Campaign to Protect the Rights at Work in Chinese Community
The Chinese population in Australia and experience of oppression on workplace rights in Australia
The findings from Census data 2016 suggested that approximately 26.3 per cent are born overseas; it was the first time (2016) in Australia’s history that the majority of people born abroad are from Asia instead of Europe. According to the statistics in in Census 2016, 6,150,000 people who were born overseas, compared to 5,280,802 people in 2011 (Census, 2016). 509,555 residents as 2.2 per cent of total population in Australia were born in China, right after the population of local Australians.
According to a ‘Map of Race and Ethnicity in Sydney’ (VoomMaps, 2016), Chinese residents have contributed to 7.2 per cent of total population in Greater Sydney. A large number of Chinese population resident in areas around universities such as University of Sydney, University of New South Wales and Macquarie University, in local governments areas like Strathfield, Burwood, Parramatta, Campsie, Hurstville, Chatswood and Hornsby.
Visa holders and immigrants have experienced a lot of issues on their workplace rights in Australia. Especially, international students, new graduates who hold a working visa, or new permanent residents in Australia, might have experienced more workplace exploitation in this context.
According to the Department of Home Affairs of Australian Government, workplace exploitation is mainly reflected in the following behaviours (Department of Home Affairs):
- job offers that require someone to make an upfront payment or give back some of the pay;
- promises of permanent residence in Australia;
- refusing to provide minimum conditions of work and pay;
- refusing to provide a payslip;
- threats to cancel someone’s visa or report him or her to the Department of Home Affairs;
- forcing someone to handover their passport or other travel documents; and
- forcing someone to perform work duties they are not comfortable doing.
The first behaviour of workplace exploitation has been prevalent across Australia. It is widely known that international students usually do casual or part-time work to cover their tuition and living expenses. Their working hours are limited in the visa condition, which are 20 hours per week. Most of the international students follow the time limit, however, their employers might not follow the legal requirements on minimum conditions of pay. A case revealed that in the convenience chain 7-Eleven across Australia, a lot of international students have been exploited at workplace in terms of their pay. ABC (November 21st, 2016) reported that in a Brisbane 7-Eleven which was operated by Xia Jing Qi Pty Ltd, ‘Anna and other staff were told to pay back thousands of dollars or face losing their jobs’. Anna says ‘’she’s initially paid the full award rate of $25 per hour, but she has to hand back $11 per hour worked to her boss in cash’’. All the employees in this store are Chinese students. After they paid back their boss in cash, their actual hourly wage was approximately $10 per hour, which was far below the hourly wage of $24.30 that is legally required according to the General Retail Industry Award 2010 (Epoch Times, March 5th, 2018).
Fair Work Ombudsman got involved and investigated the above circumstances. The investigator emphasised that all employers in Australia are legally obliged to pay legal minimum wage and maintain accurate payment records, which leaves no room for negotiation. However, overseas employees were reluctant to articulate their experience of oppression or know little about their workplace rights in Australia. Therefore, it is important to promote voluntary articulation among overseas employees who have experience oppression against their workplace rights.
Availability and accessibility of legal service for overseas employees on workplace rights in Australia
To understand the reluctance of Chinese employees to report their oppression at workplace, it is necessary to explore the availability and accessibility of legal service on workplace rights in Australia.
Fair Work Ombudsman is an Australian government department that promotes harmonious, productive and cooperative workplaces. They help employees, employers, contractors and the community to understand and comply with Australia’s workplace laws. They provide information and advice, investigate workplace complaints and enforce Commonwealth workplace laws.
Fair Work Ombudsman has translated their website into 40 languages. In their Language Help Page has information already translated in 30 different languages to help employees understand what their rights are when working in Australia. People can also call the Translating and Interpreting Service and speak to them directly.
However, translation is not available for all pages. Their website pages of Pay and Conditions Tool as well as My Account resources are in English only at the current stage. The Translating and Interpreting Service is not easily accessible as well because it might take a long time for callers to hold the phone call and wait for specific interpreters. Therefore, the information that Fair Work Ombudsman provides might not be completely understandable or transparent to overseas employees, especially to those who have lower English skills.
