Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025. I do so as not only the federal member for Barton but also someone whose professional life before entering parliament was spent, for a lot of the time, in the space of employment law. For over a decade, I represented workers who were underpaid, mistreated, threatened or simply too scared to speak up. I saw firsthand how vulnerable temporary migrant workers can be and how quickly hope turns into fear when safeguards fail or when devious employers—and I must say, only a few—see vulnerability as an invitation.

I heard some comments from the member for Mallee tonight, particularly around bold assertions regarding the United Workers Union. I must say, the United Workers Union does important work to support migrant workers here in this country, because the reality is that migrant exploitation happens in Australia. It happens in our cities, suburbs and regions. It happens in our restaurants, construction sites, food processing plants, farms, cleaning companies, care sectors and gig work. It often involves workers who are here legally and are doing the right thing, yet are taken advantage of by someone who believes that they will never speak out.

This is a serious issue. It's a moral issue, it's an issue of economic fairness and it's an issue of national character, because any system that depends on silence or fear is a system that fails not only migrant workers but every worker. Moreover, the bill aligns with this government's commitment to promoting Australia as a destination for highly skilled migrants. We need smart, qualified people to meet the skills shortage in our economy and boost productivity. Those people are going to work in Australia only if they can be guaranteed safe, secure work. The bill before us today is a practical, targeted and integrity-focused reform that strengthens protections for temporary skilled migrants. It creates a public register of approved work sponsors, increases transparency and allows migrant workers to verify the legitimacy of employers and seek new sponsorship opportunities without fear. These are not abstract administrative changes; they are protections that can change the trajectory of real lives.

To understand the importance of this bill we need to be honest about the dynamics of power in workplaces. Workers who are on temporary visas often depend entirely on their sponsoring employer for their right to remain in Australia. This creates an enormous imbalance. When a worker fears losing their visa, every unreasonable demand begins to feel like something they must tolerate—longer hours, underpayments, threats, unsafe workplaces and even intimidation. As an employment lawyer I sat with workers who carried this fear silently. They did not want to cause trouble. They wanted to fit in and contribute. They simply wanted a chance to build a better life. But the lack of transparency in the sponsorship system meant that many did not know their rights or their options. Some did not even know whether their employer was legitimately registered.

This bill directly addresses these issues. At its core, the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025 establishes the authority for the Department of Home Affairs to publish and maintain a public register of approved work sponsors. The register will include the name of the approved sponsor, the approved sponsor's Australian Business Number, the postcode linked to the ABN, the number of sponsored workers and the occupations associated with those sponsorships. This is not simply an administrative database; it's a tool for transparency. It will give temporary skilled migrant workers the ability to check the legitimacy of their sponsoring employer. It will help them identify new sponsors if they wish to change jobs. It will give regulators and the public greater oversight of the system. And it will increase accountability for employers who participate in skilled migration.

Many temporary migrant workers I met in my time as an employment lawyer described the same underlying problem: they did not feel they had any safe or realistic avenue to challenge the wrongdoing. Even when they knew they were being underpaid or threatened, the fear of visa cancellation or the loss of their job kept them silent. In practice, this meant that the sponsorship system, designed to bring skills into Australia, too often became a mechanism that tied workers to exploitation. The lack of visibility in the system made this worse. Workers relied almost entirely on whatever information the employer chose to provide. Many did not know whether their sponsor was compliant. Some did not know they were allowed to change sponsors. Others were misled into believing that reporting exploitation would automatically result in their removal from the country. When a worker's entire future rests on a single employer, misinformation becomes a powerful tool of control. Greater transparency disrupts that dynamic. A public register gives workers a clear line of sight to their rights and options. It gives them the confidence to seek support, the freedom to move to another legitimate sponsor and the ability to plan their lives with security rather than in fear.

This measure also supports small and medium businesses that do the right thing. Many small-business owners in my community want a fair and transparent system. They want to hire skilled workers from overseas to fill shortages and grow their business, but they also want confidence that competitors who cut corners cannot get ahead by exploiting workers.

This bill helps create the level playing field that we need. It complements the work we have already done through the Migration Strategy released in December 2023, including the development of the new Skills in Demand visa. That strategy was grounded in significant consultation with unions, employers, migrant communities and experts. It recognised the need for better integrity measures, greater worker protections and a migration system that supports productivity and fairness.

