According to a union investigation which spanned almost two years, foreign workers are being paid below the minimum wage in Australia. The audit, done by Unions NSW, looked at job advertisements on Chinese, Korean, and Spanish websites, finding that 80% of proposed rates were below minimum wage. Foreign workers are often the most vulnerable to being underpaid, and do not complain about their employers for fear of possible consequences, such as having their visas taken away. Those in the hospitality and cleaning industries were the worst violators of minimum wage laws, but workers in the agriculture and construction industries were also at risk. Unions NSW is using the results of this audit to demand greater powers to investigate underpayment, although the federal government has declined to do so.
See "Jobs 'black market' underpaying vulnerable workers, audit finds", The Guardian, July 17, 2017