When staff at Barry café in Melbourne went public with claims of wage theft, a raft of other cafes and restaurants also allegedly underpaying staff (including Chin Chin, Vue de monde, Bar Coluzzi, and George Calombaris) were suddenly caught out in the media’s spotlight.
Here is a list of cafés that not only pay award wages to their staff (or more), but provide skills and employment pathways for people at the fringes.
1. Long Street Coffee, Melbourne
This Melbourne cafe offers three-month hospitality traineeships to refugees, run in partnership with not-profit Brewing for Change. Together, the organisations act as a stepping stone between settlement services that assist refugees to find work, and other cafes seeking employees with experience and skills. Eighty percent of Long Street graduates go on to secure permanent employment.
2. Parliament on King, Sydney
In 2013, Ravi Prasad opened a café in his living room. Since then, Parliament on King has provided free barista training for over 300 refugees or people seeking asylum, who then work at the café or find employment elsewhere. Team members are allowed to bring their kids with them to work to play with Prasad’s daughter
3. Espresso Train Cafe, Brisbane
Espresso Train is a charity initiative of Nundah Community Enterprises Cooperative (NCEC) that creates sustainable employment and training opportunities for people with a mental illness or disability. All cafe profits are reinvested into Espresso Train’s social and environmental initiatives, such as their small solar farm.
“If the pricing looks too good to be true, then there is probably a reason,” says Richard Warner, co-op coordinator at NCEC."
4. Finders Keepers, Melbourne
Finders Keepers owners Kirsten Baker and Sean Minter are passionate about ending wage theft.
“Wage theft means that workers end up relying on government payments to survive – be it rent assistance, family payments or aged pensions when they are older as they won't have enough superannuation to live off,” Baker says.
Wage theft means that workers end up relying on government payments to survive.
“We find it hard to compete. Many of the cafes in our area pay their staff cash in hand and less than the award rate. Paying cash means they don't have to pay super (or they aren't paying the correct amount of super), they aren't paying WorkCover for any staff not on the books, and they aren't paying anywhere near the correct amount of tax.”
5. If It Wasn’t For This Coffee, Sydney
If It Wasn’t For This Coffee is a social enterprise run by Whitelion – a not-for-profit supporting at-risk youth. The cafe is also used as a training ground for students needing practical experience as part of the Certificate III in Hospitality course.
“These young people may be homeless, have gone through the foster care system or the juvenile justice system, making it almost impossible for them to gain the necessary work experience to graduate with a qualification and gain employment,” says Adam Gibson, business development and partnerships manager at Whitelion.
6. Freedom Hub Cafe, Sydney and Palm Beach
Freedom Hub is a charity fighting human trafficking and modern slavery. As well as running the Survivor School where victims are trained, encouraged and prepared for the workforce, Freedom Hub operates two cafes – one in the Gold Coast and one in Sydney.
“We pay full award wage and we give 100 percent of our profits to our own charity,” says founder and CEO Sally Irwin.
7. STREAT, Melbourne
STREAT is a youth homelessness charity that runs four hospitality ventures across Melbourne. Since 2010, STREAT has trained and supported over 800 young people. The charity hopes to be working with 1,095 young people a year by 2022.
