Students are being underpaid in restaurants

It is that time of the year again and many students are looking for jobs. Many students would have just arrived with little or no money and will want to work. Here we report on some of the latest cases of underpayment

 Lately Fairfax and Meld have reported that students are being underpaid yet again.

Image: Creative commons via Meld Magazine

Particularly in Chinatown, students are being paid $8- $10. In some of the top end ones and the more popular ones such as Wagaya students are being paid $14 (as of last year). Student often don't know about their rights at work and they sometimes try to ask their boss. But the boss says no or fires them straight.

Being underpaid can sometimes gives students stress. And students don't need that stress during the semester. Their fees are high enough as it is. And then there is the food and other things like transport. 

Mamak is the latest one where it was reported that students were getting $8- $15 an hour and no overtime.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has a calculator in which you can check your wage entitlements. This is really easy to use and its important for students to know their rights when it comes to pay. You can also find out the minimum hourly pay here which is set by the national wage standards

Students and franchisees being underpaid at 7-11

A new report by Fairfax media and the ombudsman shwo that employees are being underpaid yet again by 7-11. The head office earns a lot of money but the franchises have nothing.


Last year there were raids and the stores owner Sundarakumar, admitted to the wage fraud underpaying International students in Melbourne's CBD. He also admitted to falsifying records and making the students work 80 hours a week in breach of their conditions.

In fact International students work at night and they are paid around $10 an hour. There is a lot of shoplifting going on at night and the workers are forced to take that money out of their pay check.

There are 620 stores all over Australia and the head office gets a massive 57% of the profits earned for each store. Its founder Ross Withers lives in the Yarra Valley in a very expensive house. They also have a property in Brighton

Is the current business model and the cheap things viable?
The answer is no. There is store survelliance in every corner of the shop in which head office can see what the employees get up to. The franchises can't do their own thing. In our eyes this is not on. In the end everyone knows about the underpayment and will never shop there again. Many franchises have already closed up shop due to bad debt.

Our response
This is not a new issue for 7-11. It has happened many times before and we urge you to stop shopping at 7-11 even if it is just for $1 coffee or a $2 sandwich. It is just not worth it. This is the reason why we stay away from these convenience stores.

CISA said that students need to be aware of their rights and that is correct. We have shared this on Facebook and found that people like this and shared as well.

Over the weekend RNIS went to the Melbourne International student conference and one of the issues was student exploitation. Phil Honeywood from IEAA said that exploitation was unfortunate. It has to stop now and it can start with 7-11.

Visa crime linked to Australia post

Image courtesy of Meld Magazine and Wikipedia Commons

We talk about another visa and migration scam and you can read about this here.

In a recent Fairfax Media report Australia post is linked to visa crime in the name of one of its contractors Mr Singh. Mr Singh is a billionaire contractor, known to drive Ferrari. But he is also known for one visa scam: employing students for money. Mr Singh has employed thousands of International students and has promised them a visa for work or for study.

But no such thing has happened. Heaps of students study at St Stephen's one of his schools and they work in Australia post retail outlets in Bundoora, Narre Warren and in outer suburbs. Many of the victims of the scam are Indian students.

The students fees at the college is $10000 but they received not much training. Instead they were asked to work full time for him at the postal places.

On the morning of the 5th of April the Federal police raided his home and arrested him. They also arrested two others and they confiscated the ferraris. The government cancelled his contracts.

Our response
Its great to see that this sort of thing is being investigated and stopped, but what about other things like illegal colleges all over Melbourne? We would like to see more closures of these as they are fake colleges. Students there are plenty of real colleges such as RMIT and Melbourne and Monash

In 2012 the workers union wrote to the Government asking for their intervention in this and to make sure that workers are paid fairly.

Our Dilemma helps solves problems

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015


Our Dilemma is a site which helps solve problems by providing solutions. We talk about the newest site developed by Lauren Hughes.

Many International students have problems in Australia whether it would be homesickness or financial problems. Our dilemma is a free site which students post their problems online and then people give solutions. This is the first step to getting help with your problems.

We had posted about a problem with homesickness and we got quite a few answers such as calling Lifeline and talking with the uni counsellor. Funnily enough RMIT does have such a service and we tried to use it but they were full. It was a two week waiting period. In the end we joined some student clubs and societies and that took away some of our homesickness.

Concerns with the information
Our Dilemma has some house rules and they expect everyone to follow those. As for others sharing the information it is not allowed as it is against the Privacy Act.

