Work and Jobs

Underpaid at Work in Australia? How to Get Your Money Back (2026)

· · 17 min read
Underpaid at Work in Australia? How to Get Your Money Back (2026)

If you are being underpaid in Australia, two things have changed recently that you almost certainly do not know about – and together they change everything.

  • Since 1 January 2025, deliberately underpaying a worker is a criminal offence. Not a fine. A crime, carrying up to 10 years in prison.
  • You can report your employer even if you have breached your visa work conditions – and the government will give you a letter confirming your visa will not be cancelled for it.

That second point is the one that matters most, because fear is the reason wage theft works. Employers who underpay international students are not relying on the students being ignorant. They are relying on them being frightened – frightened that if they complain, someone will look at their hours, notice they went over 48 in a fortnight, and cancel their visa.

That fear is being deliberately used against you, and this guide exists to take it away.

Your employer cannot cancel your visa. Full stop.

This is the single most important sentence in this guide, and it comes directly from the Fair Work Ombudsman: your employer CANNOT cancel your visa, even if you have breached your visa conditions. Only the Department of Home Affairs can grant, refuse or cancel a visa – and your boss is not Home Affairs. If someone has threatened your visa to keep you quiet about your pay, they have not just underpaid you. They have committed a separate form of workplace exploitation, and it is exactly the kind of behaviour the Fair Work Ombudsman exists to stop.

You Have Exactly the Same Rights as Anyone Else

Start here, because a lot of exploitation rests on convincing you otherwise. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s position could not be plainer: migrant workers and visa holders, including international students, have the same workplace rights as all other workers in Australia.

  • Your rights cannot be taken away by a contract or an agreement. If you signed something agreeing to $15 an hour, that clause is worthless. You cannot sign away the minimum wage.
  • Being paid cash does not remove your rights. Cash-in-hand work is still work. You are still owed the legal rate.
  • Having no payslips does not remove your rights. It makes your employer’s position worse, not yours – keeping records is their legal obligation.
  • Breaching your work-hour limit does not remove your rights. You are still owed every dollar for every hour you worked, including the hours you should not have worked.

That last one surprises people. Yes – if you worked 60 hours in a fortnight on a student visa, your employer must still pay you correctly for all 60. Your visa breach is a matter between you and Home Affairs. It is not a discount coupon for your boss.

What You Should Actually Be Paid

Before anything else, work out what “correct” looks like. These are the current legal floors, from 1 July 2026.

Type of workAbsolute minimum
National Minimum Wage (if no award applies)$26.44 / hour
Casual on the National Minimum Wage (includes 25% casual loading)$33.05 / hour
Covered by an award (most hospitality, retail, cleaning jobs)Often higher – plus penalty rates

The $26.44 figure is a trap – most students are casual, and casuals get MORE

Employers love quoting the National Minimum Wage of $26.44, because it sounds like a legitimate number. But if you are a CASUAL – and almost every student job is casual – you are entitled to a 25% casual loading on top, taking the absolute floor to $33.05 an hour. And if an award covers your industry, which it very likely does, your rate may be higher still, with penalty rates on evenings, weekends and public holidays. A cafe paying you a flat $27 an hour, seven days a week, is very probably underpaying you – even though $27 is ‘above minimum wage’.

Most jobs are covered by an award – a legal document setting minimum pay for that industry, including higher rates for nights, weekends and public holidays. Hospitality, retail, fast food, cleaning and security all have awards. A flat hourly rate with no weekend loading is one of the most common forms of underpayment in Australia, and it is often dressed up as a favour.

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Find your real rate in three minutes, free

The Fair Work Ombudsman runs a free Pay and Conditions Tool on fairwork.gov.au. Enter your industry, your job and your age, and it tells you your exact legal minimum – including penalty rates for the shifts you actually worked. This is the official government calculator, it costs nothing, and it is the number your employer will be measured against. Do this before you do anything else in this guide.

And remember what else you are owed beyond the hourly rate: superannuation, penalty rates for weekends and public holidays, overtime where it applies, and a payslip every single time you are paid. Unpaid super is underpayment. Missing penalty rates are underpayment. Both are covered by the criminal law we are about to explain.

