Melbourne Law School has found a third of workers under the age of 30 are experiencing workplace exploitation. Experts and advocates say these workers don't often know their entitlements, making them less likely to speak up.
00:00We know that wage theft is rampant among young people, and it's especially common in industries where young people are overrepresented.
00:10So fast food, retail, hospitality, the apprenticeship system.
00:15Yeah, the kind of jobs that young workers are in.
00:18Yeah, and you're right, young people often don't know their rights because no one teaches them.
00:24We know that through past reports and studies undertaken that whilst there are a lot of young people being underpaid, around 50% of those young people aren't actually aware that they're being underpaid.
00:38And many who are in their first job are relying on that employer for experience or for a reference, and they're often told that this is just how it is.
00:48And then when you add in power imbalance, casual contracts, and the junior wages system that's currently in operation in Australia, it just creates a perfect storm for being underpaid and taken advantage of.
01:02We know that in practice, it's a really long and slow and frustrating process for workers.
01:08And, you know, right now the burden of enforcement falls nearly entirely on the worker.
01:14So even if you reach out to an organization in your state, like the Young Workers Centre, when we, if it gets to the point of the Fair Work Ombudsman, it's, you know, there's only been recent changes to federal wage theft laws that gives the Fair Work Ombudsman that power of enforceability or referring it on to criminal prosecution.
01:38But we're not really seeing that in practice yet.
01:40So until the system changes and until we see that wide sweeping reform, it's really about educating yourself, making sure you're knowledgeable and making sure that you're being transparent with your fellow coworkers.
01:53Because like I said, there's, there's power and strength in numbers when speaking up.
