tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/backpackers-5163/articlesBackpackers – The Conversation2022-11-03T19:00:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1926142022-11-03T19:00:28Z2022-11-03T19:00:28ZAustralia’s borders are open, so where are all the backpackers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493203/original/file-20221103-21-7r8t2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=155%2C508%2C3598%2C2113&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Backpackers on working holiday maker visas have been <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/abares/DemandForFarmWorkers_FarmSurveys2018_v1.0.0.pdf">a crucial source</a> of farm labour for decades, alongside smaller numbers of temporary migrants from the Pacific Islands, international students, and Australians. </p>
<p>In the 2018-19 financial year more than 200,000 people came to Australia on working holiday maker visas. On average about 35,000 a month – and more than 40,000 in December – worked on farms, picking vegetables, fruit or nuts.</p>
<p>Numbers declined with borders closed to visa holders from March 2020 to February 2022. But since borders reopened they have not recovered as hoped. </p>
<p>By the end of June almost <a href="https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/visa-working-holiday-maker/resource/1838d35d-8523-45e4-945a-11c584f3324b">100,000 Working Holiday Maker visas</a> had been granted. But by the end of August just <a href="https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-ab245863-4dea-4661-a334-71ee15937130/details?q=">54,000</a> visa holders had arrived. With labour shortages creating more job opportunities in cities and towns, fewer are taking up farm work. </p>
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<p>In regional communities facing extensive labour shortages there is growing uncertainty as to when – or indeed whether – enough backpackers will return to Australia to pick, pack, and process fruit and veggies. </p>
<h2>So why aren’t backpackers coming?</h2>
<p>In recent months I’ve interviewed 35 people – farmers, hostel operators, government representatives and community leaders – about the reasons migrant workers aren’t flocking back to Australia. This is an extension of my <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-5871.12445">research</a> into the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450101.2022.2062256?journalCode=rmob20">pandemic impacts</a> on seasonal farm workers.</p>
<p>Their responses suggest three main reasons for why backpackers have cooled on Australia as a top destination for a working holiday: fear of future border closures; the federal government’s poor treatment of migrants during the pandemic; and Australia’s reputation more generally for exploiting backpackers. </p>
<p>One hostel operator said they were fielding calls and emails mid-year from backpackers overseas hesitant to come to Australia: “They want to come and do the working holiday, but Australia’s known as the lockdown country now.”</p>
<p>Four other the hostel operators said they had heard similar concerns from young people in recent months, asking questions such as “What if we get stuck?” and “Who will help us book a flight back home?”. </p>
<p>When the federal government shut the border in 2020, its message to temporary visa holders was to “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-03/coronavirus-pm-tells-international-students-time-to-go-to-home/12119568">go home</a>”. </p>
<p>Despite this, <a href="https://blog.geographydirections.com/2020/11/24/lockdown-life-migrant-farmworkers-in-regional-australia/">more than 50,000 backpackers</a>, did stay for the first year of the pandemic, and 20,000 beyond that - providing an essential agricultural workforce. But they were excluded from <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/alantudge/Pages/Coronavirus-and-Temporary-Visa-holders.aspx">most support payments</a> and left to to fend for themselves.</p>
<p>Backpackers <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17450101.2022.2062256">I interviewed last year</a> said this had damaged Australia’s reputation.</p>
<p>On top of this are stories of exploitation, racism and <a href="https://devpolicy.org/the-role-of-working-hostels-in-the-horticulture-sector-20201014/">mistreatment</a>. A 2019 study by Unions NSW and the Migrant Workers Centre concluded <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/victorianunions/pages/11975/attachments/original/1623999471/piece_rates_report.2.pdf?1623999471">78% of horticulture workers were underpaid</a>.</p>
<h2>Increasing incentives</h2>
<p>To entice tourists to the fields, the federal government has introduced incentives including <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/AlexHawke/Pages/student-and-working-holiday-maker-visa-holders.aspx">a refund</a> of the $495 Working Holiday Maker visa fee and <a href="https://www.workforceaustralia.gov.au/individuals/coaching/careers/harvest/workers/relocation-assistance">relocation assistance</a> – up to $2,000 for visa holders, and $6,000 for Australian workers – to take up seasonal work. </p>
<p>Piece rates, a contentious industry practice leading to many stories of <a href="https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/doi/full/10.1111/1745-5871.12445">wage exploitation</a>, were <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-04-28/new-minimum-pay-for-farm-workers-takes-effect/101016056">finally replaced in April</a>, when the Fair Work Commission ruled that farm workers should be guaranteed minimum hourly rate of $25.41.</p>
<p>Labour shortages have seen many farmers sign up to the <a href="https://www.palmscheme.gov.au/about">Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme</a>, a temporary migrant program open to workers from nine Pacific Island nations and Timor Leste.</p>
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<p>But these measures haven’t solved the shortfall. According to the National Farmers Federation, there are still about <a href="https://nff.org.au/media-release/jobs-summit-yields-incremental-gains-but-a-plan-to-fill-172000-ag-vacancies-remains-elusive/">172,000</a> vacant agricultural jobs. </p>
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<h2>What more can be done?</h2>
<p>Backpackers bring great benefits to regional communities. Fruit and vegetable farmers need seasonal workers. Many backpackers are happy to use farm work to travel the country. According to a representative from Harvest Trail, the government farm labour information service, they are an “essential pool of workers because they’re so mobile.” </p>
<p>The working holiday maker visa is now available to <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/whm-program/overview">47 nations</a>. India, Mongolia and Brazil were added this year. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-bringing-migrant-workers-back-but-exploitation-is-still-rampant-here-are-3-changes-needed-now-182761">Australia is bringing migrant workers back – but exploitation is still rampant. Here are 3 changes needed now</a>
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<p>Longer visa options would encourage more backpackers to stay. The visa, which requires a yearly renewal application, is capped at three years. Many backpackers I’ve interviewed said they “feel part of the community” and would happily remain in their farming jobs if allowed. </p>
<p>The Albanese government has promised to develop <a href="https://www.pennywong.com.au/media-hub/media-statements/labor-s-plan-for-a-stronger-pacific-family/">permanent resident pathways</a> for some Pacific Island workers. It is worth exploring the feasibility of pathways to permanent residency for farm workers on working holiday maker visas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Kaya Barry works for Griffith University. She is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (project number DE220100394) funded by the Australian Government.</span></em></p>Since borders reopened, backpacker numbers have have failed to recover as hoped.Kaya Barry, Senior Lecturer & ARC DECRA Research Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1506392020-11-23T19:03:53Z2020-11-23T19:03:53Z5 reasons why banishing backpackers and targeting wealthy tourists would be a mistake for NZ<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370716/original/file-20201123-23-b2dshp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C0%2C5447%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Raise your hand if you’ve ever travelled for weeks or months as a backpacker on a limited daily budget. Keep your hand up if you were made welcome in the places you visited on your <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249631253_The_big_'OE'_Young_New_Zealand_travellers_as_secular_pilgrims">OE</a>, enjoyed chance encounters and experienced the generosity of strangers.</p>