"But If I Complain, Will I Lose My Visa?"

This is the question. Every other consideration is secondary, and every exploitative employer knows it. So let us answer it properly, because the answer is far better than most students believe – and there are two separate protections most people have never heard of.

Protection 1: The Assurance Protocol

The Fair Work Ombudsman has a formal arrangement with the Department of Home Affairs, called the Assurance Protocol. Under it, Home Affairs usually will not cancel your visa if you have breached your work-related visa conditions because of workplace exploitation, provided that:

  • you have sought advice or support from the Fair Work Ombudsman, and you are helping them with their inquiries;
  • there is no other reason to cancel your visa (such as national security, character, health or fraud); and
  • you have committed to following your visa conditions in future.

Read that again slowly. It means that if you worked more hours than your visa allowed because your employer pressured you into it, you can still come forward. The breach does not have to be hidden. It is precisely the situation the Protocol was designed for.

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And you get it in writing

If you meet the conditions and there is no other reason to cancel your visa, Home Affairs will give you A LETTER STATING THAT YOUR VISA WILL NOT BE CANCELLED. Not a verbal reassurance – a document. Also note: the Fair Work Ombudsman will always ask your permission BEFORE referring your case to Home Affairs. Nothing is done behind your back.

The Protocol applies to people on temporary visas with permission to work, including:

  • Student visa (subclass 500 series)
  • Working Holiday Maker visa (subclass 417)
  • Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462)
  • Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)
  • Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482)

If your visa has no work rights attached, Home Affairs considers each case on its merits – so it is still worth asking rather than assuming.

The honest part: hardly anybody uses this

Research from the University of Melbourne found the Assurance Protocol has been used by only around 15 migrant workers a year. Not 15,000. Fifteen. Not because it does not work – but because almost nobody knows it exists, and the fear is stronger than the information. Employers are exploiting a protection gap that is not real. It is a gap in AWARENESS. Which is exactly why you are reading this.

Protection 2: The Workplace Justice Visa

This one is newer, and it is remarkable. In July 2024, the Australian Government created a visa specifically for exploited workers who need time to fight for their money.

It is a stream of the Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408), under the Australian Government Endorsed Events programme – and it is commonly called the Workplace Justice Visa.

What it doesLets you stay in Australia to pursue a workplace exploitation claim
How long6 months, extendable to up to 12 months where necessary and in the public interest
What it coversUnderpayment or non-payment of wages, superannuation and other workplace entitlements

Think about what that solves. The classic trap for an exploited worker is time: your visa is about to expire, your claim will take months, and your employer knows that all they have to do is wait you out. Leave the country and the claim dies with your departure.

The Workplace Justice Visa closes that door. It is the government explicitly saying: stay, and fight for what you are owed.

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Get advice on this one

The Workplace Justice Visa requires certification from an approved third party – typically a union, a community legal centre or a migrant worker centre – confirming that you have a genuine workplace exploitation claim. It is not a form you fill in alone. Speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman, a community legal centre, or a migrant worker centre. These services are free.

And Now Your Employer Has Something to Fear

Here is what shifted the balance of power on 1 January 2025.

Under section 327A of the Fair Work Act, introduced by the Closing Loopholes reforms, it is now a criminal offence for an employer to intentionally underpay an employee’s wages or entitlements. Not a civil penalty. A crime.

WhoMaximum penalty
An individual – including a director, manager or anyone complicit10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $1.565 million, or both
A company$7.825 million, or three times the underpayment – whichever is greater

The offence covers far more than your hourly rate. It reaches base wages, penalty rates, overtime, allowances, superannuation, leave entitlements and redundancy pay. Unpaid super is wage theft. Missing weekend penalty rates are wage theft.

The Fair Work Ombudsman investigates, and refers serious intentional cases to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

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Note the word INTENTIONAL – and why it still helps you

The criminal offence targets deliberate underpayment. An honest payroll mistake is not a crime, and that is a reasonable line to draw. But do not let that reassure your employer too much: intent can be inferred from behaviour. Being told repeatedly, in writing, that you are underpaid – and continuing anyway – looks a great deal like intent. Which is exactly why Step 3 of this guide has you put your complaint IN WRITING. That written request is not just a request. It is evidence.

