Measuring migrant worker rights violations in practice: The example of temporary skilled visas in Australia

Despite global attention to worker rights violations experienced by temporary migrants, we lack a clear evidence base to understand the extent and nature of these abuses. This article presents findings from a pilot of a Migrant Worker Rights Database. This pilot measures rights abuses of former Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) entrants to Australia from 1996 to 2016. This visa was the key formal temporary visa into Australia over this period. The pilot codes all available court cases that 457 visa holders brought before the national workplace relations tribunal, the Australian Fair Work Commission and relevant state and federal courts and tribunals, to capture legally recognised rights abuses that migrant workers experienced on the ground. It also codes coverage in three daily newspapers of these rights violations. This combined evidence base generates a series of rights violations, or ‘events’, that are then analysed to present patterns of rights abuses of migrant workers on the 457 visa. Key findings are that ethnic background and occupational status of migrants appear to inform the level of reported rights abuses. Further, legal representation of migrant workers assists in successful outcomes, particularly through the Fair Work Ombudsman – a government body empowered with enforcing compliance with workplace laws (197)