill was only a first step and would not change behaviour unless the government also enforced the rules properly, addressed the settings that enable exploitation and gave businesses practical help to comply.
Further sources
Votes
The bill passed both chambers on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage.
House agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Senate agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Amendments grouped by chamber. Where APH reports aggregate counts, the package card summarizes the matching public amendment sheets by source theme.
House
The House agreed to the amendments made by the Senate, so the bill could pass both chambers in the same form.
Carried on voices
The chamber decided this amendment without a counted division, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes.
Senate
The Senate agreed on voices to government amendments 1 to 24, covering commencement, work-arrangement wording and prohibited-employer safeguards.
Carried on voices
The chamber decided this amendment without a counted division, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes.
Government amendments clarify and tighten the bill by delaying commencement to 1 July 2024, replacing “a work arrangement” with “an arrangement in relation to work,” and adding a new definition section to sharpen the work-arrangement rules.
Passed on the voices
The chamber agreed to this amendment package without a counted vote. APH records the agreed count by amendment, while the source documents are grouped into amendment sheets.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Andrew Giles supports the bill and presents it as a necessary response to workplace exploitation, saying it will strengthen employer compliance and protect temporary migrant workers from coercion and underpayment.
Read in Hansard ↗James Stevens says the coalition will support the bill because it strengthens protections for migrant workers and tightens the rules on bad employers.
Read in Hansard ↗Spender says she will back the bill because it is a step in the right direction to crack down on exploitative employers and better protect migrant workers.
Read in Hansard ↗Farrell supports the bill and says it is needed to crack down on worker exploitation by strengthening compliance, creating new offences and tougher penalties for employers who misuse the migration system.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
26 speakers · 27 contributions · 26 support
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Andrew Giles on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Minister's second reading speech
Andrew Giles supports the bill and presents it as a necessary response to workplace exploitation, saying it will strengthen employer compliance and protect temporary migrant workers from coercion and underpayment. He argues it is needed to stop unscrupulous employers from undercutting law-abiding businesses.
“This bill aims to strengthen employer compliance and ensure that law-abiding Australian employers are not undercut by unscrupulous competitors.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Giles says the government supports the bill because it is needed to tackle the exploitation of temporary migrant workers and protect law-abiding employers. He argues exploitation is unacceptable and says the bill deserves support.
“So many workers who hold a temporary visa make a significant commitment when they leave their home to come to Australia. It is unconscionable that some employers target these very workers as cheap and exploitable labour. It's critically important for the government to demonstrate its strong commitment to addressing worker exploitation, because this is the right thing to do and because it is squarely in our national interest. We cannot build our nation on the back of exploitation. This bill deserves support.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“This Bill enhances the ability of Australia's visa system and enforcement regime to combat worker exploitation with a particular emphasis on targeting employers and third party facilitators who misuse our migration program and the rules designed to support it.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“In summary, I commend the bill to the House. I do genuinely hope that the opposition can bring themselves to support the bill—it's not usually in their DNA; it certainly runs against a decade of their record—and to ensure its quick passage through the Senate so that workers who are being exploited right now across our country can start to be confident of being able to speak up without fear of criminal prosecution and start to expose those employers who are systematically rorting and abusing the system, who are not just hurting the exploited migrant workers but driving down the wages of Australian workers. (Time expired)”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I commend this bill to the House, and I would urge all members to support it to put to rest amendments to the Migration Act that have been sorely warranted and called for by several experts and a number of parliamentary committees.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill in particular is very important because it makes it a criminal offence to coerce someone into breaching their visa conditions—a key recommendation from Fels and Cousins.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We support the Bill's expansion of the powers of the Australian Border Force (ABF) to crack down on unscrupulous employers and prevent employers found to be taking advantage of migrant workers from hiring temporary migrants.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Albanese government is putting a stop to this exploitation. That is what this bill is about. Members opposite can huff and puff, roll their eyes and do all sorts of things, but they know the truth of this. They know we are taking steps to ensure that no-one who comes to Australia is exploited or abused.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I also rise today to speak in favour of the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023. The Albanese government recognises that Australia's long-term economic prosperity cannot and should not be achieved through the exploitation of migrant workers.