<p>And did those experiences leave a lifelong affection for the places you visited and people you met? If the answer is yes, then we need to consider what might happen in New Zealand were Tourism Minister Stuart Nash’s latest ideas to become policy.</p>
<p>To recap, Nash told the Tourism Summit in Wellington last week the industry should move away from catering for low-spending backpackers and instead <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/18/new-zealand-tourism-looks-past-backpackers-in-favour-of-high-net-worth-individuals">target the rich</a>. This would solve two problems: the environmental damage allegedly caused by freedom campers (including using <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/defecating-freedom-campers-cause-a-big-stink-at-otagos-smaills-beach/IQXG2C6HLDTFJCH3JOIFA4UBSM/">nature as their toilet</a>), and the pressure of too many visitors in general.</p>
<p>Nash was right to say we cannot return to the pre-COVID normal when the border reopens and the tourism recovery begins. Overcapacity, strained infrastructure and environmental impacts meant <a href="https://www.pce.parliament.nz/our-work/news-insights/media-release-pristine-popular-imperilled">growing community resistance</a> was reaching a tipping point.</p>
<p>But do we really want to banish backpackers and position New Zealand as expensive and exclusive — the Switzerland of the South Pacific? There are five reasons this approach would be a mistake.</p>
<h2>1. Big spenders are big polluters</h2>
<p>Lower-budget travellers generally stay much longer than the average. They usually make a higher aggregate economic contribution than those whose daily spend is high but who pass through quickly.</p>
<p>Does New Zealand really want only the uber-rich to experience our natural wonders, when flying business class, travelling by cruise ship and hiring helicopters are the most environmentally damaging ways to do so? </p>
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Read more:
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<p>If we were to consider the wider social, economic and environmental impacts of discrete tourism markets, we would be banishing the <a href="http://www.physics.otago.ac.nz/space/cruise_ship_EnergyPol.pdf">cruise industry</a> first, not backpackers. </p>
<h2>2. Backpackers bring many benefits</h2>
<p>Because they stay longer, backpackers can bring wider benefits to our society, economy and environment. They tend to be more dispersed, bringing economic development and employment opportunities to regional communities.</p>
<p>Also, their travel behaviours tend to align more with the concept of <a href="https://pureadvantage.org/news/2020/07/31/regenerative-tourism-opportunity-for-tourism-recovery/">regenerative tourism</a>. Backpackers are more likely to be conscious of their carbon footprint, engage in beach cleanups, plant trees and involve themselves in conservation projects.</p>
<p>They are a seasonal labour force, too, as has been shown by critical <a href="https://www.odt.co.nz/rural-life/horticulture/no-change-seasonal-worker-shortage">labour shortages</a> in rural and regional economies due to border closures.</p>
<h2>3. The importance of diverse tourism</h2>
<p>Backpackers and freedom campers support small regional tourism businesses, attractions and local services that would not survive without them. Backpacker hostels, home-stays, camping grounds and other low-budget accommodation subsectors would be at risk, as would many small and medium tourism businesses.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/traditional-skills-help-people-on-the-tourism-deprived-pacific-islands-survive-the-pandemic-148987">Traditional skills help people on the tourism-deprived Pacific Islands survive the pandemic</a>
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<p>During crises it is important that tourism destinations have a broad portfolio of markets. This ensures resilience and mitigates potential economic impacts from periodic disruptions to global tourism. Furthermore, as the mayor of Queenstown has <a href="https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/caution-urged-over-tourist-van-ban">observed</a>, today’s backpackers return in future as high-end visitors.</p>
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<h2>4. Tackling climate change and overconsumption</h2>
<p>Social tourism refers to the principle that opportunities to engage occasionally in leisure and tourism are important for personal well-being and an inclusive society. It is a form of tourism based on an <a href="https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/8zz55/what-is-social-tourism">ethic of social inclusion</a>, as opposed to exclusion based on wealth. </p>
<p>By contrast, the carbon-intense lifestyles and sense of entitlement of the super-wealthy are major barriers to climate action.</p>
<p>Our tourism policies should not celebrate and encourage over-consumption, which works against shifting attitudes towards less carbon-intensive and more sustainable travel.</p>
<h2>5. Damage to our international reputation</h2>
<p>Do we really want to be perceived as exclusionary and elitist? A colleague based at a university in the Netherlands, for example, reported a social media backlash: </p>
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<p>Everyone is complaining about the news that Kiwis do not want to have us anymore and they are only interested in tourists who fly business class and hire a helicopter around Franz Josef.</p>
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<p>Similarly, the policy can look petty. A <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/new-zealand-vows-crackdown-on-defecating-backpackers/articleshow/79277723.cms">story</a> headlined “New Zealand vows crackdown on defecating backpackers” in the Times of India reported the New Zealand government’s promise “to take action against backpackers relieving themselves at natural beauty spots as part of post-coronavirus tourism plans”.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Tiaki Promise is a charter for inclusive tourism based on host and visitor sharing mutual responsibility.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The post-COVID challenge</h2>
<p>Should New Zealand’s post-coronavirus tourism rebuild really be perceived as revolving around the defecations of low-budget tourists? While there have been cases of disgusting behaviour, this problem can be actively managed.</p>
<p>Non-self-contained campervans could be required to park overnight in fully serviced camping grounds for a nominal fee. New Zealanders should not bear the costs of tourism, anyway. Local councils transfer the costs of freedom camping to ratepayers when they provide “free” overnight parking and toilet facilities — putting rate-paying local camping grounds out of business.</p>
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Read more:
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<p>Above all, our tourism rebuild should be closely aligned with what makes New Zealand unique. First and foremost, it should be founded on the Māori principles of <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=kaitiakitanga">kaitiakitanga</a> and <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?keywords=manaakitanga">manaakitanga</a> — a mutual responsibility to care for the land and culture, as expressed in the <a href="https://tiakinewzealand.com/">Tiaki Promise</a> charter.</p>
<p>This would honestly reflect the ideals of generations of Kiwis who have set off on their own OEs to experience the world. If we consider this a birthright, is it fair that we deny the same to others who want to visit us?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150639/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If the tourism minister is worried about the wider social, economic and environmental impacts of visitors, he’d be better off banning cruise ships, not backpackers.James Higham, Professor of Tourism, University of OtagoHazel Tucker, Professor, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1182922019-06-05T12:39:12Z2019-06-05T12:39:12ZPasha 22: Mobile technology and backpackers in Ghana<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277897/original/file-20190604-69051-1rru8z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">a b c o</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Backpacking contributes significantly to many countries’ tourism revenue, Ghana among them. But some backpackers in the West African nation fear that their mobile technology isn’t safe there – they worry that it may be targeted by hackers and other cyber criminals, or snatched by thieves.</p>