There are a lot of law firms across Australia. They provide a wide range of legal services to different target groups including overseas clients. Some large law firms provide services particularly to Chinese clients. For example, MacDonnells Law in the State of Queensland has founded an Australia China Legal Group which is expertise in interpreting Chinese and Australian legal documents, working with Chinese investors and businesses, and connecting with an Australian client base including Government entities at Commonwealth, State and local levels. Similarly, Hunt & Hunt Lawyers in the State of New South Wales has launched offices in Shanghai, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide for providing advice to clients pursuing trade and investment opportunities in Australia and China.
However, most of law firms focus on Chinese clients’ needs of trade and businesses for profit. Some of them work on litigation matters, but the legal fees that they charge might not be affordable to some clients such as international students or new immigrants in comparatively lower economic status. These firms neither advocate for legal rights of people who have experienced oppression within different social contexts, nor providing free consultation service or legal support to people who are unable to afford the legal fees. Therefore, legal services regarding workplace rights of overseas employees are not fully available or easily accessible in Australia, which has exacerbated the experience of oppression.
Australian Chinese Workers Association and the mission of the campaign
The mission of Australian Chinese Workers Association is to promote, implement, and develop four principles in Australia: free trade doctrine, corporatism, multiculturalism and republicanism (Chen, January 4th, 2016). Australian Chinese Workers Association has advocated for multiculturalism and equal rights of Chinese immigrants in Australia by joining parades to protect Section 18C of racial Discrimination Act 1975, publishing a magazine ‘Asia Pacific Humanities’, and running annual Youth Leadership Campaign which promotes political awareness and community services, with the support of 9 Federal MPs, 12 community leaders and industrial leaders. In addition, multiculturalism is promoted in the social activities organised by Australian Chinese Workers Association and supported by Australian and Chinese organisations, such as the Twilight Parade of Sydney Chinese New Year Festival exchanging arts and cultures.
In 2016, Australian Chinese Workers Association has done a historically significant event in NSW Parliament House which has been a milestone of Australian multiculturalism. On the Australian Harmony Day, with the support from NSW Government, the Sydney General Consulate of China, Mining Division of Construction, Forestry, NSW Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and community associations, Australia Chinese Workers Association successfully hosted a public memorial for the Chinese victims during Australian Gold Rushes. A book following this event was composed and published to commemorate the Chinese miners in Australian Gold Rushes. Recently, a research report titled ‘Annual Report on Development of Chinese Community in Australia 2017’ has been in the composing and reviewing process. Australian Chinese Workers Association has invited researchers in Australia, China, the United Kingdom to be engaged in this project, and considerable research reports were submitted. This reports aims at researching the historical and current living circumstance of the Chinese community in Australia and advocating for positive policy change for Chinese population and Australia’s multicultural society.
Collaborating with Fair Work Ombudsman and advocating for legal rights of Chinese community at workplace in Australia is one of the main missions and goals of Australian Chinese Workers Association in the following five years (Chen, December 17th, 2017). Starting from serving Chinese employees in Sydney, Australian Chinese Workers Association is in the process of organising a campaign which is supported by Fair Work Ombudsman. This campaign aims at raising public awareness of human rights and advocacy in Chinese community as well as promoting equal rights of employment and workplace rights, providing overseas students, working and holiday visa holders and permanent residents from Chinese background with legal assistance.
Initial action plan for the campaign
The main target groups of the campaign will be working and holiday visa holders, overseas students and new permanent residents.
First of all, Australian Chinese Workers Association will collaborate with Fair Work Ombudsman to undertake some face-to-face seminars. Seminars for overseas students could be held at TAFE, colleges and universities. Seminars for working and holiday visa holders could be held at a variety of career fair or social events. Seminars could also be held in communities where a large group of Chinese immigrants live. These seminars aim at raising the awareness of employment and workplace rights among international students and Chinese immigrants. These seminar illustrate important issues regarding employment and workplace, such as:
- conditions of different types of visa holders for working in Australia
- various circumstances where overseas employees may experience oppressions on employment and workplace rights in Australia
- legal rights of employment and workplace for overseas employees in casual, contract, part-time and full-time positions in Australia
- social resources and channels for overseas employees to report their experience of oppression on employment and workplace and to advocate for their human rights, and so on.
Fair Work Ombudsman will be invited to deliver presentations at the seminars, in order to introduce more details about State Government’s legislation and services for protecting immigrants’ rights of employment and at workplace. Australian Chinese Workers Association will also collaborate with a variety of non-for-profit organisations that have similar missions and goals in advocating for human rights and specifically workplace rights.