Image courtesy of Huffingtonpost on Facebook

Points
There are points given for the question asked and the answers given. For each question asked it is 200 points and each answer given it is 100 points.

What is in it for me?
Nothing in monetary value. But there will always be some helpful suggestions to your problems and you can help with their problems if you know how to.

The information that you post on this site is anonymous.

Students do check out the site and do feel free to post questions and answers online.

BEWARE: Private providers are still failing

This issue has been talked about for some time now and it has cropped in Meld Magazine's site as well as AFIS and CISA's newsfeeds. At the last conference there was some talk on it. Last year there was some talk on this issue. We examine it more closely as many students don't know about these loopholes.


Image courtesy of easyuni.com

There is another report online where 142 students had their visa cancelled for a dodgy provider's behaviour.

In the Ombudsman's report it was claimed that some of the providers did not apply good practice to their students. In the last year alone they investigated 488 of these providers (for poor compliance) and 142 of them had harsher penalties.

In these private colleges there are no such things as student's unions or student services. Students are left entirely on their own to study. International students need a lot of support and many of them fail courses for the first time.

Monitoring attendance was an issue for some of these colleges. International students who don't attend class a lot often fail the course.

Examples of good practice are
* meeting with the student one on one regularly throughout the semester
* telling the student when they are "at risk" at the right time, i.e when the current semester has just passed and they have failed more than 50% of their courses (subjects) in that particular semester.
* allowing students to appeal first before reporting them
* monitoring attendance properly. Students should be attending classes for 80% of the time.

Examples of bad practice are
* telling the DIBP of non compliance when all avenues have not been exhausted.
* Overcharging students

Our response
We are concerned for the wellbeing of students. Many students come to Melbourne to study and many of the colleges are chosen online in their country. They chose colleges in which they can afford and not ones that are actually good for them. Most students don't have a lot of money to study and university tuition is expensive for them.

If there was such an online for private providers this would be good. This should be a ranking system in which students can rate their colleges.

Students living in Illegal housing in Melbourne

This issue has been going on for some time and it is said to get worse as more new International students arrive later this month to start their studies

Students are still living in illegal housing in Melbourne according to the Age. Students have been told to pay $100- $160 a week for a tiny room and now the City of Melbourne is looking to punish the illegal landlords. They need a investigator to investigate this issue. Finding one takes time.

This is where there are 8 people per room. There are a lot of properties in the city which are illegal. A lot of these properties are advertised on social media sites such as Weibo and Gumtree.  One of them is QV. In the Age they show some shocking pictures of crowded places.

We are concerned for these students as they cannot study and live like this. The places that they live in are very cramped and International students do not know who they are paying and whether they will get the money back. Yes we know that housing is expensive and so is the desperation to find a house. But seriously campuses should be looking into providing some sort of scholarship for students who cannot afford. We know Melbourne Uni has some sort of a scholarship but what about the other unis.

With the iUse discount passes it is no excuse for the student not to consider living in the suburbs and search for the property properly by themselves. We really hope that the City of Melbourne does something about this issue sooner rather than later or otherwise there will be not many new arrivals.

One of the many places in which students live in

TAFE accused of letting students pass

Box Hill TAFE has been letting International students to pass their exams by altering them. We report on this latest cheating scandal that has rocked the TAFE side of uni

Exams. Picture is from independent.co.uk

In a report late last week it was reported that Box Hill TAFE have been letting International students to pass their exams when they should have failed. It is like plagiarism. It had been brought to the attention of the Victorian Government by 4 former teachers and 2 former students.

These allegations happened in 2012/2013 and it was reported to the Anti Corruption body. Since then they are still investigating the matter. In that year it was the Liberals that ruled Victoria. Now it is Daniel Andrews from the labour party who said that it is not ok. During that time there were a lot of TAFE funding cuts, hence the quality of teaching had diminished

The Victorian TAFE Association also frowns upon the fraud that is going on. But they support the Box Hill TAFE during this difficult time

In 2013 there was a survey and 54% of the TAFE teachers felt pressurised to pass students because students are paying a lot of money for a degree. CISA said that it was due "societial and cultural pressure from back home". In China and other Asian countries many parents put a lot of pressure on their kids to pass everything.

Our response to that matter is that universities need to have a more stringent and clearer guidelines around marking. RMIT has been good in that respect as to implementing some clearer instructions and guidelines for everyone including TAFE. When you apply to work for RMIT they will ask for the police check and working with children check.

When the Age published this story people were unhappy about the cuts to TAFE and were eager to shame "Box Hill TAFE".

