Exploitation rife among migrant meat workers: report

The experiences of migrant meat industry workers have been highlighted in new research, which paints a grim picture of overall working conditions. The RMIT University research focuses on Pacific Island workers in Australia’s meat industry, many of whom reported feelings of being trapped and exploited.

The report — ‘Meat the reality: unpacking the exploitation of PALM scheme workers in Australia’s meat industry’ — calls for further improvements to address worker exploitation in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, beyond changes made in 2024. The Australian Government scheme provides foreign workers with temporary visas to work in meatworks and other industries with labour shortages.

How was the study conducted?

As well as providing a detailed legal critique and recommendations for reform, the report reveals personal experiences of five PALM scheme workers who each took photographs to represent their daily lives. The researchers used these photographs as prompts for in-depth discussions with the participants.

Shelley Marshall from RMIT’s Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT) said the photographs and interviews revolved around themes of darkness, injustice and feelings of being trapped.

“The participants in our study were sent to isolated rural towns, far from familiar faces, and placed in shared housing with strangers,” she said.

“The photos hauntingly depict how they rarely see daylight due to physically demanding shifts, which are often extended with overtime, leading to an oppressive sense that their lives are consumed entirely by work.

“At work, these workers are often burdened with lifting heavier meat — a demand fuelled by racial stereotypes about their strength — yet earn less than colleagues on other visa schemes. Outside work, they are stripped of the full tenancy rights enjoyed by most Australians and are forced to endure high rents that are automatically deducted from their wages,” Marshall said.

Study co-author Ema Moolchand said these challenges were compounded by a visa condition requiring the employer’s permission for a worker to quit and seek work elsewhere.

“Dependence on employers — even if they are clearly bad bosses — remains a key source of feelings of being trapped and unable to do anything about poor conditions, especially when workers face racial stereotypes or restricted freedom that further limit their ability to act,” Moolchand said.

What are the recommendations?

The researchers are calling for more to be done to improve conditions for PALM workers, with those in the study saying they’d seen little improvement following changes made by the government in 2024.

The report found while an attaché from each country had been appointed to support and represent workers, those surveyed had not met them and did not know who they were. Participants also alleged illegal deductions were widespread.

“As the first empirical study since important changes to the PALM scheme, this report highlights the need for a completely new approach to the scheme that genuinely prioritises worker voices and ensures fair, safe and dignified working conditions,” Moolchand said.

Australian Council of Trade Unions President Michele O’Neil said the findings align with the experience of unions that represent PALM workers, showing these challenges to be systemic problems rather than isolated incidents.

“This report adds a human voice to what we already know are significant and ongoing issues with a scheme that ties PALM workers to their employer; the lack of mobility for workers to change employers poses a clear modern slavery risk,” she said.

“Among the changes we are calling for, mobility for these workers is paramount, as it would mean they can move to another approved employer if they need to leave a bad boss, unsafe conditions or harassment.

“This would mean employers could no longer treat PALM workers as bonded labourers.”

O’Neil also said a better scheme would ban employers who do the wrong thing.

Marshall acknowledged that the photovoice methodology used to share stories of the five participants in the study did not claim to be a representative survey sample for all PALM scheme workers.

“This methodology is one that’s useful to help us understand the experiences of people who live in a very different situation from our own in detail. It is more a deep dive than a representative sample, that aids more comprehensive legal analysis,” she said.

“It’s important when discussing the well-documented issues with this scheme that voices and experiences of those living it are part of that debate.”

Image credit: iStock.com/21597185. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.