Working rights and obligations as a visa holder

Find out about your rights, entitlements and visa obligations when you work in Australia.

Pay and workplace entitlements as a visa holder

Visa holders have the same workplace rights and entitlements as all other employees in Australia.

Your employer must follow both Australian workplace laws and immigration laws. This protects you in the workplace and makes sure you’re getting the right pay and entitlements.

Find out more about pay and work conditions.

Help with workplace entitlements

If you’re not getting the right entitlements at work, try to resolve the issue with your employer.

If you haven’t been able to resolve the issue yourself, you can request help from the Fair Work Ombudsman. You can also make an anonymous report online in multiple languages on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s services are free. Find out about workplace problems and help with your workplace problems on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Protection at work

The Fair Work Act protects you from discrimination at work. This means an employer can’t take action based on many attributes, including:

race
gender
sexual orientation
age
religion.

Find out about protection from discrimination at work on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

You have the right to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive environment. Find resources to help with workplace sexual harassment on the Respect@Work website.

Your visa will come with rules about what you can and can’t do. This includes if you can work and how many hours you can work. Find out about visa conditions on the Department of Home Affairs website.

You may need to tell the Department of Home Affairs if your situation changes. This can include:

change of address
change of employment
getting married
having a baby.

Find out when and how to report changes in your situation on the Department of Home Affairs website.

Visa protections

Your employer can't cancel your visa, even if you've breached your visa conditions. Only the Department of Home Affairs can grant, refuse, or cancel visas.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has an arrangement with the Department of Home Affairs to support visa holders. This is called the Assurance Protocol. It means you can seek help from the Fair Work Ombudsman for a work related issue without fear your visa could be cancelled.

Find out more about the Assurance Protocol on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Information in your language

The Fair Work Ombudsman has translated information and resources. These links will take you away from myGov.

Page last updated: 23 August 2023