It is the fair few International students that ruin it for everyone. In the long run when these graduates are working they may be asked to demonstrate something that they don't know. Something that was said to us a few days ago was "When you are working people will not tell you whether you are doing the wrong or the right thing. University will guide you through this process". It means that students need to find the answer for themselves, not rely on others.

In summary: we absolutely condone cheating and fraud (altering of marks just to pass students). If you need any help with your assignment you should use your university's student learning service. They are there for you.

Study Melbourne Info Day to come

This Saturday the 14th of March is a very important day. Why? It is the Study Melbourne day of course.
Study Melbourne Info Day is organised by AFIS in what promises to an amazing day full of fun, friendships and essential information.

In previous semesters the event was at the Drill Hall outside the market.

This time the event is in RMIT's Storey Hall which a purple and green building right next to the Green brain. The location is diagonally across the road from Melbourne Central and RMIT has its own tram stop outside the free tram zone.  Like previous years, there will be volunteers standing at the entrance to greet you.

There is bike parking available but its at the owners risk.

Like previous semesters there was always free food and the free food is usually a sandwich or two. But if it is a sunny day they might just do a BBQ outside in Bowen st.

The theme is fun, friend and fact and the event is on from 12pm-6pm. Do register for this free event on Eventbrite.

I just recceived my MYKI fine: what happens now

Many students have received a MYKI fine for not being able to top up or touch on and they just pay the $217 fine without knowing that they have rights to appeal the fine.

The team at RNIS always assists many students in relation to fines. CISA always does the same thing too and it is a bit of a concern that many students receive the fines and then just pay it. It is a bit of a waste of money to pay the $217 fine without an appeal. After all Melbourne is the most expensive place to study.

Appealing it

Can you remember what happened when the Authorised officer approached you? Were they being harsh on you?

You have about 40 days (one month and a half) to appeal the fine. Do include your address, case number and name at the top of your letter. Do address it to the person named in your fine. The letter is formal. If you need to, do seek help early from Victorian Legal aid or your uni's legal service. This is a free service for all students.

In your appeal letter do talk about the circumstances leading to your fine/infringement. Ie you could state that you were not a local in that area and there were no shops you knew of or that the MYKI machine/reader was broken.

Taking the reasonable steps to ensure that you didn't break the law always helps. In the legislation it says that it is unreasonable for a person to go out of their way to get the MYKI. On trams there is no MYKI machines. If you don't have the internet at home then it is simply unreasonable for you to top up online

Evidence
Print your MYKI statement- you should have the card registered in your name so you can see all the transactions and then challenge them, especially if it took more money for one trip. If you print and send in your statement it can show the Department of transport how honest you were at the time

Photograph any MYKI machines that did not work

If you were with friends get them to also write a statement

How to love yourself

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

As International students it is hard to adjust to life in a new place. This is Sally's story about adjusting to life down under

This is a valentines love post.
Accepting yourself for who you are is really important. As new International students coming from a different country the high expectations of getting good grades and adjusting to a new country can make you feel stressed out. In reality no one is perfect and you have to love yourself for who you are.

Your values and outlook on life may change whilst you are living in Australia. Moving to a different country from another changed my perspective on life. I learned to make friends from different walks of life and that made me look at myself from a different side.

I really learned that grades are not everything. To my parents living in China and every other Chinese/Asian International students grades are everything to the parents. If I failed something in China my parents would spank me. In Australia I learned that my friends parents loved them and accepted them for who they are not their grades. This was from the local, Australian friends.

Aaliyah said "If at first you don't succeed, just pick yourself and try again", its very true. Grades are not everything, they are just a tiny part of you, its whether you can be happy and adjust to life Down under well.

Living down under is about rediscovering yourself and who you are. As someone once said to me it is not about the grades but its about find your true self and loving thy self

Students still get ripped off

Students are still being ripped off by their employer and its about to get worse. We talk about the latest case in Gloria Jeans.

The latest case is at the Gloria Jeans in Caulfield where about 22 staff, mainly International students were underpaid. According to Fairfax media the owners of that franchise were asked to pay about $110,000 in wages.  A third of its employees were under the age of 21.  The students were owed between $219- $18,000.

This coffee shop is performing very badly and yet according to the Judge this couple and their company Primeage Ltd were not paying the people properly. Primeage was fined $80,000 and the couple got a $30,500 fine as well the order to back pay their employees.

Many of them were not provided with meal breaks and other entitlements such as payslips. Payslips need to be provided at least one day after they are paid.

