Migrant Jobs Services

Migrant job seekers are reporting many more employers requiring Australian Permanent Residency or Citizenship

In our opinion employers with migrant status requirements are either misinformed or operating downright illegally

Employers use forms to gather information about applicants as part of their pre-screening process. Typically those forms ask for job qualifying information such as name, address, aspirations and job performance questions

That information is used for various purposes from automatic database updating to short listing. That means, in some cases, a candidates resume may never be read if the form answers are not to the employers satisfaction

Whilst there are many ways badly structured forms can be used to illegally discriminate our focus is on the specifics regarding visa status, residency or citizenship

It may seem reasonable for an employer to want to know such information. For instance length of tenure could be inferred from whether you are a working tourist vs. a citizen. The trouble is that much more information can (often wrongly) be inferred

The bottom line is that only a handful of organisations; some Govt departments, Defence and defence contractors, security services etc, have the right to legally insist on Citizenship. No other organisations have an official mandate to only employ Citizens or Permanent residents. Those restrictions are imposed at a company policy level and company policy is not law

The only sure legal requirement of Australian employers is that employees must have Australian working rights - and that is the only question that should be asked and answered. Asking anything more allows employers an easy discrimination path against migrants

Research of our own and others clearly shows that many employers are racially biased to varying extents. Asking visa questions to ascertain working rights is heading down a dangerous path that could indicate racial bias

We have been making official enquiries with the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and State and Federal Government departments. While progress is slow and legislation about the requirements is even worse, we are making some headway

It appears that while the practice is not yet strictly ‘illegal’ in most jurisdictions, it could be seen as discriminatory on the basis of Racial Discrimination - but there is yet to be a significant test case before the court. Such action could be some time away while the traditional press remain uninterested in the employment plight of migrants

We will continue to investigate and pursue this as the law is very gray and needs to be tightened up

This article will be updated regularly as investigations continue and I ask that you help the research

You can help the anti-discrimination cause and research for all migrants and tell us your story in the Comments section below. Tell your story and tell us your factual experience