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The Workplace Justice Visa (WJV) was introduced in July 2024 as a pilot program following extensive advocacy from a coalition of unions, civil society organisations, and lawyers. It is the first measure of its kind in Australia, allowing eligible temporary visa holders to remain in the country while they seek advice and pursue remedies against employers for breaches of workplace laws. For a detailed overview, see our companion brief, In Review: Australia's visa protection pilots, the recommendations of which should be read alongside and in addition to this brief.
Over the past two years, the WJV has significantly reshaped how migrant worker exploitation is addressed. Accredited Third Parties (ATPs) report receiving a high volume of requests for support, and dozens of workers have secured the visa, giving them the chance to pursue justice and hold exploitative employers to account. The strong level of interest in the visa protection pilots and high approval rates for the WJV demonstrates that they are working as intended – encouraging workers to report exploitation and enforce their rights at work.
Thus far, much of the focus has been on the number of visas granted and how the technical features of the WJV can be improved to better meet the needs of workers. There has been little consideration of its wider qualitative outcomes – the lived, subjective, and relational aspects that are harder to measure but essential to understanding the impact of the WJV on the lives of migrant workers. To fill this gap, we conducted in-depth interviews with seven workers whose visa was certified by the MWC.
The findings show that the WJV is making a real difference in the lives of migrant workers. Securing a WJV disrupts the cycle of exploitation that existing research has long documented, empowering workers to speak up about their rights at work and hold employers accountable. Beyond its legal function, the WJV also creates space for personal recovery, providing workers with the stability needed to rebuild their lives while pursuing their claims.
However, significant gaps remain in how the pilot is delivered. Access to the WJV is uneven: geographic gaps leave some workers without a local ATP, while capacity constraints have seen others turned away entirely. Information about the WJV is also difficult to find, with workers frequently relying on word-of-mouth or chance encounters rather than clear, accessible guidance. Once workers do secure the WJV, the journey is also far from straightforward. Legal processes routinely extended the visa's duration, employer delay tactics deepened uncertainty, and mental health support was largely unaffordable. Whether workers felt able to sustain their pursuit of justice depended on resources and support that the WJV alone could not provide.
Migrant workers who report exploitation take significant personal risks in doing so. The findings suggest that access to the WJV alone is not enough. Making the WJV a permanent feature of the migration program is an important step, but to effectively protect and empower workers, it must be accompanied by further targeted reform and investment. At a minimum, this includes an expanded ATP network, visa durations that reflect the realities of legal timelines, and sustained legal, material, and psychosocial support to enable workers to pursue their claims.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1. Extend the standard WJV grant period to a minimum of 12 months to better reflect the typical duration of legal proceedings and reduce the administrative burden of repeat renewal applications on both workers and legal services.
Recommendation 2. Extend eligibility for the WJV beyond the 28 days before or after visa expiry.
Recommendation 3. Expand the number and range of ATPs that can certify claims for the pilots.
Recommendation 4. Allocate Commonwealth funding to ATPs and Community Legal Centres with dedicated employment and immigration law expertise to enable them to provide coordinated legal advice and effectively respond to the increased demand for their services generated by the pilots.
Recommendation 5. Provide sustained and ongoing funding for community education about the visa protections for migrant workers, including the Protecting Migrant Workers – Information and Education program.
Recommendation 6. Fund wrap-around support services for workers certified for the WJV to support them while they pursue their legal claims. This should include mental health support, healthcare, financial assistance, and housing.
