Vulnerable workers bearing the cost of providing Australia with cheap food
Migrant workers in Australia's agricultural sector are facing exploitation, including low wages and poor living conditions, under a system dominated by labour hire contractors. The report highlights the vulnerability of these workers who often lack legal protections and agency.
Why it matters
It exposes systemic labor abuses in the food supply chain, raising ethical concerns about the cost of cheap produce.
Gershom Isaac picks fruit and vegetables destined for Australia's supermarket shelves. ( Four Corners: Rob Hill )
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Some days Gershom Isaac says he feels suicidal. He spends up to 12 hours a day climbing ladders to pick fruit or bent over pulling onions and pumpkins, sometimes earning less than $7 an hour.
At night, he returns to overcrowded, squalid accommodation. The relentless cycle has left him feeling exhausted and hopeless.
Gershom came to Australia from Papua New Guinea, chasing the Australian dream. Instead, he became trapped in a system where labour hire contractors controlled almost every aspect of his life, his work, his pay and, ultimately, his future.
Now he is one of tens of thousands of migrant workers living in the shadows, and part of a much larger temporary migrant workforce vulnerable to exploitation.
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