<p>In today’s episode of Pasha we spoke to Frederick Dayour, a lecturer at the University for Development Studies in Ghana, who shared insights into how the country can address these worries and take steps to securing people’s mobile and personal data. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/backpackers-are-worried-about-using-mobile-devices-in-ghana-heres-why-114941">Backpackers are worried about using mobile devices in Ghana. Here's why</a>
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<p><strong>Photo:</strong>
By Chris Lewis of a backpacker with weavers in Ghana. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrissam42/35695954/in/photolist-49Xau-49WtW-49X87-29uGrXa-49WAi-49WVS-my2XiL-49WCP-5PqVT2-49WyN-49X1Y-SopiRG-bRZjPT-49XQi-8xsUZz-23VD8Ut-a92SiX-2e9HMW2-2ewwQjt-7SnU9a-2768fjv-2aE12fH-5dYFf5-25GQxpw-28sMVKa-49WxU-49WMu-49XbP-dxDTy3-9S7KY-uyLUs-arkvvY-49WSW-49X6N-5PqLTT-arkvqf-SHGDvo-5dYKN1-YzW6wS-5dYAuN-5dUc4z-5dYy4b-k9fMPm-287McPf-2faVVQm-arhRDT-jUopCM-YQRR92-2aPMhAc-5dUgMH">Flickr</a></p>
<p><strong>Music</strong>
“Happy African Village” by John Bartmann found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Sounds</strong>
On a bus station in Kumasi (Ghana, West Africa) an employee of a coach company announces using a megaphone the cities to which the buses are going (Accra, Tema) by jakubvalenta. Found on <a href="https://freesound.org/people/jakubvalenta/sounds/367174/">Freesound.org</a> licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">attribution license</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In Ghana, backpackers often don't feel safe. Upgrading technology can solve this problem.Ozayr Patel, Digital EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1149412019-04-09T13:24:53Z2019-04-09T13:24:53ZBackpackers are worried about using mobile devices in Ghana. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267589/original/file-20190404-123400-pvw98c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Backpacking has become an important of the travel market. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Khongtham/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2017.06.004">Backpacking</a> emerged in the 1970s as a low cost form of travel that allowed particularly young people to explore the world without spending too much money. </p>
<p>Today, backpacking has become an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2013/10/07/the-new-young-traveler-boom/#74adc2e4ff14">important part</a> of the travel market. That’s especially true for developing countries, since backpackers tend to seek out local products and services, which is <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj8-bfJ_K_hAhXuRxUIHfr4DNEQFjAKegQIAhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilo.org%2Fempent%2Fareas%2FWCMS_093862%2Flang--en%2Findex.htm&usg=AOvVaw2KN1qjdm5p8cvrw_8FXXV9">a boon</a> for poorer economies. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160738301000305">Studies</a> have shown that backpackers are more likely than conventional travellers to interact with local communities in the places they visit.</p>
<p>Increasingly, mobile technology offers the quickest and easiest way for backpackers to get in touch with locals, and find locally run hotels, restaurants and sites of interest. But devices like phones and tablets can also put backpackers at risk. They might be robbed, or their devices might be hacked. </p>
<p>We wanted to know how backpackers visiting Ghana perceive the risks involved with using mobile technology while in the country. Understanding and addressing these concerns could be a useful way for Ghana and other West African nations to actively attract more backpackers. This research was motivated by the fact that backpackers are becoming increasingly <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjYxKfUvr7hAhXuTxUIHZ4eCroQFjAAegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS0261517715000606&usg=AOvVaw04FTXWliKnasfq4bNcttBN">risk averse</a>. It’s important to understand their concerns so they don’t entirely avoid particular countries or regions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517718302723?via%3Dihub">Our study</a> found that four areas of concern related to mobile smart phones. These were linked to the security of the device (that is, might it be targeted by cyber criminals); backpackers’ own psychological and social concerns (would their phones be a distraction from the trip, or see them judged by others for being too preoccupied with their phones); and destination or physical risks. This last was related to whether they might be targeted by thieves and their safety put at risk in because of their phones.</p>
<p>There are a number of ways that Ghanaian authorities and tourism bodies can help to address these perceived risks. This will help backpackers feel safer about freely using their mobile devices in the country. </p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>For our study, we surveyed 567 international backpackers and interviewed 15 of them who had visited Ghana between September 2016 and February 2017.</p>
<p>In the interviews, we asked people about their risk reduction strategies while they were in Ghana. The survey questions revolved around how backpackers perceived their mobile phones and whether they feared these devices put them at risk in any number of ways.</p>
<p>Of course, travellers worried about using their mobile devices in many countries. But they were especially concerned in places that were perceived as digitally unsafe. Ghana is among these places: the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiq6bLOwr7hAhX0sHEKHdLwAQYQFjAAegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgh.usembassy.gov%2Fu-s-citizen-services%2Fromance-scams%2F&usg=AOvVaw1ySSuapxw79sz6TTe5G3vN">US Embassy in Ghana</a> has identified the country as having particularly weak Internet security and a high risk of phone snatching.</p>
<p>This reputation may deter potential backpackers from visiting the country, and they may choose another in the region or on the continent instead.</p>
<h2>Possible solutions</h2>
<p>Luckily, there are several steps Ghana and other African countries in a similar situation could take to allay backpackers’ fears. </p>
<p>Some of these are technological. They could use <a href="https://doi.org/10.1300/J179v03n02_03">third-party assurance seals</a>, which reassure consumers about a service’s safety; as well as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjetLCv37XhAhX0TxUIHWkACVYQFjABegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchsecurity.techtarget.com%2Fdefinition%2Fencryption&usg=AOvVaw14hkG_twj_npS2SX9-expx">encryptions</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentication">authentications</a> and <a href="https://personalfirewall.comodo.com/what-is-firewall.html">firewalls</a> to prevent users from being susceptible to potential fraud and identity theft. </p>
<p>We also found that some backpackers worried about looking foolish if they didn’t understand how local mobile services worked. Ghana could offer free samples or trials on local networks, with the appropriate technological support, to help allay these fears.</p>
<p>On the safety front, CCTV cameras and an increased police presence around tourist facilities would help backpackers – and, of course, other travellers – to feel less vulnerable to perceived physical risks. </p>
<p>Finally, the country must ensure that it informs prospective travellers of these interventions and assures them that every effort has been made to keep they and their mobile devices safe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Backpacking is growing and West African countries such as Ghana need to actively attract them.Albert N. Kimbu, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality & Tourism, University of SurreyFrederick Dayour, Lecturer, University for Development StudiesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1051232018-10-17T18:56:42Z2018-10-17T18:56:42ZBringing in backpackers is not the right way to get more workers onto farms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240982/original/file-20181017-17677-kow4hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The prime minister appears to want to make it easier for backpackers to work on Australian farms.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Suddenly, getting workers onto farms is a top political priority.</p>