Is this real, or just words?

It is real. In the 2024-25 financial year alone, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered $358 million in back-pay for Australian workers. That is not a threat that sits on a website. That is money that went back into people’s bank accounts.

The Official Checklist of Workplace Exploitation

The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes a list of what exploitation actually looks like. Read it carefully, because several of these are so common that students assume they are normal. They are not normal. They are exploitation, and they are on a government list.

  • Threats to cancel your visa
  • Wage underpayments
  • Unfair deductions, deposits or “cash-back” schemes – where you are paid the legal rate on paper, then made to hand some of it back in cash
  • Failure to provide entitlements such as paid leave or superannuation
  • Withholding your passport
  • Pressure to work beyond the restrictions of your visa
  • Demanding an up-front payment or “deposit” for a job
  • Employers avoiding tax by paying cash
  • Unpaid training
  • Misclassifying you as an independent contractor instead of an employee – often by making you get an ABN
  • Unfair deductions from your wages for accommodation, training, food or transport

The cash-back scheme, and the ABN trick

Two of these deserve special attention because they are epidemic in student jobs. The CASH-BACK SCHEME pays you $33 an hour on a payslip and then requires you to withdraw cash and hand back $13 – so the records look perfect while you are robbed. It is illegal, and the payslip is now evidence against your employer, not you. The ABN TRICK tells you that you must get an ABN to work at the cafe. If you have set hours, a roster, a uniform and a supervisor, you are almost certainly an EMPLOYEE, and calling you a contractor does not change that. It is called sham contracting, and it is unlawful.

Step 1: Work Out Exactly What You Are Owed

You cannot recover a number you have not calculated. Before you speak to anyone, do the arithmetic – because it is almost always far bigger than people expect.

Use the free government calculator

Go to fairwork.gov.au and use the Pay and Conditions Tool. Enter your industry, your job and your age. It will tell you your exact legal minimum, including the penalty rates for the specific shifts you worked. It is free, it is official, and it is the number your employer will be measured against.

Then add up everything you are actually owed:

  • Your base hourly rate – from the award, or the National Minimum Wage if no award applies.
  • Casual loading – 25% on top, if you are casual. Almost every student job is.
  • Penalty rates – higher pay for evenings, weekends and public holidays. This is where the biggest hidden losses sit.
  • Overtime, where your award provides for it.
  • Superannuation – 12% of your ordinary time earnings. Casuals get super too. Unpaid super is wage theft.

A realistic example – and the number will shock you

Take an extremely common situation: a casual student working 20 hours a week in a cafe, paid a flat $25 an hour in cash. Twenty-five dollars sounds fine. It sounds generous, even, next to the $26.44 minimum wage the boss keeps mentioning.

Legal casual floor$33.05 / hour
What you were actually paid$25.00 / hour
Shortfall$8.05 every single hour
Wages owed over one year (48 weeks)$7,728
Superannuation owed (12%)$3,807
Total for ONE year$11,535
Over two years$23,070

And this example is CONSERVATIVE

It uses the bare casual minimum of $33.05. If an award covers your cafe – and one almost certainly does – your real rate is likely higher, with penalty rates on top for evenings and weekends. This calculation also ignores public holidays entirely. The true figure for a student working weekend shifts on a flat cash rate is frequently well beyond $15,000 a year. This is not small money. This is a semester of tuition.
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You can claim back SIX YEARS

This is the fact that changes the size of everything. Under the Fair Work Act you can recover underpayments going back SIX YEARS from the date you start proceedings. Not six months. Six years. So the job you left two years ago, at the restaurant that paid you $22 an hour cash? That money is still legally yours, and it is still claimable. Left the employer? Does not matter. Business still trading? Then the claim is live.

Step 2: Build Your Evidence

Now gather proof. And here is the thing that makes people sit up: if your employer kept no records, that is a catastrophe for them – not for you.

