Growcom was fortunate to attend the Migrant Workers’ Taskforce Stakeholder Roundtable in Sydney last week.
The taskforce, chaired by Professor Alan Fels, was established in October 2016 and brings together a range of Commonwealth agencies including the Department of Employment, Fair Work Ombudsman, Department of Immigration and Border protection, Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources among others.
Growcom commends the Australian government for pulling together this taskforce to deal with the complex issues surrounding the employment of migrant workers and appreciated the opportunity to meet with other stakeholders to discuss some of our concerns relating to this issue.
Growcom again highlighted the importance of the 88-day farm work requirement to obtain a second year visa for working holiday makers to our industry and urged government not to abandon the scheme on the basis of a few high profile cases.
Industry again reiterated that it was open to discussing alternative options such as a dedicated agricultural visa but the current system needs to remain in place until a viable alternative is properly established.
A key issues raised by many stakeholders was the lack of oversight for accommodation providers who make false claims about the availability of work and lock working holiday makers into unfair contracts for sub-standard accommodation. This is an area our industry is eager to pursue after reports were once again raised of these practices occurring in Queensland horticulture regions.
Growcom was also proud to highlight the national Fair Farms Initiative as an example of how our sector is taking responsibility for the issue and developing solutions.
The Fair Farms Initiative, largely funded by the Fair Work Ombudsman, focuses on educating growers about their obligations to vulnerable workers and will also provide a certification mechanism through Freshcare to enable good growers to demonstrate they are doing the right thing by their workers.
Fair Farms is already in full swing with Growcom’s workplace relations specialists running workshops later this month in the Northern Territory.