<p>Over the weekend, and again in parliament on Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1050962469764530182">announced plans</a> to get <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/doorstop-murray-bridge-sa">more backpackers</a> working on farms. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/chamber/hansardr/6ccbbe32-1ca9-4f18-9c5b-6292fc478150/toc_pdf/House%20of%20Representatives_2018_10_15_6615_Part.pdf;fileType=application/pdf">don’t yet have the details</a>, but for a month the media have been reporting that he is considering “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fairfax-ipsos-poll-voters-split-on-immigration-and-morrison-government-trails-labor-45-55-20181014-p509jz.html">longer visits for travellers on working holiday or backpacker visas</a>”.</p>
<p>Backpackers who have had a visa for one year can already get an extension for a second year if they have worked on a farm for three months. <a href="http://www.devpolicy.org/proposed-backpacker-visa-reform-will-increase-worker-exploitation-and-cause-strategic-damage-20180928/">Some 36,000 did it last year</a>. </p>
<h2>What’s apparently proposed</h2>
<p>The government seems to be considering increasing that extension from one to two years.</p>
<p>Another suggested reform is to lift the current six-month ceiling on any single stint of employment while in Australia on a backpacker (working holiday) visa. </p>
<p>In my assessment, based on analysis and research over several years, these are not only bad ideas, but also ideas that would undermine all three of Morrison’s claimed objectives in the field of agricultural work.</p>
<h2>Morrison’s three objectives</h2>
<p>First, he has gone out of his way to stress that he wants to end worker exploitation on farms, <a href="http://www.devpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Press-conference-With-Scott-Morrison-and-David-Coleman-4-October-2018.pdf">saying</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I want to be absolutely certain that those going to work in these areas and environments are properly looked after and properly catered for.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet the backpacker visa scheme is broken.</p>
<p>The Fair Work Ombudsman undertook an inquiry into it in 2016. It <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/2016-media-releases/october-2016/20161015-417-inquiry-media-release">found</a> that “many backpackers are being subjected to underpayment or non-payment, unlawful deductions, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions and other forms of exploitation”.</p>
<p>“Overseas workers seeking regional work to satisfy the 88-day requirement and obtain a second-year 417 visa are particularly vulnerable to exploitation,” it reported.</p>
<p>The working holiday visa scheme is one we should be trying to fix or shrink, rather than expand.</p>
<p>Second, Morrison has made it clear he wants to get more Australians working on farms. On Monday he <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/chamber/hansardr/6ccbbe32-1ca9-4f18-9c5b-6292fc478150/toc_pdf/House%20of%20Representatives_2018_10_15_6615_Part.pdf;fileType=application/pdf">told parliament</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Where there is a job in Australia, our view is that an Australian should do that job where an Australian is available and fit and ready to do that job. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But at present no labour marking testing is required before farmers hire a backpacker. Current backpacker visa arrangements require no preference whatsoever for local workers.</p>
<p>Third, Mr Morrison has declared <a href="http://www.devpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Press-conference-With-Scott-Morrison-and-David-Coleman-4-October-2018.pdf">as recently as this month</a> that the Pacific region has to come first when it comes to providing seasonal jobs. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Pacific Islander Scheme has the priority in our program. Of course it does.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This makes sense. Pacific island nations are poor, geographically isolated and strategically important. </p>
<p>But backpackers on working holiday visas compete for jobs with Pacific Islanders brought in under the Seasonal Worker Program. </p>
<h2>Backpackers complete with islanders for jobs</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.devpolicy.org/proposed-backpacker-visa-reform-will-increase-worker-exploitation-and-cause-strategic-damage-20180928/">recent growth</a> in the Seasonal Worker Program (6,400 between 2013-14 and 2017-18) corresponds closely to the decline over the same period in the number of backpackers who used farm work to get a second-year visa (9,600). </p>
<p>Yet there are still four times as many backpackers on farms as seasonal workers. </p>
<p>This means that, all else being equal, a 10% increase in the number of backpackers on farms would cut the number of arrivals from the Pacific under the Seasonal Worker Program by 40%.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-yet-another-visa-for-farm-work-makes-no-sense-103228">Why yet another visa for farm work makes no sense</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Unlike the backpacker visa, the (Pacific) Seasonal Worker Program <a href="https://www.jobs.gov.au/seasonal-worker-programme">requires labour market testing</a>, and the research suggests that the workers it brings in are <a href="https://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/public-law-rc/2017/05/14/new-report-released-on-the-future-proofing-labour-supply-for-the-australian-vegetable-industry/">less exploited than backpackers</a>. This isn’t surprising, because the Seasonal Worker Program is a more tightly regulated scheme. </p>
<p>More than 90% of the farm workers on the backpacker scheme are from rich countries. Not a single Pacific island country is able to use it.</p>
<h2>We’ll need to make a choice</h2>
<p>My point is simple. The prime minister cannot claim that he wants to stamp out exploitation, get more Australians onto farms and prioritise the Pacific, while at the same time supporting changes to the working holiday visa that would result in more backpackers working on farms.</p>
<p>It’s an important decision for us as a nation. Farmers will always want a mix of seasonal workers and backpackers, but we need to get our priorities right.</p>
<p>Do we want more Pacific Islanders, or more rich-country foreigners, picking our fruit and vegetables? </p>
<p>Our special interest in the Pacific and the strong safeguards already in place for the Seasonal Worker Program suggest that it should be the former.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105123/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Howes receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as part of the Pacific Research Program.</span></em></p>Making it easier for holidaying backpackers to work on Australian farms will make it harder for Pacific Islanders, and increase exploitation on farms.Stephen Howes, Director, Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/693322016-11-30T01:19:18Z2016-11-30T01:19:18ZFactCheck: would backpackers be better off working in Australia than NZ, England or Canada?<p><em>Editor’s note: The original version of this article, published at 12.19pm AEDT on November 30, 2016, has been updated to reflect the news that the government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/backpacker-tax-deal-finally-at-one-nations-15-rate-69477">proposed 15% backpacker tax</a> suffered a <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-government-secures-abcc-but-suffers-sudden-defeat-on-backpacker-tax-69623">surprise defeat in the Senate</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Senate instead supported Labor’s amendment for a 10.5% rate. If an agreement can’t be reached, the rate will <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-government-secures-abcc-but-suffers-sudden-defeat-on-backpacker-tax-69623">default to 32.5%</a>.</em></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pS40DtriMaI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, speaking to journalists on November 23, 2016.