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill makes it a criminal offence to use a person's migration status to exploit them at work. That means employers threatening temporary migrants with deportation will now be treated as the criminals they really are.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This is a very important piece of legislation before us today, the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023. At the outset, in making my remarks in support of the bill, I want to acknowledge the many workers over many years who have advocated for change so that migrant workers would not be exploited in a country like Australia.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“That is why the bill before us today is so important. The key objectives of this bill are, firstly, to strengthen employer compliance laws, making it fairer for Australian businesses who do respect the rules and ensuring they are not undercut by scrupulous competitors; secondly, to remove barriers which discourage workers from speaking up and seeking support; and, thirdly, to implement two recommendations of the Migrant Workers' Taskforce report. Specifically, that's recommendation 19:”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I encourage all of those in this place to consider this bill and to vote for it. It is long overdue, it is action that's required, it implements key recommendations from Professor Allan Fels' Migrant Workers' Taskforce report and it is great to see it finally happening.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Albanese government is making sure that we stop these poor behaviours. We want these people to face serious criminal consequences, and some of the tools they use to coerce and exploit will be removed. I commend this legislation to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I'm proud of the work this government is delivering for Australian people. I'm certainly proud to recommend this bill to the House today.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill will take key recommendations from Professor Allan Fels's Migrant Workers' Taskforce report and implement them to create a much more appropriate standard for those employing migrant workers.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill, and our wider reforms, are making our economy fairer and reducing the amount of exploitation in the workforce, because it is only fair that people who come as temporary migrants be treated with the same respect and rights as other workers in our economy.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“There was a massive backlog created, as my friend the member for Canberra articulated well, of almost one million visa applications. Those opposite neglected basic administrative tasks by looking the other way, and, as a chief of the army once said, if you're looking the other way, that's not leadership. The previous government neglected workers by failing to act, and we are fixing that. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“At the heart of this bill is fairness and equity for all workers, regardless of where you've come from and what sort of work you're doing. It's at the core of our Australian way of life. Every worker should be paid equally with rights and conditions to ensure that no-one is exploited, especially vulnerable workers, people who have come from overseas, whether they're on a temporary visa or some form of bridging visa. We need to ensure that their rights are protected, not only because they are vulnerable and may not know the law but also because it is really important to empower them to speak out when something is being done wrongly to them at their workplace. I commend this bill. I'd like to think that everyone in this place would support it, because at the core of it is equality: equal pay for the same sort of work for any citizen of Australia and anyone who's here for temporary work.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill is one part of our plan to protect workers. In the 2023-24 budget, the Albanese government provided $50 million to the Australian Border Force over four years.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We are doing this by implementing the key recommendations from Professor Allan Fels's Migrant Workers' Taskforce report. There are new criminal offences for using a person's migration status to exploit them in the workplace. This is recommendation 19: there is a new tool to prohibit employers engaged in exploitive practices to be able to hire workers on temporary visas for a period. This is recommendation 20: to further deter those who seek to exploit the system and their employees, we are increasing penalties to make sure that those who do the wrong thing experience consequences for their actions.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I think this is a wonderful bill that the migrant community will welcome. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023 introduces several mechanisms to address some of these vulnerabilities and the crisis of migrant exploitation in Australia more broadly. This bill makes it a criminal offence for people to coerce someone into breaching their visa conditions. It bars businesses from further hiring people on temporary visas where they have exploited migrants via the introduction of prohibition notices. It increases penalties and compliance tools to deter exploitation. It repeals section 235, which makes it an offence for a noncitizen to contravene conditions of their visa and was seen to discourage the reporting of exploitative behaviour. In short, dodgy employers will no longer be able to assume that international students and other migrants will suffer in silence if they are underpaid or abused.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I call upon all members of this place to support this bill, to embrace the ideals that define us as a nation, to stand united against exploitation and unfairness and to show the world that Australia remains a beacon of hope and opportunity. Let us move forward, building a path that reflects the very essence of our identity as Australians—a diverse, compassionate and fair society that celebrates the richness that migration brings to our shores.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This government has made supporting workers its cornerstone. We've been making improvements constantly and consistently, across a range of sectors, to create better conditions for everyone, and this legislation before the House today is another step in the right direction. We recognise that it is a government's duty to protect and empower those who are most vulnerable. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill is an important contribution to preventing the exploitation of migrant workers, and I commend it to the chamber.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The migration amendment bill will strengthen the compliance and enforcement framework available under the Migration Act. The bill provides a framework to strengthen employer compliance and to help ensure that law-abiding Australian employers are not undercut by unscrupulous competitors.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