The rule that flips the whole game: section 557C

No payslips? Then YOUR EMPLOYER has to prove they paid you correctly.

Section 557C of the Fair Work Act contains a reverse onus of proof. If an employer fails to meet their record-keeping or payslip obligations, and has no reasonable excuse, then in a court claim THE EMPLOYER BEARS THE BURDEN OF DISPROVING your allegation. Read that again. Normally you must prove you were underpaid. But if they kept no records and gave you no payslips, the law flips: they must prove they paid you properly. The cash-in-hand employer who gave you nothing in writing has not covered their tracks. They have handed you the single biggest advantage in the case.

This is the great irony of cash-in-hand work. The employer thinks the absence of paperwork protects them. Under Australian law, it does the opposite – because keeping records is their legal duty, not yours, and failing to do it costs them the presumption of innocence in a wage claim.

Collect whatever you have

EvidenceWhy it matters
PayslipsYour employer must give you one every time you are paid. If the payslip shows a legal rate but you received less in cash, that payslip is now evidence against them.
Bank statementsShow exactly what actually landed in your account, and when.
RostersPhotograph the roster on the wall each week. Screenshot the rostering app.
Text messages and WhatsApp“Can you cover Saturday?” is proof you worked Saturday. Never delete these.
Your own hours diaryStart times, finish times, breaks – written down as you go. Contemporaneous records carry real weight.
Names of co-workersYou are almost never the only one being underpaid. Others may confirm the pattern.
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Use the Fair Work Ombudsman's own app – it is free and in your language

The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes a free app called RECORD MY HOURS, available in multiple languages. It logs your start and finish times, and creates a record you can rely on later. It is made by the regulator, for exactly this situation. Download it and start logging TODAY – even if you are not yet ready to complain. Evidence you gather now costs you nothing, and a record started today is worth more than a memory reconstructed in a year.

Do this quietly, and do not tip them off yet

Gather your evidence before you raise anything. Once an employer knows a claim is coming, rosters have a way of disappearing and payslips suddenly start being generated retrospectively. Take your photographs, download your records, back up your messages to a personal device, and email copies to a private address.

None of this is dishonest. You are simply securing evidence that the law says should have been given to you all along.

Step 3: Put It In Writing (This Is the Most Important Step)

Most people raise underpayment verbally, in a corridor, at the end of a shift. Do not do that. Put it in writing.

A written request does three things at once, and the third is the one your employer will not see coming:

  1. It gives your employer a genuine chance to fix an honest mistake – and sometimes it really is one.
  2. It creates a timestamped record that you raised it, which nobody can later deny.
  3. It creates evidence of intent. Remember: the criminal offence under section 327A requires intentional underpayment. An employer who is told clearly, in writing, exactly how much they owe you – and who then does nothing – is no longer making an innocent mistake. They are choosing. And that choice is now documented.
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Your polite email is a legal instrument

This is why you write calmly and factually rather than angrily. An emotional message is easy to dismiss. A precise, unemotional letter setting out the hours, the correct rate, the shortfall and the total, sent to a company email address with a date on it, is something else entirely. It is the document that turns ‘we made an error’ into ‘we were told and we did not act’. Be polite. Be devastating.

A letter you can copy and use

Send this by email, so there is a timestamp. Keep a copy in your personal account, not your work one.

Subject: Request regarding my pay

Dear [Manager’s name],

I am writing about my pay for the period [start date] to [end date].

I have checked my entitlements using the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay and Conditions Tool. Based on my role and my classification, my minimum entitlement is [$X] per hour, plus [casual loading / penalty rates as applicable].

During this period I worked [X] hours and was paid [$Y] per hour. On my calculations, the shortfall is approximately [$Z], plus superannuation.

I have attached my record of the hours I worked. Could you please review this and let me know your position within 14 days?

I would also be grateful if you could provide payslips for this period, as required under the Fair Work Act.

Thank you,
[Your name]

Notice what that letter does not do. It does not accuse. It does not threaten. It does not mention lawyers, the Ombudsman, or prison. It simply states the facts, cites the government’s own tool, requests the payslips they were legally obliged to give you anyway, and sets a deadline.