Watch from 14.07.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<blockquote>
<p>We come up with a rate – 19%. Why? Because that means that we are competitive in net take home pay for backpackers coming to Australia. In fact, they’re better off coming to Australia than if they went to New Zealand, Canada or England… <strong>– Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, speaking to journalists, November 23, 2016.</strong> (Watch from 13:25.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>After 18 months of debate about how much tax working holiday makers should pay on their income, uncertainty over the “backpacker tax” continues.</p>
<p>While negotiations were underway last week, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said that the government’s proposed 19% tax rate would mean backpackers were better off coming to Australia than to New Zealand, Canada or England.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/backpacker-tax-deal-finally-at-one-nations-15-rate-69477">By Monday</a>, the Coalition agreed to drop that tax rate from 19% to 15%, in a deal that was expected to pass the Senate crossbench.</p>
<p>But on Wednesday – around the time this FactCheck was first published – that <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-government-secures-abcc-but-suffers-sudden-defeat-on-backpacker-tax-69623">proposal was defeated</a>, with the Senate supporting Labor’s amendment for a 10.5% rate.</p>
<p>So while the arguments in Parliament continue, The Conversation asked two experts to check if Barnaby Joyce was right: would backpackers have been better off working in Australia and paying a 19% tax rate than if they worked in New Zealand, Canada or England? And how does that compare to backpackers’ take home pay if they were paying lower 15% or 10.5% tax rates?</p>
<h2>Checking the source</h2>
<p>When asked for sources to support the statement, a spokesperson for Barnaby Joyce provided an extensive response, including a table (reproduced below) showing the tax paid and net income for working holiday makers, based on a Department of Agriculture and Water Resources <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/BackpackerTaxBill2016/Submissions">submission</a> to a Senate committee. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/147522/original/image-20161125-15333-2jz6hb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">International comparison of tax paid and net income, average per working holiday maker (PPP means the purchasing power parity adjusted exchange rate). WHM stands for working holiday maker.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/BackpackerTaxBill2016/Submissions">Department of Agriculture and Water Resources</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You can read the rest of the spokesperson’s response <a href="https://theconversation.com/drafts/69414/edit#">here</a>.</p>
<h2>Was Joyce right?</h2>
<p>The deputy prime minister was correct. Whether the rate is 19%, 15% or 10.5%, backpackers are better off – in terms of after-tax wages – working in Australia than New Zealand, Canada or England. </p>
<p>Even after accounting for the tax-free thresholds in Canada and England, at a 19% tax rate a working holiday maker earning the minimum wage would take home a bigger pay packet in Australia than in New Zealand, Canada or England.</p>
<p>A 15% or 10.5% tax rate would make Australia more favourable from an after-tax income perspective. </p>
<h2>How do we calculate this?</h2>
<p>To calculate how much take home pay backpackers would receive, we need to compare the minimum wages, tax rates and cost of living in each of the countries mentioned. </p>
<p>Joyce based his calculations on data contained in the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources’ <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/BackpackerTaxBill2016/Submissions">submission</a> (the Department’s submission is number 23, found on page 2) to the recent <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/BackpackerTaxBill2016">parliamentary inquiry</a> into the backpacker tax. </p>
<p>The tax rates and calculations used in the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources submission are accurate, and take into account the tax-free thresholds in <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/fq/txrts-eng.html">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates/current-rates-and-allowances">United Kingdom</a>.</p>
<p>The department calculated the after-tax income received by a working holiday maker who works 734.5 hours (approximately 28.25 hrs per week) on the <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/fact-sheets/minimum-workplace-entitlements/minimum-wages#current-national-minimum-wage">minimum wage</a>, and adjusted for cost of living differences by using <a href="http://www.oecd.org/std/prices-ppp/purchasingpowerparities-frequentlyaskedquestionsfaqs.htm">purchasing power parity</a> exchange rates.</p>
<p>Using those figures, a working holiday maker in Australia taxed at 19% would receive an after-tax income of A$10,530. This does not include compulsory superannuation. So a working holiday maker in Australia would end up receiving more than this, even with the <a href="http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/104-2016/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Media+Release+-+Better+working+holiday+maker+tax+arrangements">95% tax</a> they will pay on superannuation payments when they leave the country.</p>
<p>The same working holiday maker would receive after-tax income of A$10,126 in New Zealand, A$9,837 in Canada and A$10,470 in the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>With a lower 15% rate, a working holiday maker in Australia would receive after tax income of A$11,050 (before superannuation), or A$11,112 (including superannuation and the tax on superannuation).</p>
<p>And if the rate were cut to 10.5%, as Labor and others are pushing for (though the government looks unlikely to support that), a working holiday maker in Australia would receive after-tax income of A$11,635 (before superannuation), or A$11,697 (including superannuation and the tax on superannuation).</p>
<p>So whether it’s a 10.5% rate, 15% rate or a 19% rate, working holiday makers receive a higher after-tax income in Australia than they would in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. This is despite the fact that working holiday makers in Canada and the United Kingdom receive the benefit of a tax-free threshold. That’s because <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/fact-sheets/minimum-workplace-entitlements/minimum-wages">Australia’s minimum wage</a> is higher than those in <a href="https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/minwage.php">Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.business.govt.nz/hiring-and-manage/hiring-people/minimum-pay-rules/">NZ</a> and the <a href="http://www.minimum-wage.co.uk/">UK</a>.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rXvu3/3/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="445"></iframe>
<h2>Residents and non-residents</h2>
<p>The amount of tax a working holiday maker currently pays in Australia depends on whether or not they’re considered an Australian resident. Residents are entitled to a <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Working/Working-as-an-employee/Claiming-the-tax-free-threshold/">tax-free threshold of A$18,200</a>. After that, <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/rates/individual-income-tax-rates/">Australian residents pay</a> 19% tax on income up to A$37,000, and 32.5% tax on amounts between A$37,000 and A$87,000. Residents who earn less than A$66,667 are entitled to a <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Offsets-and-rebates/Low-income-earners/">low-income tax offset</a>.</p>
<p>In contrast, <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/BudgetReview201516/Holiday">non-residents are taxed at 32.5%</a> from their first dollar earned in Australia.</p>
<p>The same tax rates apply for residents and nonresidents for amounts above A$80,000. </p>
