Nurses Demand Overhaul Of 457 Visa
The Age
Saturday August 16, 2008
NURSES are demanding an overhaul of the controversial 457 visa scheme after a recruitment agency was fined over the exploitation of three Filipino nurses who struggled to afford food.
The Federal Magistrates Court has fined health recruitment agency Healthcare ecruiting Australia $48,000 for underpaying three Sydney-based Filipino nursing assistants more than $15,000.The agency must also pay lost wages to the three women, who were brought from the Philippines under the temporary 457 working visa to work in two Sydney nursing homes.The Commonwealth's Workplace Ombudsman executive director, Michael Campbell, yesterday labelled the action of the company reprehensible. "There were times when these vulnerable workers did not have enough money to put food on the table," he said, adding that they had also struggled to pay rent," he said. "The workers have told how there were times when they were living on the charity of others and felt ashamed they could not pay their rent."The women also had money taken from their pay for training that never happened as well as for rent, agency fees and air fares. Nursing Federation president Ged Kearney said exploitation under the 457 scheme was so huge she wanted it replaced with more permanent working visas.There have been more than 400 cases investigated by the Workplace Ombudsman relating to 457 visas, with $1.3 million in underpayments awarded to workers. "We need to look at serious permanent migration programs. Why on earth are we bothering with 457 visas?" Ms Kearney said.The promise of employer sponsorship for permanent residency under 457s was often held over the heads of workers to stop complaints to unions, she said.
© 2008 The Age
