Do I need a lawyer or a migration agent?

Many visa applications are lodged directly. A registered migration agent or immigration lawyer helps with complex or refused matters.

What is a Section 48 bar?

It limits the visas you can apply for while unlawfully in Australia after a refusal or cancellation. A professional can map your options.

Can I appeal a refused visa?

Often yes — the Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviews many decisions, but strict time limits apply.

Do migrant workers have the same workplace rights as Australians in 2026?

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, visa holders and migrant workers in Australia have the same workplace rights as other employees, whatever their migration status.

Yes. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, all visa holders and migrant workers have the same workplace rights and protections as other employees in Australia, regardless of their migration status. That is the position stated on the Department of Home Affairs "Information for employers and labour hire organisations" page, current as at October 2026. It does not change because you hold a student visa, a temporary skilled visa, a working holiday visa, or no valid visa at all. This article is general information about how the rules fit together rather than advice about your own circumstances, so check the official pages listed at the end or get help from a qualified professional before acting on it.

What does "the same rights" actually cover?

The three areas the Department identifies as workplace rights for visa holders and migrant workers are pay and wages, leave and other entitlements, and discrimination. The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) is the body official pages point to for free advice and education on those matters, and for reporting employers who are not following workplace laws.

So the minimum pay rates, penalty rates, leave accrual and protection from discrimination that apply to an Australian permanent resident or citizen colleague apply to you on the same terms. Your employer cannot set a lower rate, withhold leave, or treat you differently because of your visa.

Does your visa status reduce what you can claim?

No. Australian law treats exploitation as unlawful even where the worker is doing paid or unpaid training, has broken their visa rules, or does not hold a valid Australian visa. A breach of a visa condition by the worker does not give the employer a defence for underpaying them.

This matters most in the situation people worry about: being told that complaining will lead to a report to immigration. Official guidance makes clear that it is against the law for an employer to threaten to cancel a visa, threaten to report a worker to immigration authorities, or threaten future visa applications. Those threats are themselves part of the conduct the Migration Act 1958 addresses, not a shield the employer can hold over you.

What counts as exploitation of a migrant worker?

The Department's list of unlawful employer conduct goes well beyond underpayment. It is against the law for an employer to:

keep a migrant worker's passport
threaten to cancel a visa
threaten to report a worker to immigration authorities
pressure someone to work more hours than their visa allows
threaten future visa applications
force migrant workers to live in unsafe, dirty or crowded housing as part of their job
sexually harass a migrant worker
underpay a migrant worker
ask a migrant worker to repay sponsorship, nomination, or recruitment costs
ask a migrant worker for money in exchange for visa sponsorship

The protections cover both work and non-work related matters that arise in the workplace, including surrender of a passport, inadequate living conditions such as poor housing or limited access to running water and electricity, and pressure to work beyond visa conditions.

What happens to an employer who exploits migrant workers?

Under the Migration Act 1958, employers and labour hire organisations can face criminal charges and civil penalties, including large fines, for exploiting temporary migrant workers. For serious, deliberate or repeated breaches, penalties include up to 5 years' jail and fines of up to $131,040 (360 penalty units).

An employer can also be banned from hiring temporary migrant workers under the prohibited employer scheme. The length depends on the finding: there is no maximum length for human trafficking and modern slavery, up to 10 years for a criminal offence other than those, and up to 5 years for all other migrant worker sanctions. Once designated, the employer cannot employ any new temporary visa holders, although existing temporary visa holders already working there may continue if they wish.

Sponsors carry a separate set of obligations. A sponsor who fails to meet them may face cancellation of approval, a ban on sponsoring other workers, a ban on future applications for approval, an infringement notice, civil penalties imposed by the courts, a compliance notice, or an Enforceable Undertaking. Official examples of amounts are $79,200 for a body corporate or $15,840 for an individual for each failure under an infringement notice, and up to $396,000 for a body corporate or $79,200 for an individual for each failure in civil penalties. A penalised sponsor's business or personal name can also be published on the register of sanctioned sponsors.

Are there extra protections if you are a sponsored skilled worker?

Yes, in the sense that your sponsor has obligations under migration law on top of everything owed under the Fair Work Act 2009. An employer can be reported to Border Watch if they force a temporary migrant worker to work too many hours, pay the sponsored worker less than the salary agreed when the visa was granted, take money from the worker's pay for sponsorship, recruitment or migration agent costs, or make the worker do a different job from the one approved when the visa was granted.

Suppose a sponsored worker is told their duties are changing to a role outside the approved nomination, or that part of their pay will be deducted to cover recruitment costs. Both are matters official pages identify as reportable conduct against the sponsor, independent of whether the pay still meets the relevant award.

How can a worker raise a problem?

Pay, leave, and discrimination issues go to the Fair Work Ombudsman. Matters such as taking a migrant's passport, using a migrant's visa situation to threaten or force them to work, and forcing migrants into overcrowded or unsafe housing can be reported through Border Watch. You do not need to give your name when making a report.

What do these rules look like in practice?

The Department publishes case studies showing how the two bodies of law overlap. In one, an international student working at a petrol station is rostered past the 48 hours' work a fortnight allowed on his student visa, is underpaid, and is told that raising the underpayment will get him reported for the visa breach. Allowing him to work in breach of his conditions and underpaying him were already unlawful; pressuring him to break his visa conditions adds a further breach.

In another, a labour hire company sends a worker whose tourist visa has expired to horticulture work, underpays her, and threatens to report her when she complains. In a third, a sponsored IT worker is sexually harassed by her manager and told that causing trouble will end any chance of a permanent visa nomination. In each case the visa-related pressure is treated as part of the exploitation, not as a reason the worker loses protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I still have workplace rights if my visa has expired or I am working without a valid visa?

Yes. It is illegal to exploit migrant workers even if they have broken their visa rules or do not hold a valid Australian visa. Underpayment and other unlawful conduct remain unlawful regardless of the worker's status.

Can my employer threaten to report me to immigration if I complain about my pay?

No. Threatening to report a worker to immigration authorities, threatening to cancel a visa, or threatening future visa applications are all listed as unlawful employer conduct. A visa threat does not remove your right to be paid correctly.

Can my employer make me repay sponsorship, recruitment or migration agent costs?

No. Asking a migrant worker to repay sponsorship, nomination or recruitment costs, or asking for money in exchange for visa sponsorship, is unlawful. For sponsored workers, taking those costs out of the worker's pay is also reportable conduct against the sponsor.

What if my employer pressures me to work more hours than my visa allows?

Pressuring someone to work more hours than their visa allows is against the law. For sponsored skilled workers, forcing a temporary migrant worker to work too many hours is separately listed as reportable conduct to Border Watch.

Can I report my employer anonymously?

Yes. Official guidance states that you do not need to give your name when you make a report, whether the issue is pay and entitlements through the Fair Work Ombudsman or coercion and passport matters through Border Watch.

Does it make a difference that I was hired through a labour hire company?

No. Using a labour hire organisation does not free a business from its obligations to migrant workers, and labour hire organisations themselves can face criminal charges and civil penalties under the Migration Act 1958 for exploiting temporary migrant workers.