Are you sure you're being paid what you're entitled to? The Australian national minimum wage is currently 18.29 dollars per hour, which is around 695 dollars per week, before tax.
Mark Lee, the director of media for the Fair Work Ombudsman, says that several factors can mean you should be paid more.
He explains that if you're a casual worker, you should be paid above the minimum wage because of casual loading. Similarly
if you work weekends, public holidays or at nigh time, you should also be paid more.
Laurie Berg is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney.
Last year, she conducted a survey with a colleague about wage theft. The findings are worrying for international students and backpackers. The research showed that most of the students and backpackers knew about the minimum wage, but they could see their peers being underpaid so they didn't see much chance of getting a better paying job. Berg says she was surprised to see that most nationalities of backpackers and international students were experiencing underpayment.
While there still need to be some work done by the government and business to fix the situation, Mark Lee says that the Fair Work Ombudsman has measures in place to facilitate denunciation.
To find out if you're getting the wage that you're entitled to or to make a complaint, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman's website at fairwork.gov.au or call 13 13 94.
