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Private Study with Assessment

Protection of Workplace Rights for Migration Clients

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Learning outcomes

On completion, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the employer-focused offence and sanction framework in the Migration Act 1958, including the changes made by the Strengthening Employer Compliance reforms.
  2. Explain the purpose, eligibility framework and limits of the Workplace Justice visa (subclass 408), and the principle that a client does not need to hold this visa to pursue workplace remedies.
  3. Identify the workplace protections that apply to clients regardless of migration status or visa condition breaches.
  4. Recognise indicators of workplace exploitation in migration practice and respond appropriately within the RMA's scope of practice, including referral to suitably qualified professionals.

Scope note. This module supports general awareness only. RMAs are not expected to act as specialists in employment or workplace relations law. The focus is migration-contextual: how workplace rights issues intersect with the Migration Act 1958, the Migration Regulations 1994 and clients' visa circumstances.

What this module covers

  1. Section 1 — Why this topic exists~10 minIncluded free ↓
  2. Section 2 — Work-related offences and employer sanctions under the Migration Act 1958~25 minFull text on enrolment
  3. Section 3 — The Workplace Justice visa (subclass 408)~20 minFull text on enrolment
  4. Section 4 — Protections that apply regardless of migration status~20 minFull text on enrolment
  5. Section 5 — RMA practice: recognising, responding, referring~15 minFull text on enrolment
Free sample — full section

Section 1 — Why this topic exists (approx. 10 minutes)

Migrant workers are consistently over-represented in underpayment, wage theft and exploitation matters in Australia. Structural factors drive this: dependence on employer sponsorship, limited knowledge of Australian workplace law, language barriers, and — critically — fear that raising a complaint will lead to visa cancellation or removal.

Successive reviews (including the Migrant Workers' Taskforce report and the 2023 Breaking the Silence report by the Migrant Justice Institute and Human Rights Law Centre) found that the threat of visa consequences operated as a silencing mechanism: exploited workers would not report because they feared the immigration system more than they valued their entitlements.

The Government's response — the Strengthening Employer Compliance reforms — shifted the compliance burden onto employers:

  • The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 received royal assent on 20 February 2024 and commenced 1 July 2024, creating new employer offences and the prohibited employer regime, and removing criminal liability from workers who breach work-related visa conditions.
  • Two visa-side pilots commenced 1 July 2024: the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot (subclass 408) and the Strengthening Reporting Protections Pilot.
  • From 1 April 2026, when LIN 26/001 commenced, "the protection of workplace rights" is a specified CPD topic for RMAs (s 6(3)(g)) — which is why you are completing this module.

For RMAs, the practical consequence: clients experiencing exploitation now have genuine, usable protections, and the RMA is often the first professional positioned to identify the problem and open the door to remedies.

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Sample assessment questions

Straight from the question pool, with the correct answer shown. The real assessment draws 10 questions at random and is available once you enrol.

Under LIN 26/001, "the protection of workplace rights" is:

A — A mandatory CPD activity for all RMAs
B — A specified CPD topic that activities may relate to ✓ correct answer
C — Only deliverable by employment lawyers
D — Limited to Category A workshops

Why: s 6(3)(g) lists it as a specified topic; it is not a mandatory activity (mandatory activities are the Cat A requirement and ethics/Code topics under s 7).

Under LIN 26/001, a Category B private study activity must be completed within what period?

A — 6 months of enrolment
B — 12 months of enrolment ✓ correct answer
C — 12 months of the registration year
D — There is no time limit

Why: Schedule 1, item 4, Column 2.

Under the Strengthening Reporting Protections framework, which visa condition breach is **excluded** from protection?

A — Breach of a work hours limitation
B — The 'no work' condition ✓ correct answer
C — Breach of a location condition
D — No conditions are excluded

Why: the exclusion matters in practice — a client with no work rights at all falls outside the protection, though Fair Work entitlements survive regardless under s 40B.

The remaining sections and the full assessment are available once you enrol below.

Enter your MARN and surname, then complete payment to enrol. Your MARN and surname are recorded with your enrolment and used to report your completion to OMARA.

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