This has happened before last year and the courts and Fair work were really harsh in the ruling this time.

Natalie James from the Fair Work Ombudsman said that "this should be a warning to all other employers".  It is also common for the retail and hospitality industry when they are performing badly to underpay their staff, but it is illegal.

In Sydney many students still don't know their rights. They are being paid $8-$10 per hour cash in hand which is illegal. One Papparich place in Broadway is being investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Many of the students there are in Australia to study English, TAFE or Foundation

It has always been RNIS's concern as well as CISA's and its about to get a whole lot worse especially for big branded companies like Pappa Rich and Gloria Jeans. We hope that these employers do the right thing or Australia will lose its students to other countries

Understanding our Health system and how it works

Many International students don't understand this system and how it works in Australia. So we explain this health system.

Apple courtesy of freeclipart site

International students have to have OHSC cover in Australia. But it can be darn expensive to pay for the things that you don't need. It can also be expensive to pay for doctor's visits and other things if you get sick without health cover. Most OHSC providers don't cover ambulance fees.

In Australia you don't have access to public health insurance. You do have private insurance only. International students don't have Medicare. The Swedish and Belgian students have their own insurance by their government so they don't need to spend the $500-$700 on OHSC

Extras
They are the things that you want, but don't need. I.e gym membership and weight loss sessions.

What is the gap fee?

The gap fee is the difference between what the provider can cover and what the doctor charges (i.e visiting fees) . As students you have to pay this fee. Gap fees can vary.

But you can make a claim afterwards; online, in person or by mail.

Which things are bulk billed?

Some doctors are members of your Health insurer so they will directly bulk bill the provider. Just hop on to the insurer's website and search for doctors in your area.

Some prescriptions are covered but these are just the bare essentials. Do check your policy.

Pre existing conditions and pregnancies are not usually covered by your OHSC. Do visit this website for more information.

If you have any complaints about your OHSC provider you can complain to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman. But try and resolve things first with your insurer.

Private Health Insurance Ombudsman details
 Phone: 1800 640 695 (within Australia)

Email: Private Health Insurance Ombudsman

Visit the PHIO website.

International students being exploited in the workplace.

International students are working for about $8-$10 per hour which is way under the minimum wage. Yet on the other hand education agents and universities are painting an all too rosy picture of life in Australia. We talk about our thoughts on this issue.

Agents from various universities go to the prospective student's home countries trying to sell  their degrees and advertising for students to come to Australia. But what they tell students is only half the story. The other half of the story is the negativities such as being paid unfairly and the high living costs.

Many students work in fast food places and well known restaurants some of which pays terribly. One restaurant we know of in Melbourne is Dragon Boat on Lonsdale st. It has good yum cha at times but a friend told us that she gets paid $8 hour for the work she does which is pushing heavy yum cha carts and waitressing. She told me that they also do "trial shifts" which is illegal here in Australia. She also said that they ask her to work very long hours sometimes from 10am-12am.

In Sydney Fairfax Media reported that a lot of Sydney businesses including PappaRich on Broadway have been underpaying students for as little as $8-$13. In the last year alone the Fair Work Ombudsman has recovered $1.1 million in wages and businesses have been ordered to pay it back. This is a great start. And what else? The Fair Work Ombudsman has set up a taskforce just for overseas workers. But there could be more such as telling students of their rights in the first instance and that they can complain to the Ombudsman and need not fear about deported to their home country. Which many of them do if they complain to the employer. The only people that can do that is Immigration.

We hope that this year all the businesses in Melbourne and all over Australia pay their workers the right amount. Or otherwise Australia will lose students to other places such as the US. International students is just one of Australia's biggest revenues with about $15 billion dollars being earnt annually. There might be more businesses in Melbourne and if we come across some more we'd be happy to take it up to the Ombudsman and shame them on here.

Watch out for travelling con men

Consumer Affairs Victoria is a body that deals with consumer law and they make and enforce the laws in Victoria. However you can make a complaint to them if need be.



The Consumer Affairs Victoria is warning all Victorians particularly International students to watch out for travelling con men. These con men targets people that don't speak English well. they give some offers which are too good to be true.

They tend to be a lot more active during the summer months where the bushfires happen.

They usually knock on the door when you are home and they would make an offer on the spot. One way to chekc if they are working for the compnay they say that they are is to get their full name and their work number and ring the company yourself. Don't sign an agreement unless you are comfortable.

If you are not sure who they are then don't answer the door. Just pretend you are not home. Or if you have to, just say no.

For more information check out the Consumer Affairs Victoria website.

 

Students caught in the latest cheating scandal

 Students are being caught in the latest plagiarism and illegal scandal which is not new to the universities but is new to International students and its the biggest one to date. You may remember the ghost writer article, but this is a lot bigger than that with the company employing 100 writers to write for them. We show you this video from SBS's the The Feed as well as explain the issue.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, about 1000 International students have used the MyMaster website, a site which is run by Yingying Dou from Sydney. These students are from China and are studying in Sydney but there have been a few that study in Melbourne as well that are using this site.

The site ever since being investigated by Fairfax media has been taken down. The website seems to have made $160,000 in the year 2014 alone. Yingying Dou also runs another company called "Yingcredible" which is a tutoring service.

Students pay $13- $1500 depending on the article and grade they want.

In the graphic the University of Newcastle seems to be the most popular one with a lot of requests. Similarly, there have also been requests from RMIT University students which were both surprising and alarming. RMIT has several warnings in place and this year their student services seem to be better.

International students pay a lot of money to study and their families expect a lot from them. There is a lot of pressure for students to do well in class. The university of Newcastle has the highest number of cases using the site.


There could be criminal charges for buying essays online as well as expulsion and exclusion from the uni. RMIT and other unis take cheating very seriously which means that there will be disciplinary hearings in uni.

When the other students and lecturers found out about the cheating they were very outraged. They said that if the students got a "good job then they would be found out very quickly". Also the others say its not far. The academics blame the uni for the problem of letting in students who have poor English.

Question in hindsight is: Why don't RMIT students use RMIT's free student services to help them pass their assignments when they are being promoted throughout the uni?

Grill Kings of NY

RMIT Newintstudents dined as a guest.

Grill Kings of NY is in Northland shopping centre near Preston. They have only just been opened for a few months. Like Chadstone, buses service this area, no trams or trains.

They are outside the food court along with PappaRich, hence it is hard to find. Even I had a hard time locating the place as there is no signage anywhere, even from the outside.

They are child friendly and the guy that owns it (Patrick) is lovely. He isn't tech savvy but will be soon.

It is here that they are known for their vegan American street style food. Of course they also have meat as well. They have about 10 different types of Amercian hot dogs and the latest being vegetarian.

I had to have onion rings just because I love them. That and the American potato crisps. I liked them with just a bit of salt not too much. But what would be nice is some mustard for the table.

I tried both their vegetarian ones and I loved them both. At $8 these were huge. I love that they can do great vegetarian things unlike other places. It was nicely done, just like the American way. They make the hotdogs to order.

I also had the zucchini fries and fried mushroom. I couldn't finish them all so I opted for takeaway and I donated the meal to a RMIT student in need as part of Good Neighbourhood Month.

Do come and visit for your hot dog fix at Northland before or after your movie as it is near the cinema.

Know the line campaign

Know the Line campaign has just started this year and its for everyone that works in any industry.

Employees at Your Thai by RMIT Newintstudents

 A campaign by the Human Rights Commission. The Human Rights Commission has joined forces with many of the workers and employers unions as well as business groups to bring together this policy.

The campaign is about sexual harassment in the workforce. Many students don't know about sexual harassment in the workplace and that it is wrong. It is wrong to sleep with the boss or for them to give you sexual toys if you are a woman.

Too often many International students don't understand workplace rights and they get bullied by their boss or other employees. This is a real concern to CISA who time and time again has mentioned this issue at their conference.

The aim of this campaign is to encourage bystanders to say something if they witness it.

Sexual Harassment in the workplace decreases productivity and morality for everyone. It is not only for the victim but its also for those that see and hear it.



Inappropriate touching, hugging, leering etc is not allowed in the workplace

If you see it you should raise it with your boss. If you can't you can go to Fair Work Australia.

For more information check out the site

Migration session what you missed and your questions answered

Last night Chai Junction along with the Couch hosted their first migration session. About 20 people showed up. It was $10 to get in but that money goes to Chai Junction and the running of their programs to help all Indians adjust to Melbourne.

There were snacks.

But I wasn't there for the snacks. I was here to get information and tips on how to get PR and a proper graduate job in Australia.

International student PR woes
Immigration law always changes from year to year and its written by Business analysts employed by the State Government. Each states needs are different. Each state has their own quota. When industry changes the law and the Skills occupation list changes.

Many students have the problem of applying for PR. They either leave it until it is too late or they don't have enough points to get in there. You need about 55-60 points, most of which is hard to get with just a diploma. The other problem too is that the Skilled Occupations list is always changing.

Immigration don't have a set timeline and policy as to when applications are processed and granted. They have so many applications. Many students make the mistake of lodging their application just before or on the deadline (when their visa is about to run out). Vikhram from My Migration says " Lodge the application way before your visa expires". He suggests lodging it about a month ahead

Is sponsorship hard to get? 
It depends on what you are studying and what is in the SOL list. The SOL list changes every 3-6 months.
Regional sponsorship is a grey area.  If you study and live in regional Victoria you can claim 5 points. This 5 points is important. Moving to the country from the city is hard. But if you move to the country and work there you will get to know everyone. PR may be easier to get if you live and study in the country areas.

Assesment levels will change from time to time and it is said that Immigration are proposing a new change very soon.

The dollar value is high. Immigration requires you to show 12 months of funds before coming to Australia.

All throughout the night, there was an emphasis on great English and good networking skills.

Some advice
* Do your own research about courses- it is you that is studying in Australia not your friends, family or migration agent.
 * Network with people. Australians are friendly, laid back and very casual.
* Create your own brand whether it would be via blogging or social media.
* Learn the Australian slang- you'll find it much easier to communicate with the locals.
* Set up a LinkedIn account and be consistent.
* Tailor your resume to fit the job criteria.Nowadays recruiters want a resume that fits the key selection criteria.

Many thanks to Chai Junction for this night and catering for the needs of International students. Students if Chai Junction is around next year, do sign up.

Fair Work Ombudsman targets the shoddy cleaning companies

In these last few weeks Fair work Australia has done some auditing on the cleaning companies that hire International students. One of the companies is Assetlink.

‘It is not acceptable for organisations to outsource work to the lowest-cost contractor and turn a blind eye to any subsequent unfair treatment of low-paid workers. Such behaviour can be detrimental to an organisation’s reputation and may also be considered unlawful.’ (FWO, 2/7/13) said the Ombudsman.

Assetlink denied these allegations

Image courtesy of Indian Herald

The students who worked at Melbourne's Law court building cleaning it, worked for Assetlink. Earlier on in July a workers union called United Voice raised concerns about the company. In this instance students had to have had their own ABN. They also missed out on ther entitlements such as sick leave etc. They were paid $6.35 LESS THAN THE LEGAL MINIMUM WAGE.

 United Voice have released a report. The findings of this report are:

• These students were bullied. Some of them were racially abused. The Indian students who were employed in these subcontracting companies were often mistreated. About 50% of cleaners are from India, Bangladesh and Columbia.
• There was a lot of intimidation by the bosses
• A lot of International students are being ripped off by $15000 annually. This hurts our $15 billion dollar education export industry which supports Australian Jobs.
•  International students make up a big chunk of Australian economy.
•  A lot of the reputable office cleaning companies sub contract to other companies in order to maintain costs
•  Three out of four International students don't know about their work rights. A lot of these students were employed under "Sham Contracting" agreements which is illegal
• When United Voice did their report a lot of them were sworn to secrecy and asked not to speak out  by the employer to the Union. The employer would often hide the students and the problems when United Voice came along.
• In another post we talk about Australia being the most expensive place to study.

Under the new Clean start agreement workers will be paid properly.

But what can universities do to warn students about these sham contracting agreements? Meld Magazine has done a good job in warning these students about this sort of illegal work.

In the coming year we would love to see that RMIT and other universities have more information sessions on work rights for International students with some of the unions coming to the unis to talk about their services. RMIT Student Union does a great job in warning them but we would love to see RMIT doing the same thing

Asian grocceries and restaurants pay as little as $10 per hour

We explore the issue of underpayment which has been going on for some time now. This issue dates back to 2005 where many students worked at 7-11 and places like that.

 Most of these places pay by cash in hand so that they can get away with the law.

I have had many stories of where students work at night time doing back breaking work.

One student who does not want to be named said that he worked in a Chinese take away place in the suburbs. He worked for over 20 hours per week  for about $10 an hour. He was not paid any overtime for the weekends that he worked.

He was wondering how he'd pay his bills or do really well in his studies.

Remember the case of 7-11? Well this is like that. Except in this case the employer hasn't been reported.

Well in this case it is a lot worse where International Students are being paid around $8-$10. Some of them have to do trial shifts where they work for one day to a week for free.

Also in some of the Chinese and Asian places that I go to I have seen many unhappy faces. 

To this very day it is still happening and many students do not know their rights

Have you been unfairly treated at work? Share you story here or you can befriend us on Facebook and share your story there.