<p>Under the current law, there’s no set tax residency status for working holiday makers. A working holiday maker is considered a resident for tax purposes if they are in Australia for <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/International-tax-for-individuals/Work-out-your-tax-residency/Residency-tests/">183 days or more</a> during the income year, unless their usual place of abode is outside Australia and they don’t intend to take up residence in Australia. In that case, they will be a non-resident for tax purposes irrespective of whether they were in Australia for more than 183 days. </p>
<h2>Tax rate not the only factor</h2>
<p>New Zealand’s 10.5% tax rate has been a <a href="http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/pr-article/backpacker-tax-deal-a-blow-to-competitive-advantage/">point of comparison</a> during the debate over the backpacker tax. But the tax rate is just one factor that determines the take home pay earned by working holiday makers. Minimum wages make a big difference to the outcome – and Australia has the highest minimum wage of the countries discussed.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that the <a href="http://www.ird.govt.nz/how-to/taxrates-codes/rates/itaxsalaryandwage-incometaxrates.html">10.5% rate in New Zealand applies to all taxpayers</a>, not just working holiday makers. And there are other differences between the tax systems in Australia and New Zealand. For example, in New Zealand, taxpayers aren’t able to claim any work-related deductions.</p>
<h2>Superannuation claw-back</h2>
<p>Under the 15% deal <a href="https://theconversation.com/backpacker-tax-deal-finally-at-one-nations-15-rate-69477">proposed</a> by the Coalition on Monday (but then <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-government-secures-abcc-but-suffers-sudden-defeat-on-backpacker-tax-69623">rejected</a> in the Senate on Wednesday), any superannuation payments earned by working holidays makers would be taxed at 95% when they leave Australia. This would result in an effective tax rate of approximately 24%. That’s 15% income tax and 9% from superannuation.</p>
<p>At first blush this appears high when compared to New Zealand’s 10.5%. But working holiday makers in New Zealand <a href="https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/work-in-nz/employment-rights">don’t receive superannuation</a> at all.</p>
<p>New Zealand does have a “KiwiSaver” retirement savings program, similar to Australia’s superannuation program. But to be eligible to join KiwiSaver you must be a New Zealand citizen or entitled to live in New Zealand indefinitely. Someome who holds a temporary, visitor, or work permit isn’t able to join.</p>
<p>A working holiday maker in Australia working 734.5 hrs at the minimum wage would be entitled to A$1,235 in superannuation payments. When they leave Australia, they would keep A$61.75 of their superannuation. But that’s in addition to their after-tax salary of A$11,050, which is higher than what they would receive in New Zealand.</p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>Barnaby Joyce’s statement that with a 19% tax rate in place, working holiday makers would be better off in terms of net take home pay in Australia than in New Zealand, England or Canada was correct.</p>
<p>Even after taking into account the tax-free thresholds in Canada and the UK, and the 10.5% tax rate in New Zealand, at a 19% tax rate a working holiday maker earning the minimum wage would receive a bigger pay packet in Australia than in New Zealand, Canada or the United England. </p>
<p>At a <a href="https://theconversation.com/backpacker-tax-deal-finally-at-one-nations-15-rate-69477">15% tax rate</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-government-secures-abcc-but-suffers-sudden-defeat-on-backpacker-tax-69623">10.5% tax rate</a>, backpackers would be even better off.
<strong>– Kathrin Bain</strong></p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>The author is correct based on the above facts and assumptions made by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. </p>
<p>The author has been fair and they have represented the data accurately. <strong>– John McLaren</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69332/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said backpackers would be better off working in Australia with a 19% tax than in New Zealand, England and Canada. Is that true? And what would a 15% or 10.5% tax mean?Kathrin Bain, Lecturer, School of Taxation & Business Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/695502016-11-29T02:38:47Z2016-11-29T02:38:47ZWhat the government can learn from the backpacker tax debacle<p>At the eleventh hour, and after a protracted saga beginning with the May 2015 federal budget, the furore over the backpacker tax has finally ended. Despite the federal government initially proposing a 32.5% tax rate for backpackers, followed by a post-election compromise of 19% and a refusal to negotiate below this, <a href="https://theconversation.com/backpacker-tax-deal-finally-at-one-nations-15-rate-69477">the federal government reached a deal</a> with One Nation and Nick Xenophon to introduce a 15% tax rate from the first dollar earned. But what the backpacker tax controversy points to is the inadequacy of relying on backpackers as the primary labour source for critical jobs.</p>
<p>There’s little doubt this deal comes as welcome relief to fruit and vegetable growers who rely on backpackers at harvest time. With the harvest now well underway in many parts of the country, it is crucial that backpackers are willing and available to work in the sector. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-18/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-backpacker-tax-analysis/8034584">For example, in Tasmania</a>, the indecision around the backpacker tax has led farmers to report a 40% drop in the number of backpackers working in the sector. </p>
<p>It has been extremely short-sighted for Treasurer Scott Morrison and his government to quibble about the minuscule contribution that backpackers can make to the budget bottom line, when the horticulture sector is so reliant on backpacker labour for its very existence. Horticulture is critical to Australia’s economic development and food security into the future.</p>
<p>The sector <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Dec+2012">produced 93% of the total volume of food</a> consumed in Australia, and is part of an agriculture industry that contributed A$48.7 billion to our GDP in 2010/11. It also supports an export horticulture market <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/hort-policy/horticulture_fact_sheet#trade-statistics">valued at A$2.1 billion per annum</a>. It’s too important an industry to suffer because of a lack of stable workers resulting from political inertia, or because the <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/backpacker-tax-cut-to-15-per-cent-in-triumph-for-common-sense/news-story/0ff5a035c7f7fa39f3406555a6d1d330?nk=17cc96328de397536c208f246244894b-1480299369">Treasurer wants to offset</a> A$120 million lost from budget coffers.</p>
<p>Since the introduction of an incentive for backpackers to work in certain occupations for 88 days in order <a href="https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/417-">to secure a second year visa extension</a> in 2005, between 30,000 and 40,000 backpackers apply for this additional year on their visa, using a stint in horticulture to meet the criteria. This has meant that backpackers have become the dominant source of labour supply at harvest time for growers.</p>
<p>But this poses many serious risks for growers, who have no choice but to rely on backpacker labour as part of their business model.</p>
<p>Backpackers do not come here on a work visa, their visa is officially for “cultural exchange”. We are increasingly reliant on backpackers to perform low-skilled jobs in the economy and in particular, in harvest-related jobs. But as the backpacker tax saga has exposed, backpackers are not a stable labour supply. </p>
<p>Backpackers are young people who will change their planned trip to Australia based on a number of variables. Changes in taxation arrangements, fluctuating exchange rates and Australia’s reputation as a desirable tourist destination are all factors outside of growers’ control. Nonetheless, they impact upon the decision of backpackers to travel to Australia and work in horticulture.</p>