Secondly, Australian Chinese Workers Association could collaborate with different host organisations of Career Fairs, providing working and holiday visa holders, overseas students and new permanent residents with 30-minute free consultation session. In this session, participants will be invited to share their personal experience of oppression against workplace rights. Australian Chinese Workers Association will collect, summarise and analyse the results of discussion and report to Fair Work Ombudsman.
Thirdly, Australian Chinese Workers Association is keen to work with experienced lawyers and relevant associations and research NSW legislation and legal services across the State, in order to address the needs and concerns of Chinese community in terms of employment and workplace protection. It is necessary for Australian Chinese Workers Association to be updated with latest legislation changes, relevant cases, social issues and academic studies, so as to better understand Chinese community’s demands and provide practical support. Australian Chinese Workers Association will apply for authorization from Fair Work Ombudsman in terms of translating crucial information on employment and workplace rights, disseminating among Chinese community via newspaper, face-to-face seminar, brochure or community event. This information will also be disseminated online through Australian Chinese Workers Association’s official website and WeChat public platform and online courses regarding workplace rights.
Australian Chinese Workers Association will collaborate with Fair Work Ombudsman to hand out posters and flyers among Chinese communities and disseminate the information online to promote this campaign. Gifts, food and drinks will be provided in face-to-face seminars and 30-minute free consultation sessions. Regarding the venues for face-to-face delivery of information, Australian Chinese Workers Association will work with academic institutions, Workers Clubs and community service centers to organise seminars and consultation sessions in seminar rooms, meetings rooms and community rooms. The campaign team consists of staff with Australian Chinese Workers Association and volunteers who share the goals of advocating for Chinese employees regarding workplace rights in Australia. All of team members will attend training provided by Fair Work Ombudsman or other professional legal practitioners, in terms of workplace rights and resources and channels for advocacy. Team members are engaged in promoting the campaign, organising seminars and consultation sessions, translating and disseminating information on-site and online, as well as collecting feedback from participants and following up with updated information or appropriate referrals.
References
ABC, November 21st, 2016. 7-Eleven: Covert Video Captures Worker Being Forced to Pay back
Wage in Cash. Retrieved from:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-21/covert-video-captures-711-workers-being-forced-to-pay-back-wage/8033808
Census, June 27th, 2017. Aussies More Asian than European, News Census Data Reveals.
Retrieved from: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/aussies-more-asian-than-european-news-census-data-reveals/news-story/62f4c3b4955897d944b6aa69cb1f5821
Chen, Qingsong, January 4th, 2016. Speech on the Third Anniversary of Australian Chinese Workers
Association. Retrieved from:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5NDg3ODEwNQ==&mid=401183472&idx=1&sn=0934a14763c33401ead9a80e57edd00e&mpshare=1&scene=1&srcid=0128uZdO0J3O7ycFIEJCtPZV&pass_ticket=hCc17%2Ff9ndCc00vIOulsyNn33yt%2BASaqvqCuBkEi%2FmqHL7qsP1YaBCNMu3PWUBsc#rd
Chen, Qingsong, December 17th, 2017. Speech on ‘The Second Five-Year Development Plan for Australia
Chinese Workers Association’. Retrieved from:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5NDg3ODEwNQ==&mid=2649720263&idx=1&sn=9ebcee35b36caea8c2c99ee13f79e68e&chksm=885cc531bf2b4c2710a68adc3f14f88f549cab969bec1e2d80e922d8fb0d20f1a3c56682c421&mpshare=1&scene=1&srcid=1217QIRxtOEMUi2sBMxdF0OW&pass_ticket=hCc17%2Ff9ndCc00vIOulsyNn33yt%2BASaqvqCuBkEi%2FmqHL7qsP1YaBCNMu3PWUBsc#rd
Department of Home Affairs. Workplace Rights for all Visa Holders Working in Australia. Retrieved
from:
http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/workplace-rights
Epoch Times, March 5th, 2018. A Company in Melbourne being Accused of Illegal Wage Reduction
against Chinese Students. Retrieved from:
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/3/4/n10189019.htm
Fair Work Ombudsman.
Retrieved from:
https://www.australia.gov.au/directories/australia/fairwork
MacDonnells Law.
Retrieved from:
VoomMaps, 2016. Map of Race and Ethnicity in Sydney. Retrieved from: