Insecure by Design : Australia's Migration System and Migrant Workers' Job Market Experience

Despite pro-migration rhetoric of post-pandemic Australia, migrant workers complain continued discrimination and exploitation in the Australian job market. An online survey and in-depth interviews were conducted from July to September 2022. A total of 1,002 survey responses and 65 in-depth interviews informed this research.Although migrant workers record higher job market participation and employment rates than those of Australian-born workers, a majority of the research participants face significant entry barriers to the job market. Overseas skills are not recognised fairly, and locally earned degrees cannot help them overcome prejudices. Furthermore, businesses tend to equate workplace rights and citizenship/permanent residency and don't entertain applications made by workers on temporary visas.The research findings suggest a correlation between temporary migration status, insecure employment, and wage theft experience. Migrant workers on temporary visas are pushed to insecure jobs, often irrelevant to their education and training. Half of the research participants don't feel safe at work. Among many safety concerns, discrimination is the most common form of hazard, experienced by over half of the research participants. Migrant workers who experienced wage theft are more engaged in unsafe workplaces than those who didn't