A report produced by the Temporary Migrant Worker Taskforce was made public this week, followed by confirmation by the Morrison Government that it will accept the report’s recommendations ‘in-principle’. The taskforce was formed following a spate of high-profile cases involving exploitation of temporary and migrant workers and was asked to recommend improvements to strengthen existing laws. 

The report and recommendations will be considered in detail by relevant MBA policy committees due to meet shortly, however there are already significant concerns with some of the key changes it recommends. It remains unclear, for example, how the recommendation for a ‘National Labour Hire Registration’ scheme will be of benefit to temporary migrant workers. 

Whilst it is encouraging that a focus of a number of the recommendations of the report are on evidence-based, targeted approaches to addressing the information needs of temporary migrant workers about workplace laws, a major concern is the recommendation to make underpayment of wages a criminal offence under the Fair Work Laws. Given the context within which the recommendation is made, it’s likely the new offences will be targeted only towards those who deliberately and systematically underpay and exploit temporary migrant workers – and not those who inadvertently make a genuine mistake.

However, given that the Morrison Government appears to have dropped two bills it introduced last year that would have introduced (non-criminal) sanctions for union officials who deliberately and systematically break the law, its acceptance of this report’s recommendations to criminalise underpayment of wages has already left many scratching their heads, particularly those in small business who continue to be subject to unlawful bullying and thuggery by union officials.

Master Builders will engage with Government in the coming weeks to understand what the next steps will be.