A fruit picker empties freshly picked sémillon grapes into a crate during the harvest at Glandore Wines in Hunter Valley, NSW in Australia on Jan. 11, 2024. Roni Bintang/Getty Images
Australia may soon have a new public register to track and monitor employers approved to sponsor skilled migrant workers, under legislation introduced by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
The Migration Amendment (Combating Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025 introduced in the Parliament on Nov. 6 aims to create a public “Register of Approved Work Sponsors,” which will be published and maintained on the Department of Home Affairs website.
“This bill is a necessary and important step to supporting a better targeted temporary skilled work visa programme as part of the Albanese Labor government’s migration strategy,” Burke told Parliament.
The register will list each approved sponsor’s name, ABN, business postcode, number of sponsored workers, and occupations. Burke said this transparency will help “tackle migrant worker exploitation and misuse of the visa system.”
“This register will provide an important resource to check that the sponsoring employer is legitimate,” he said. “It will promote transparency and accountability … increasing protections for migrant workers and ensuring a stronger workforce.”
He added that the reform was designed to make the system fairer and safer.
“Migrants make a valuable contribution, not only to Australia’s prosperity, but also to our communities, our national identity, and to our connections across the world. They have the right to be safe and to feel safe,” Burke added.
UN Expert Flags Exploitation
The bill follows strong criticism from the United Nations in Nov. 2024, when Special Rapporteur Prof. Tomoya Obokata warned of “disturbing” levels of migrant worker vulnerability in Australia.
He reported cases of deceptive recruitment, underpayment, wage theft, racial discrimination, and even physical and sexual abuse.
His findings identified major exploitation under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, where workers were often unaware of their rights and lacked access to healthcare or social security.
Obokata also highlighted risks faced by women, children, Indigenous Australians, asylum seekers, and sex workers.
He urged the government to set up an independent grievance body and boost support for frontline services to “identify and support victims effectively.”
