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Khoa was ,000 in debt and left on a farm with no food or money. He’s not alone
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Khoa was $10,000 in debt and left on a farm with no food or money. He’s not alone

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Khoa Nguyen is an intensive care nurse at a major Melbourne hospital helping save lives on the medical frontline.
But his path to this role was anything but easy.
The 31-year-old, who arrived from Vietnam in 2012, took a job on a farm in South Australia during a gap year to fund his studies.
It was during this time that Nguyen says he, along with several other workers, was left behind on the remote farm – without wages, food or support.
The group was left in the caravan they shared after their contractor reportedly disappeared, leaving them with only part of their promised wages.

“We were stuck there and living in a trailer, without food and without money. We stayed in that trailer for another two and a half months,” he told SBS News.

Khoa Nguyen is now an intensive care nurse at a major hospital in Melbourne. Source: SBS / Scott Cardwell

“We drank a lot of water to fill our waters [empty] stomachs. We had no contacts, we didn’t know where to look for help.”

Nguyen estimates he owed up to $10,000 in back wages. He doesn’t remember the contractor’s name and never tried to get the money back.

Despite the ordeal, Nguyen eventually managed to self-fund his nursing qualifications and begin his career in critical care – but advocates say many others remain vulnerable.

‘We have a pervasive problem’

Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum, an expert on migrant worker rights at the University of New South Wales, says Nguyen’s case is not an isolated case.

“We have a widespread problem with workplace exploitation of international students and people working in Australia on temporary visas,” she told SBS News.

Farbenblum – who is also co-founder of the Migrant Justice Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the rights of migrant workers – says Australian systems are still failing to provide workers with the trust or protection needed to report abuse.
Research by the institute has previously shown that, due to fear of consequences such as visa cancellations, very few exploited students report underpayment.
“Even those who know they are not being paid properly or treated as they should be under Australian law are not getting the support they need to do something about it,” she says.
A Melbourne Law School report published in July The observed underpayment remains widespreadwith 33 percent of the 2,814 young workers surveyed likely earning $15 per hour or less – well below the current federal minimum wage of $24.95 per hour.

Forty-three percent reported having to do extra work outside of their usual duties without being paid for it.

The report concluded that young workers are particularly susceptible to exploitation in the workplace due to limited knowledge of rights, precarious work arrangements, low union membership and limited leverage to negotiate working conditions.
From January this year, deliberately underpaying wages or entitlements – including for international students – became a criminal offense, with penalties of up to ten years in prison and fines of $1.565 million for individuals and $7.825 million for companies.
“The Migration Act also contains new violations that hold employers back [from] using someone’s migration status to force them to accept certain conditions, such as a living situation,” says Farbenblum.

“So now making threats and using someone’s visa status in any way to get them to accept any form of working conditions is a criminal offense.”

The reality behind the job offer

After starting work on the farm, Nguyen was shocked to discover that money had been deducted from his paycheck to cover start-up costs, including housing.
The contractor told him that because they had provided equipment, safety equipment and accommodation, these costs had been deducted from his first month’s wages.
But Nguyen says he struggled to believe the allegations were legitimate.

“I didn’t know where to look for help, so I just agreed to that,” he says.

Farbenblum says employees don’t have to pay for safety equipment or uniforms.
She encourages workers to check the Fair Work Ombudsman website to see what they should be paid, to keep track of payments, to ensure they receive pay slips and to note their employer’s company name and details in case action is needed later.
The federal government launched a pilot program for new visa protections last July. Under the Workplace Justice Visa Programvisa holders can extend their stay to pursue workplace exploitation claims.
Yet Farbenblum says few people have accessed the program or pursued accountability.

“The government has introduced great new initiatives, such as the Workplace Justice Visa, protection against visa cancellations and criminal offenses for employers who coerce and exploit workers, but those laws are still not properly applied and enforced,” she says.

‘I was afraid of disappointing my parents’

According to Nguyen, the contractor said some of the group’s wages were withheld in case they broke equipment or damaged their accommodations, but that they would be paid in full when the season was over.
Nguyen says that when the season was over and the workers asked for the rest of the money, he initially believed in the guarantee that he would eventually receive the wages he was owed.

But after being repeatedly told the money would be paid “in the next two days,” the contractor disappeared, he says.

A family group stands together under bright red lanterns.

Khoa Nguyen (second from left) with his family during a recent trip to Vietnam. He juggled multiple jobs to cover the $36,000 annual cost of his postgraduate nursing degree. Source: Delivered / Khoa Nguyen

Feeling defeated, Nguyen considered giving up, but with the help of a friend, he managed to escape the farm and return to Melbourne.

Determined to complete his two-year master’s degree in nursing at Monash University, he worked multiple jobs to cover the $36,000 annual costs.
“Some days I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the train. Some days I had to study on the train because I had a job during the day.” [nursing] placement and at night I worked on dishwashing or catering jobs,” he says.

‘My parents borrowed money everywhere [to help pay the fees]but it wasn’t enough. I was afraid of disappointing my parents because they sacrificed their lives and worked tirelessly to get me and my siblings where we are today.”

Despite the hardships, Nguyen continued to pursue his long-held dream of a medical career.
But the brutal schedule meant he survived on one meal a day and slept an average of just three hours.
The tension eventually caused him to collapse in class. When teachers checked his blood sugar level, it was very low and they rushed to stabilize it.

Teachers then connected Nguyen with support services, and he eventually accessed funding for housing and food – support he says he never expected as an international student.

Exploitation during the summer holidays

Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia, expects more reports of exploitation as thousands of international students take up three months of holiday work over the summer.
“Exploitation is endemic across a range of sectors, from agriculture to hospitality, car washes and retail,” Honeywood told SBS News.
“And while Australia has put in place regulatory frameworks and mechanisms to uphold world-class standards, there will always be unscrupulous employers who will take advantage of the naivete of young people.”

He advised students to protect themselves.

A man in a blue suit and red tie looks ahead with a smile on his face.

International Education Association of Australia CEO Phil Honeywood said international students should seek independent advice before signing an employment contract. Credit: (Be able to)

“Get independent advice before signing a contract, preferably from education providers, employment agencies or legal services,” he says.

“Record keeping is critical, so even if you don’t receive a physical document, you can use your cell phone to take screenshots of the contract you’re signing.
“If that first wage is not in the bank account within the agreed period, whether it is a week or a maximum of fourteen days, then questions must of course be asked.”
Nguyen knows these risks firsthand.

When he arrived, he spoke only three words of English and faced multiple challenges during his studies.

A man in a suit jacket holds a baby, while a woman in a red dress stands next to them and touches the baby with her left hand.

Khoa Nguyen is married to his high school sweetheart and has a young daughter, Kayla. He is now paying for his sister’s medical degree in Vietnam. Source: Delivered / Khoa Nguyen

Despite working long hours to finance his education, he recently completed a second master’s degree in advanced nursing and now works full-time at the Victorian Heart Hospital.

“It’s like a dream come true. And those hard times make me feel more mature,” he said.
“Even in an emergency at work, I don’t feel scared or nervous. I know how to get through it.”
His advice to other international students working for a living is simple: “Know your rights and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you feel exploited.”

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