<p>Another key issue with using backpackers as the central labour supply for the horticulture sector is the vulnerability of this group in the labour market. <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/2016-media-releases/october-2016/20161015-417-inquiry-media-release">A landmark report by the Fair Work Ombudsman</a> into the backpacker visa found that the 88 day extension created a license for unscrupulous growers to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-15/ombudsman-report-reveals-widespread-417-visa-exploitation/7934780">coerce backpackers into exploitative work</a>. </p>
<p>The Ombudman’s inquiry uncovered countless examples of wage underpayments and working conditions that were not compliant with the award given to these workers- the Horticulture Award. If the instances of exploitation prove to be endemic, arising from the use of backpacker labour in the horticulture sector, it’s highly likely there will be increasing calls for the second year extension for backpackers to be abolished.</p>
<p>But exploitation of backpackers is not just an issue for the workers themselves. It’s an issue that undermines the viability of the entire horticulture sector. </p>
<p>As Emma Germano, general manager of I Love Farms <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s4547903.htm">told Q&A a few weeks back</a>, “the biggest issue” she faces is that the horticulture sector is not a level playing field for growers, as the non-compliant ones are able to use worker exploitation to sell their produce at a much lower cost. </p>
<p>What we need is a comprehensive solution for addressing growers’ needs. Although the government’s compromise has sought to neutralise this as a political issue, it fails to address the underlying problem- using an unstable labour source for an industry of critical importance to Australia’s food security and economic prosperity. </p>
<p>Similarly, although Labor is doing its best to keep the backpacker issue alive to maximise the government’s discomfort, it also does not have a sustainable and coherent policy around how farmers can best meet their labour needs at harvest time. Labor’s policy is to keep the backpackers coming, despite all that we now know about the inadequacy of backpackers as the primary labour solution for growers.</p>
<p>Australia needs a more targeted and sustainable way of meeting farmers’ labour needs. This should be through a dedicated pathway for horticulture workers, rather than a backdoor labour source like the Working Holiday Maker visa, which is riddled with problems. A dedicated pathway for horticulture workers would allow growers to plan for the harvest time and would allow regulators like the Fair Work Ombudsman to more properly monitor the wages and conditions of these workers.</p>
<p>In developing a dedicated visa pathway for horticulture workers, new and innovative attempts should be made to encourage local workers into the sector. Nick Xenophon’s proposal for the unemployed to remain on benefits whilst employed in horticulture is a step in the right direction. </p>
<p>His proposal reduces the disincentive to work for this cohort, and through the promise of a greater financial reward, it may lead to them gaining vital work experience and skills that make them employable. Nonetheless, it is clear that local workers alone cannot meet the labour needs of the horticulture sector. </p>
<p>Although the backpacker tax debacle has been an unedifying spectacle of policy-making on the run and partisan politics, it has exposed the vulnerability of Australian growers at harvest time. This presents an opportunity for us to pave the way for more far-reaching reform that addresses the core problem of labour supply challenges facing the horticulture sector and the need to develop more targeted and sustainable visa pathways to supplement the local workforce.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Joanna Howe is the leader of a project investigating labour supply options in the Australian vegetable industry (VG 15025) commissioned by Horticulture Innovation Australia in 2016. The project's report, co-authored with Associate Professor Alex Reilly, Associate Professor Diane van den Broek and Dr Chris F Wright will be released in early 2017.</span></em></p>The controversy over changes to the backpacker tax shows the inadequacy of relying on backpackers as the primary labour source for a vital industry.Joanna Howe, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664222016-10-11T19:08:14Z2016-10-11T19:08:14ZHow migrant workers are critical to the future of Australia’s agricultural industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140218/original/image-20161004-20221-lg6zhm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia takes in about half of all working holidaymakers who enter OECD countries.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dan Peled</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than 900,000 immigrants on permanent and temporary visas enter Australia each year. Most live and work in Australian capital cities; immigrants are more urbanised than the average Australian today.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140388/original/image-20161004-20239-1ti049h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture report.</span></span>
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<p>However, in the last decade or so, new visa pathways have opened up to attract new immigrant workers and their families to the Australian bush. Increased chances of selection attracts permanent skilled immigrants to accept employment in regional and rural towns.</p>
<p>At the same time, increasing numbers of temporary migrants on working holiday, student and skilled 457 visas are attracted to the bush. A new program for Pacific Seasonal Workers has also been introduced. </p>
<p>Immigrant workers add substantially to productivity in the Agricultural industry, a <a href="https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/16-027">new report</a> reveals.</p>
<h2>Growth and benefits</h2>
<p>For policymakers, the attraction of getting migrants to rural areas is that it helps reduce labour shortages – particularly during seasonal harvesting peaks – and counteracts the trend of population movement away from the bush to the metropolis.</p>
<p>Immigrants, including refugees, play a critical role in the Australian agricultural industry. Some of these immigrants become entrepreneurs, opening up a business. Skilled immigrants in the agricultural sector were also much more likely to have set up their own business (15%) than those in other industries (9.6%).</p>
<p>When set against the Australian average rate of entrepreneurship (those in the workforce who are self-employed or employers) of 10%, this propensity for immigrant entrepreneurship in the Australian agricultural sector is very encouraging, since entrepreneurs drive employment and productivity growth in the industry.</p>
<p>457 visa skilled workers find employers in the bush eager to sponsor their immigration application, particularly in professional and technical occupations. Working holiday makers fill critical jobs during harvesting and picking seasons.</p>
<p>Seasonal workers from the Pacific are eager to supplement the income of their families back home via remittances. They also get to learn new skills.</p>
<p>Immigrant farmers fill the growing intergenerational gap in farm succession and bring with them new technologies and innovations to Australian farming. Zimbabwean immigrant Nicky Mann and her husband introduced hydroponic rose-growing at their NSW central coast operation. Vietnamese and Chinese market gardeners have introduced many new vegetables to expand Australians’ food horizons.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140389/original/image-20161004-16660-189oxbv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture report.</span></span>