These reforms were previously part of the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Sponsorship and Nomination Processes) Bill 2024, which lapsed when parliament ended before the election. The Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee noted that most submissions supported the measures, and the committee recommended that the bill pass the Senate. The government's response to that report was tabled on 20 October 2025. We are now moving forward with these important amendments again. If this bill passes, the register will be implemented either on a fixed date by proclamation or six months after the act receives royal assent. This window allows time for regulations, technical development, stakeholder engagement and functionality to be built in the department's website. This is necessary for proper implementation.

It is worth exploring one simple question: why do we need this bill? The answer's very straightforward. We need these protections because exploitation continues to exist—and we've heard from some of the speakers across the chamber who agree with this—because transparency combats exploitation and because good employers should not be undercut by bad ones. If we do not pass this bill, the rollout of the public register will be delayed and so will these integrity measures. Workers will remain less protected, genuine employers will have fewer tools for transparency and the system will remain more vulnerable to misuse.

The register will not include any identifying information about individual workers. Privacy will be fully protected. It will only reflect publicly available information about employers. Approved sponsors will be informed at the time of application that their information will appear on the register, consistent with existing obligations under the Privacy Act.

Barton is one of the most multicultural electorates in the country. People from more than 70 cultural backgrounds call it home. Many local families arrived in this country as migrants or refugees. Many worked incredibly hard in jobs where English was not their first language, conditions were difficult and exploitation was always a risk. My own family made that journey. I grew up witnessing the strength, resilience and sacrifice that defines migrant communities.

When we talk about this bill, we are not talking about a conceptual policy. We're talking about people—people like the workers who came to me when I was a lawyer because they had been underpaid by $10 an hour for a night work shift, people like the woman whose employer confiscated her passport to stop her from leaving and people like the young tradesperson who was threatened with deportation if he refused unpaid overtime. These experiences stay with people for years. They shape their view of this country, and they shape how safe they feel in their workplace, in their community and in their new home. We owe it to them to get it right. Australia's reputation as a safe and fair place to work should never depend on luck or on the goodwill of the employer. It must be built into the system itself. It must be grounded in transparency and oversight.

Now cue all the trolls and the bots on socials. Here they come, rushing to comment on how we're importing voters, how the colour of my skin must mean I'm a part of some big greater conspiracy and how this bill is going to ruin Australia as we know it. Newsflash—'Australia as we know it' is multicultural! Those people who are lucky enough to be permitted to work here must learn the importance of our employment law system. We can only teach them such rights and values if they are entitled to them in the first place, and we can only hope to build the homes and staff the hospitals that our country needs through skilled migration. Anyone who denies this fact is dreaming.

This bill is not the end of the work; it forms part of a broader reform agenda. For example, while this bill does not include labour market testing reforms, the government has already streamlined those requirements by reducing advertisement obligations and removing unnecessary administrative burdens while maintaining strong local worker protections. Similarly income thresholds and the indexation for the skills and demand visa are already set through regulatory changes made in December 2024. They now automatically adjust each year on 1 July in line with the average or weekly ordinary time earnings. This ensures the system remains fair, competitive and aligned with economic realities.

This bill is a pragmatic, responsible and much-needed measure. It enhances protections for temporary skilled migrant workers, it promotes transparency, it strengthens system integrity, and it supports the many employers who do the right thing. As a member of this parliament, as someone who has worked in employment law and as someone who represents one of the most diverse electorates in the country, I know how important this reform is. I know how much it matters to local families, to new arrivals, to workers who want a fair chance and to employers who want a trusted system.

Migration has shaped the story of Australia for generations but so has fairness. We are a nation that prides itself on giving everyone a fair go. This bill helps ensure that those values remain central to our migration system and that temporary skilled workers are not left behind. It gives them tools to protect themselves, to move safely and to build their lives without fear. This bill strengthens our migration system by prioritising integrity, transparency and dignity. It is a step forward to a fairer and more accountable system, it is a step forward to reducing exploitation, and it is a step forward honouring the values of equality and respect that every Australian deserves, regardless of where they were born.

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