5 speakers · 5 support
“We support this bill through this chamber and obviously have no concern whatsoever in making sure that a stronger framework is in place to make sure that migrant workers are protected and given the protections that they rightly deserve: to be employed in conditions that follow the law of the land and that are the same conditions that anyone in this country should be employed under. We recognise that there is a uniqueness around the risk of exploitation of migrant workers, and so we welcome that as well.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“There are lots of problems with Labor's 'big Australia' approach. That's why, when it comes to small issues like this, we're happy to support the government. They've put legislation in place which builds on legislation that we developed. We just need to check the red-tape elements of it, but, in principle, we support it. I commend the bill, as long as we get proper Senate scrutiny of it and, potentially, have the ability to make changes to ensure it doesn't bring a huge red-tape burden to employers.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“At the outset, I would like to thank the department of immigration in relation to taking on board the constructive additional comments—and which I'll certainly put forward in this sense—which I provided as deputy chair of the committee. I think the amendments definitely enhance the legislation and I think they address one of the concerns that I raised—that there needed to be further detail provided with respect to a number of matters in the bill as opposed to leaving it in regulation. So I think we actually do have a better piece of legislation because of the work which the members of the department have undertaken, through the minister, in relation to the legislation. They should certainly be commended for that and hopefully will convey it to everyone involved.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“In particular the bill introduces criminal offences for employers who coerce temporary migrant workers into working in breach of their visa conditions and establishes a mechanism to prevent such employers from employing additional migrant workers for a period of time. These protections are appropriate. I do support these protections. I support this bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“As a result, the coalition will be supporting both the bill and the amendments moved by the government.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
2 speakers · 1 support · 1 mixed
“I thank the minister for making those assurances, but I invite the minister who sums up this debate on behalf of the government to put that commitment into the Senate so that it's recorded on the Hansard today or whenever the concluding stages of this bill occur. I invite the minister to make an assurance that, in relation to future co-design, the Department of Home Affairs will facilitate engagement with civil society groups—including with the Human Rights Law Centre and the Migrant Justice Institute with regard to their report Breaking the silence—a proposal for whistleblower protectionson draft migration regulations to provide for visa protection from visa cancellation for migrant worker whistleblowers. Further, I invite the minister to make a commitment that this engagement will include non-discretionary forms of protection as per the Labor Party platform and will occur as soon as is practicable and in any event early this year, to ensure those regulations are available to be tabled in the parliament as a priority. If we are able to get that commitment stated clearly by the government during this debate, that commitment, along with the government's amendments on sheet UB100, will achieve policy outcomes similar to those of the Greens amendments. Therefore, if we are able to get that commitment and the government does move its amendments on sheet UB100, I will not be moving the Greens committee of the whole amendments to the bill that have been circulated in my name.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Accordingly, the Australian Greens will be supporting this bill's passage and its purported objectives throughout the House today; however, we reserve our position in the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 mixed
“This bill is a step in the right direction but must be accompanied by additional measures if it is to have the desired effect.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
House · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Senate · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Senate · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Senate · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Senate · Committee of the whole: amendments considered
Amendment packages agreed
The chamber considered amendments before the bill moved to the next stage.
Senate · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
House · Consideration of Senate message
House agreed to Senate amendments
The House dealt with Senate amendments or requests so both chambers could settle the bill in the same form.
Parliament · Finally passed both Houses
Passed both houses
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Assent · Assent
Assent
The Governor-General gave Royal AssentThe formal step that turns a passed bill into an Act of Parliament., turning the bill into an Act.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee; Committee report (31/08/2023)
Referred to committee
Referred to Committee (22 June 2023): Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee; Committee report (31 Aug 2023)
APH bill page notes
