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.
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 work | Absolute 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
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.
Find your real rate in three minutes, free
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.
And you get it in writing
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
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 does | Lets you stay in Australia to pursue a workplace exploitation claim |
| How long | 6 months, extendable to up to 12 months where necessary and in the public interest |
| What it covers | Underpayment 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.
Get advice on this one
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.
| Who | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| An individual – including a director, manager or anyone complicit | 10 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.
Note the word INTENTIONAL – and why it still helps you
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
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
You can claim back SIX YEARS
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.
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
| Evidence | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Payslips | Your 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 statements | Show exactly what actually landed in your account, and when. |
| Rosters | Photograph 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 diary | Start times, finish times, breaks – written down as you go. Contemporaneous records carry real weight. |
| Names of co-workers | You are almost never the only one being underpaid. Others may confirm the pattern. |
Use the Fair Work Ombudsman's own app – it is free and in your language
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:
- It gives your employer a genuine chance to fix an honest mistake – and sometimes it really is one.
- It creates a timestamped record that you raised it, which nobody can later deny.
- 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.
Your polite email is a legal instrument
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
But if you ARE dismissed, you have only 21 DAYS
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
| Route | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Anonymous report | Report 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 interpreter | Call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask them to connect you. | If English is difficult. This service is free. |
Say the words 'Assurance Protocol'
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.
Be realistic about what happens next
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.
| Where | The Fair Work Division of the Federal Circuit and Family Court |
| How much you can claim | Up 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 |
| Formality | Deliberately low. The court is not bound by the usual rules of evidence |
| Filing fee | You can claim it back if you win |
| Deadline | 6 years from when the money was owed |
The two rules that level the field completely
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.
The Traps: Things That Are Not Legal, No Matter What You Were Told
Underpayment is rarely announced. It arrives dressed as something reasonable. Here are the disguises.
| What they say | The 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'
Your Action Plan, In Order
- If you have been dismissed – stop and act today. You have 21 days. Everything else on this list can wait; that cannot.
- Calculate what you are owed using the Fair Work Ombudsman’s free Pay and Conditions Tool. Include casual loading, penalty rates and 12% super.
- Gather evidence quietly – payslips, bank statements, rosters, messages. Start the free Record My Hours app today.
- Write the letter. Calm, factual, dated, emailed. It is your evidence of their intent.
- 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.
- Get free help – community legal centre, migrant worker centre, union, or your university’s student legal service.
- 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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