Senator David Leyonhjelm recently thanked men from South Asian backgrounds for delivering his pizza, groceries and online purchases. He praised them for rolling up their sleeves for jobs other Australians refused.
This gesture is seriously problematic. The casual service industry is broken and exploitative — it needs to be carefully regulated and constantly audited.
Many people, local and immigrant alike, who are employed in casual jobs leave them because the jobs are full of problems. The Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS) found 19 per cent of casual employees exited their job during the first 12 months of employment, compared to 7 per cent of employees in more secure forms of work.
There is very little incentive to stay. Last July, Fair Work inspectors forced business to pay $472,000 to 616 employees after their audit of the hospitality industry in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. 72 per cent of businesses had underpaid their employees.
'Wage theft has become a business model in hospitality, in retail and across the workforce,' Jess Walsh, the Victorian secretary of United Voice, told the Guardian this year.
Migrants make up 6 per cent of hospitality employees, and 18 per cent of disputes resolved by the Fair Work Ombudsman involved employees on a visa.
Migrants are seriously disadvantaged because they are rarely informed of their rights as employees or of the in-built system of exploitation in many casual jobs. They are often oblivious of industry pay rates, penalty rates or bodies of assistance like the Fair Work Ombudsman.
"These workers do not need to be thanked for undertaking these jobs. They need to be encouraged to stand up for themselves, to be change-makers in their respective industries."
Physical violence, particularly at night-time, is rife. The union representing fast food employees recently launched its 'No One Deserves a Serve' campaign to counter violence experienced by employees. Out of a survey of a 1000 employees, 87 per cent reported experiencing violence from unhappy customers.
Working in hospitality I have seen several of my colleagues pushed around and shouted at by angry and entitled men. They then have to return home late at night on public transport, increasing their chances of experiencing gender-based violence.
Migrants are also victimised by racial discrimination and unconscious bias in hiring decisions, raises and promotions. At one place of employment, I had been trained to run the bar. After the holiday season, the role had been filled by an American girl who had joined after me.
A similar situation occurred when I was working at a sports stadium. I had been promised a longer shift in six months, but this had not eventuated.
Right before I hit the 12-month mark, I found myself helping a long-shifter. I basically trained them in their job, even though they received more pay and had a longer shift than me. I confronted my supervisor about it and he simply stated that there had been no demand for me by customers. His vague response ignored my past performance and current skillset.
After days of disappointment, I realised I had only seen one other person of colour as a long-shifter, though there had been several short-shifters of diverse backgrounds. It seemed clear this was a result of tokenism, rather than a structure that accommodated diverse employees.
SBS's documentary Is Australia Really Racist? cited that 36.4 per cent of Australians surveyed believe that there are too many immigrants in Australia; 54.1 per cent of culturally and linguistically diverse people reported racism at their place of employment.
Structural racism persists across several industries, even highly skilled ones. Migrant Workers Centre opened in August to tackle underpayment, violence and racism. It has been contacted by employees in anything from cleaning, security and construction to transport and healthcare.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi countered Senator Leyonhjelm by pointing out that migrants are 'actively challenging racism and demanding rights', but this fight cannot be fought alone.
Australian society is so fixated on migrant problems, such as the so-called African gangs and overfilled transportation hubs, that they are oblivious to the problems in their society that exploit migrants and locals alike.
The government should brief incoming migrants about their rights and legal options. After all, it is for the benefit of everyone. Perhaps exposing fraud, exploitation and discrimination should be a core Australian value?
Employees should be trained and encouraged to pursue skills that can be learned from the service industry and transferred into more skilled jobs, such as customer service, presentation and people management. Employees might be retained if the job is portrayed as one of value and that serves a larger purpose.
These workers do not need to be thanked for undertaking these jobs. They need to be encouraged to stand up for themselves, to be change-makers in their respective industries, and to focus on learning and self-development.
Devana Senanayake is a political reporter and radio producer focusing on intercultural racism, immigration, de-colonisation, diasporas and food. In 2017, she won Writer's Victoria Women of Colour Commission for her essay Misplaced in Pop about the misplacement of South Asian actors in Western media. Visit her website and follow her on Twitter @dsenanayake16
Main image: Senator David Leyonhjelm (Michael Masters/Getty Images)