It is far more effective than anger – and if this ever reaches a court, it will read beautifully.

"What If They Fire Me For Asking?"

This is the second great fear, and the answer is again better than most people expect.

Sacking you for asking about your pay is ILLEGAL – and it is a separate claim worth money

Asking about your pay is exercising a WORKPLACE RIGHT. Under the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act, it is unlawful for an employer to take ADVERSE ACTION against you because you exercised a workplace right – that includes dismissing you, cutting your shifts, demoting you, or treating you differently. So if you send that email and your hours suddenly drop to zero, your employer has not silenced you. They have handed you a SECOND claim, on top of the underpayment.

But if you ARE dismissed, you have only 21 DAYS

This is the one hard deadline in this entire guide, and missing it is unforgiving. If you are dismissed and you want to bring a general protections or unfair dismissal claim, you generally have just 21 DAYS from the date the dismissal took effect to lodge with the Fair Work Commission. Not 21 days from when you found out about your rights. Not 21 days from when you felt ready. Twenty-one days from the dismissal. If you have been sacked after raising your pay, do not read the rest of this article first – go to fwc.gov.au today.

Note the contrast, and let it sink in: you have SIX YEARS to claim underpaid wages, but only TWENTY-ONE DAYS to challenge a dismissal. If both have happened to you, deal with the dismissal first. The wages will wait. The deadline will not.

Step 4: Take It to the Fair Work Ombudsman

If the deadline in your letter passes and nothing happens – or if you never felt safe sending it at all – the Fair Work Ombudsman is the next step. It is the government workplace regulator, and using it is completely free.

You have three ways in – including one that is anonymous

RouteWhat it isBest for
Anonymous reportReport an employer without giving your name. Available as a translated form in multiple languages.You are still working there and genuinely frightened. It will not get your money back directly, but it can trigger an investigation.
Online enquiry (My Account)A named request for help with your own situation.Getting your money back. This is the main route.
Phone, with an interpreterCall the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask them to connect you.If English is difficult. This service is free.
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Say the words 'Assurance Protocol'

When you contact the Fair Work Ombudsman, if you have worked more hours than your visa allows, SAY SO, and ask specifically about the Assurance Protocol. Do not hide it and hope nobody notices – that is exactly the fear your employer is banking on. The Protocol exists for your situation. The FWO will assess your eligibility and, with YOUR PERMISSION, refer you to Home Affairs so you can get a letter confirming your visa will not be cancelled. Naming the Protocol tells them immediately what you need.

What the Ombudsman can actually do

  • Give you free advice on exactly what you are owed.
  • Contact your employer directly – which alone resolves a great many cases, because a letter from the regulator concentrates the mind.
  • Investigate, and require the employer to produce records.
  • Issue compliance notices requiring back-payment.
  • Litigate – and refer serious intentional cases to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for criminal charges.

And it works. In 2024-25 alone, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered $358 million in back-pay for workers.

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Be realistic about what happens next

The FWO will not litigate every case – it has finite resources and it prioritises serious, deliberate and large-scale exploitation. For many individual claims, its role is to advise you, contact the employer, and help you resolve it. That is often enough. But if it is not, you are not out of options – the courts are next, and Step 5 explains that they are far more accessible than you think.

Free help beyond the Ombudsman

  • Community legal centres – free legal advice, in every state. Many have dedicated employment law services.
  • Migrant worker centres – specialists in exactly this problem, and they can certify a Workplace Justice Visa application.
  • Unions – you can join one, and they will pursue your claim. There is a union for hospitality, for retail, for cleaning.
  • Your university – most Australian universities have a free student legal service. If you are enrolled, use it. You are already paying for it.

Step 5: The Small Claims Court (It Is Not What You Think)

The word “court” stops people dead. It conjures lawyers you cannot afford, robes, and the terrifying prospect of losing and being ordered to pay the other side’s legal bills.

The Fair Work small claims process is deliberately none of those things. It was built for exactly this – an ordinary worker recovering wages from an employer who will not pay.

