Back to articles page

Your Duty Regarding Illegal Workers
By Sunny Xin Song, B. Pharm, M.Com, M. Prof. (Accounting) - #66

Illegal workers are people who are not Australian citizens and who are working in Australia without a visa, or who have a conditional visa that prohibits them from working in Australia. From August 2007 it will be a criminal offence for an individual or company to knowingly or recklessly allow an illegal worker to work, or refer an illegal worker for work with another business. Individuals convicted under the Migration Amendment (Employer Sanctions) Act 2007 face fines of up to $13,200 per illegal worker and/or two years imprisonment. Companies can be fined up to $66,000 per illegal worker.

Employers in the hospitality, manufacturing, retail and transportation industries should be particularly wary. We suggest that the following procedures should be adopted to ensure that the people employed are entitled to work in Australia: Check their original passport and confirm the name of the worker; check that the passport has a visa and the visa is in the name of the worker; check the visa conditions; diarise the end date of the visa.

The Department of Immigration also provides the following ways to check work rights:

1.    Entitlement Verification Online system;

2.    The Employers' Immigration Hotline (1800 040 070)

3.    The Visa Entitlement Verification Faxback Service (1800 505 550)

St. Clair partners Phone (02) 9221 4088.

Back to articles page