Mei arrived in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa and has now been here for more than a year. Her first job was in the massage industry, and over that time she worked at four different massage shops across Melbourne. Before coming to Australia, her background was completely different, she had worked in administration and teaching, and she’d completed a law degree. But she had never worked in massage before.
When she first started the job, she didn’t expect to face the kinds of issues she eventually did. At every shop she worked in, she noticed the same pattern: employers asking workers to apply for an ABN or a TFN in ways that didn’t seem right. She later realised her instincts were correct.
The main issue that pushed her to seek help was underpayment. Over time, the pressure and the poor working conditions affected her mental health. She remembers telling one employer that she felt depressed and couldn’t keep working. Instead of offering any support or care, they simply told her they couldn’t help and left her to deal with everything alone. She felt unsafe, and she knew that if something happened to her, no one would be there to support her.
Her decision to take action came when she checked the Migrant Workers Centre website and learned more about the proper use of ABNs and TFNs. She realised she should have been employed as a TFN employee, not pushed onto an ABN. Because she was wrongly classified, she was excluded from the protections she should have had, like insurance and WorkCover. She discovered that what her employer was doing was illegal. With her visa due to expire in September, she wanted to fight for her rights, so she decided to take her underpayment claim to court and apply for the Workplace Justice Visa.
She learned about the WJV through the MWC website. The information there helped her understand her options and gave her confidence that she didn’t have to abandon her claim just because her visa was ending. She made an appointment with the Migrant Workers Centre, and with support from the MWC employment lawyer and another lawyer who handled the certification, she submitted her application. For her, having access to legal advice through MWC made the biggest difference.
Once Mei received the Workplace Justice Visa, everything changed. It allowed her to stay in Australia legally and continue taking action against her employer. She said that without the visa, she would have had to return to Taiwan and handle the entire process from overseas, something she believes she would have eventually given up on. Being able to stay, work and support herself gave her the time and stability she needed.
“After I accessed the visa, I got to work, so I could support myself. And I gained more time. Those two factors helped me fight for my rights” she said.
Her life changed significantly after receiving the WJV. At first, she felt deeply disappointed by her experience in the massage industry and the poor conditions she had faced. But with the visa, she was able to stay longer, find work with other employers and even consider studying in Australia. She now hopes to stay here.
Mei feels that the Workplace Justice Visa process worked well for her because of the support she received from the Migrant Workers Centre. She knows that some people think about applying just to stay in Australia, but she believes strongly that the visa should be used for its intended purpose: helping workers pursue justice when they’ve been exploited.
