The report, by workplace relations experts from the University of Melbourne, RMIT University and La Trobe University, found that while poor treatment of international students was widespread across industries, the most serious abuse occurred in Melbourne’s restaurants and cafes, and particularly within family-owned enterprises.

“Though underpayment is also common in other sectors, the form of underpayment (and non-payment) in food services is distinctive, strongly associated with undeclared casual work outside the tax and labour regulation system,” says the report, which has been supplied to The Citizen.

Researchers conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 44 temporary migrant workers, cafe/restaurant owners and representatives from industry associations. The report is currently under peer review and could be published within weeks, according to Dr Iain Campbell, of RMIT’s Centre for Applied Social Research.

As well as identifying employer breaches of labour and tax laws, the study also found that many foreign students were trapped in a Catch 22: because they were underpaid, they were having to work many more hours than their visa conditions allowed in a bid to make ends meet. A foreign student visa normally allows the holder to work up to 40 hours per fortnight while studying full-time.

“Though underpayment is also common in other sectors, the form of underpayment (and non-payment) in food services is distinctive, strongly associated with undeclared casual work outside the tax and labour regulation system.” — foreign student work study

“Such a breach of the visa rules carries severe risks for student workers; they become in effect illegal workers, subject to penalties that include cancellation of the student visa and deportation,” the study noted.

The findings are expected to add further to the emerging literature on the work experiences of temporary visa-holders in Australia, which have come under greater scrutiny following last year’s 7-Eleven pay scandal.

It follows landmark data released in February that revealed more than 60 per cent of overseas students in Sydney were underpaid, while 35 per cent were paid less than $12 an hour.

The survey, conducted by the University of Sydney’s Business School, found that the majority of working international students were earning well below minimum wage. Among the 1433 international student respondents (19 per cent of whom had a part-time job), six-out-of-10 said they were paid below the national minimum wage of $17.29 an hour.

The two studies represent the first in-depth data collected on the underpayment of foreign students in Australia, who number around 400,000. About half of these students are enrolled in tertiary education, with China the leading source.

Food services employers were also found by the Sydney survey to be among the main offenders, with up to 80 per cent of international workers being paid less than the minimum wage, while for those working in retail, 90 per cent of students claimed to be underpaid.

To make matters worse, many international students reported not receiving pay slips (50 per cent), as well as feeling threatened or unsafe at work (35 per cent), while 90 per cent of those working weekends in retail were not being paid penalty rates.

Dr Stephen Clibborn, the study’s main researcher, said the experiences of other temporary visa-holders was likely to be the same.

“These [retail and food services] are areas where you also find people on working holiday visas, and I expect their experience is similar,” he said.

While the survey respondents were drawn from various countries, students from China were found to be suffering the highest rates of underpayment – seven-in-10 were paid less than the minimum wage. However, all of the students who were working as casual wait staff were underpaid.

Since February, “Jane” (not her real name) has worked at a busy Sichuan restaurant in Melbourne’s Chinatown. The soft-spoken Chinese student arrived in Australia last July and found the job on a Chinese community website. She now works for 10 hours a week while studying full-time at university.

Students from China were found to be suffering the highest rates of underpayment – seven-in-10 were paid less than the minimum wage. However, all of the students who were working as casual wait staff were underpaid. — study findings

“My role is mainly as a waitress, but it’s also like a salesperson. I invite customers in, too,” Jane told The Citizen.

The 23-year-old said she is paid $10 an hour in cash, a rate that she believes is about the average among her restaurant-working friends, who mostly get “$11 or $12 an hour”.

“I’m quite satisfied with it,” said Jane. “I get tips sometimes, so when it’s busy, it’s good.”

When asked about the minimum wages being paid in the industry, Jane replied: “I heard some could get as low as $8. I’m not sure.”

Experts say the issue of exploitation facing overseas workers is due to a number of factors, including a lack of knowledge of basic work entitlements and endemic non-compliance by employers.

For more than two years from 2012, former science student Sirisha worked for three 7-Eleven stores in Melbourne’s CBD on both a full-time and part-time basis. The 24-year-old Indian native came to Australia to pursue graduate study in biotechnology and bioinformatics, only to find herself paid $13 an hour.

“My boss used to calculate less work hours than what we’d actually done, when we were supposed to be paid around $22 [an hour],” said Sirisha, who asked that her surname not be published.

She said exploitation was an issue that many international workers such as herself experienced, but most were reluctant to speak out.

“Job insecurity [and] the need to work to sustain ourselves instead of relying on our parents, drives us,” she said.

Early last month, the office of the Fair Work Ombudsman released its report into the 7-Eleven work scandal, in which systemic non-compliance and underpayment of workers within the franchise was exposed.

The report, ‘Identifying and addressing the drivers of non-compliance in the 7-Eleven network’, found that franchisees had been “deliberately falsifying” records to disguise the underpayment of wages, while illegal practices dated back to as early as 2008.

“Not only did some franchisees fail to keep proper records of what had been worked and paid, a number produced and relied on false records,” Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said.

She also noted the franchise failed to act on pay claims despite awareness of high non-compliance throughout its network.

“My boss used to calculate less work hours than what we’d actually done, when we were supposed to be paid around $22 [an hour].” — Sirisha, 24

“It was either disinterested or ignored public concerns . . . until exposed to public scrutiny,” her report concluded.

Employees with the franchise were identified to be predominantly international student visa-holders from non-English speaking backgrounds, with the most common countries of origin being China, Pakistan and India.

The report also found that since July, 2009, the Agency had had “significant engagement” with the 7-Eleven network. Its actions included eight matters involving franchisees which were now before the courts and the recovery of $625,000 for underpaid employees, many of whom had received as little as $5 an hour.

However, the Ombudsman also conceded that the challenge in addressing the injustice was made harder by limitations in its investigative powers.

“Although exploitation of foreign workers has long been a priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Agency alone is unlikely to be able to ‘eliminate serious and deliberate manipulation of visa-holders across multiple regulatory frameworks’,” the report said.

Researcher Dr Clibbon added: “Two hundred and fifty inspectors for over two million workplaces and 11 million workers across the country — they need more resources.”

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, employers found breaching work regulations, including the underpayment of staff, face financial penalties of up to $33,000 for each breach with some matters constituting a criminal offence. ►Employers and employees seeking advice or assistance can visit the Fair Work website or contact the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94. A free interpreter service is available by calling 13 14 50. Information has been translated into 27 languages, with fact sheets tailored to overseas workers and international students.