WhereThe Fair Work Division of the Federal Circuit and Family Court
How much you can claimUp to $100,000 – raised from $20,000, so almost every student wage claim fits comfortably inside it
Do you need a lawyer?No. In small claims, a party generally cannot be represented by a lawyer without the court’s permission
FormalityDeliberately low. The court is not bound by the usual rules of evidence
Filing feeYou can claim it back if you win
Deadline6 years from when the money was owed
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The two rules that level the field completely

First: your employer generally CANNOT bring a lawyer either, without the court’s permission. The business owner who has been intimidating you all year has to stand up and explain themselves, personally, to a judge. Second: this is generally a no-costs jurisdiction, meaning each side bears its own costs. You are not risking your employer’s legal fees. Take those two facts together and the power imbalance that made you afraid in the first place largely evaporates the moment you walk through the door.

And remember what you are walking in with: if your employer failed to keep records or give you payslips, section 557C means they have to disprove your account. You bring your diary and your text messages. They bring nothing – because they kept nothing.

Underpayment is rarely announced. It arrives dressed as something reasonable. Here are the disguises.

What they sayThe reality
“The first week is an unpaid trial.”An unpaid trial can only be a short, genuine demonstration of your skills, supervised, and no longer than needed to assess you. A week of unpaid “training” is wage theft. If you are producing work for the business, you are working.
“You need an ABN to work here.”Sham contracting. If you have set hours, a roster, a uniform and a supervisor, you are an employee – and calling you a contractor does not change that. This is on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s own exploitation list.
“We’ll pay the award rate, but you give some back in cash.”A cash-back scheme. Explicitly illegal. And the perfect payslip they created is now evidence against them.
“We’re deducting for your uniform / training / accommodation.”Deductions are only lawful in narrow circumstances – generally they must be authorised in writing by you and principally for your benefit. Deducting for breakages, till shortfalls or “training” is almost never lawful.
“You’re paid in meals and a room.”Food and accommodation are not wages. You must be paid money.
“Everyone here gets this rate.”Completely irrelevant. It means your employer is underpaying everyone, which makes the case bigger, not weaker.
“You agreed to it when you signed.”You cannot sign away the minimum wage. The clause is void. The Fair Work Ombudsman says this in terms: your rights cannot be taken away by contracts or agreements.

Never sign a document saying you have been 'paid in full'

When employers finally feel pressure, some produce a piece of paper – a settlement, a release, a receipt – and ask you to sign confirming all wages have been paid. Do not sign anything of that kind until you have had it checked, free, by the Fair Work Ombudsman, a community legal centre or your university’s student legal service. A signature obtained in a panic can be used to argue you gave up a claim worth many thousands of dollars.

Your Action Plan, In Order

  1. If you have been dismissed – stop and act today. You have 21 days. Everything else on this list can wait; that cannot.
  2. Calculate what you are owed using the Fair Work Ombudsman’s free Pay and Conditions Tool. Include casual loading, penalty rates and 12% super.
  3. Gather evidence quietly – payslips, bank statements, rosters, messages. Start the free Record My Hours app today.
  4. Write the letter. Calm, factual, dated, emailed. It is your evidence of their intent.
  5. Contact the Fair Work Ombudsman. Free. Anonymous option available in your language. Ask about the Assurance Protocol if you have worked over your visa hours.
  6. Get free help – community legal centre, migrant worker centre, union, or your university’s student legal service.
  7. Small claims if needed. Up to $100,000, no lawyer required, six years to act.

One last thing

If you are reading this while being underpaid, you may be telling yourself that it is not worth the trouble – that you will finish your degree, go home, and forget about it. That is precisely what your employer is counting on. It is the entire business model.

But look at the numbers again. A student on a flat $25 cash rate is losing around $11,500 a year. You can claim six years back. Your employer cannot touch your visa. There is a visa specifically designed to let you stay and fight. The court costs you nothing and does not require a lawyer. And since January 2025, what has been done to you is not merely unfair – it is a crime.

The money is yours. It was always yours. Go and get it.

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