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<p>Australia takes in about half of all working holiday makers who enter OECD countries. They can work and travel around Australia from job to job. The carrot is a 12-month extension to their visa if they work more than 88 days in the bush. The agriculture, forestry and fishing industries receive the greatest benefit from this arrangement.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140403/original/image-20161005-16660-deu9w0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture report.</span></span>
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<p>Working holiday markers come from more than 20 countries. The UK, South Korea, Ireland, Germany, Taiwan and France provide the largest numbers. Fieldwork with Korean working holiday makers found the majority arrived with the intention of working in the agricultural industry.</p>
<p>Most reported that the best thing about their experience was that they had good relations with the non-Koreans they worked with in Australia, learned new skills, had to opportunity to improve their English, and received good wages.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/seasonal-worker-programme">Pacific seasonal workers program</a> allows workers from East Timor, Nauru, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu to work in low-skilled jobs for up to seven months in a 12-month period. Most work in the horticultural industry.</p>
<p>The annual intake has grown from around 400 in 2010-11. It is now an uncapped, demand-driven immigration stream that has expanded to jobs in the broader agriculture industry – including the accommodation sector.</p>
<p>Many permanent and temporary immigrants in the bush, particularly those who work in the agricultural industry, report receiving a warm welcome. This undermines existing stereotypes.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140406/original/image-20161005-30459-18cjv58.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture report.</span></span>
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<p>Many skilled permanent immigrants report strong local connections through sporting, community, school and religious social activities in their regional, rural and remote towns.</p>
<p>Those who work in the agricultural industry report a higher level of social engagement – with the exception of sporting activities – than do other immigrants.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140407/original/image-20161005-14595-1gnlgcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture report.</span></span>
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<p>However, working holidaymakers had <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/710/fair-work-ombudsman-annual-report-2013-14.pdf.aspx">more than three times</a> the rate of finalised Fair Work Ombudsman complaints compared to all other workers in 2013-14. This suggests a high incidence of exploitative work arrangements.</p>
<p>The research also noted numerous examples over time of exploitation of temporary migrants on temporary student, skilled work, working holiday or Pacific Seasonal worker visas. Examples of co-ethnic exploitation are also common.</p>
<p>The research does not clarify the extent to which temporary migrants working in agriculture experience exploitation. However, experiences of migrant worker exploitation do jeopardise future migrant flows into agricultural jobs. </p>
<p>International migration decisions are often based on the experiences of friends and family around the world. This means that unscrupulous employers can undermine the benefits of migrant employment programs for the majority of Australian employers who provide appropriate pay and work conditions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66422/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jock Collins held a three year Rural Industries Research and Development Council Research Grant (2012-15) PRJ-007578 "New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture" with Associate Professor Branka Krivokapic-Skoko (CSU) to conduct this research. The Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, Department of Premiers and Cabinet, Victorian Government and the Working Holiday Supporting Centre were Industry Partners.
Jock Collins is currently lead Chief Investigator on two Australian Research Council grants.</span></em></p>Unscrupulous employers who exploit migrant labour are posing a large threat to the continued contribution that immigrant workers make to the agricultural industry, a new report reveals.Jock Collins, Professor of Social Economics, UTS Business School, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/661332016-09-29T00:31:35Z2016-09-29T00:31:35ZBackpacker tax compromise means more discrimination for these workers<p>The government has reached a <a href="https://theconversation.com/backpacker-tax-to-be-19-but-departure-tax-will-rise-5-in-compromise-package-66129">compromise with the Nationals</a> over the so called “backpacker tax”, a tax of 32.5% in every dollar earned by those holding a working holiday visa. This will now be reduced to 19% but in an effort to claw back revenue, the government is reducing the rights of this already vulnerable labour force.</p>
<p>The superannuation of these workers will now be taxed at 95% when they depart Australia. The <a href="http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/104-2016/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Media+Release+-+Better+working+holiday+maker+tax+arrangements">government claims the tax</a> “is consistent with the objective of superannuation, which is to support Australians in their retirement, not to provide additional funds for working holiday makers when they leave Australia”. So much for integrity and backpacker worker rights. </p>
<p>Now the effective tax rate is in fact 25.6%, although the cost of a working holiday visa will drop by $50 to $390. This means that the cost of the visa is still higher than it is for comparable destinations, and the competitive disadvantage in attracting backpackers to Australia remains.</p>
<p>The government claims the policy changes are designed to improve compliance and the integrity of the working holiday maker scheme. But it is apparent that these ambitions could well be overshadowed by the key priority of addressing labour supply challenges. </p>
<p>Not only are the changes to superannuation arrangements mean spirited, they will not make much of an impression on the government’s bottom line. They also single out backpackers for discriminatory treatment. Other workers engaged on temporary work visas are entitled to claim their superannuation benefit upon the expiry of their visa, subject to a portion being lost to taxation. </p>
<p>For example, Pacific Islanders employed under the Seasonal Worker Programme have the right to claim their employer superannuation contributions upon the completion of their contracts. They sacrifice just 15% of their employer contribution to the tax office. Those with a 457 visa and other workers’ superannuation <a href="https://www.unisuper.com.au/new-to-unisuper/solutions-for-every-life-stage/moving-countries#1">is taxed at 35% when they exit the country</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, in a world where employment is increasingly framed by the global mobility of workers, the changes cut across the concerted efforts <a href="http://www.iss.nl/fileadmin/ASSETS/iss/Documents/Research_and_projects/IDRC-MGSJ/Taha-etal-portability_of_rights-2013_LitRev_bibly_220913.pdf">to protect workers’ employment rights</a> and standards. What the Australian government is doing is sanctioning the international portability of social security entitlements. </p>
<p>This attack on working holiday maker entitlements, while unlikely to be of substantial monetary significance has to be considered in the context of the frequency and persistence of reports of abusive and exploitative practices. These reports have prompted the Fair Work Ombudsman to establish <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/helping-the-community/campaigns/national-campaigns/harvest-trail-campaign">the Harvest Trail Inquiry</a> to investigate employment practices and to seek remedies for workers. Yet there appears to have been little improvement. </p>
<p>The government has committed to providing some A$10 million in funding to assist in addressing these problems as part of this latest package of changes, proposing to establish an employer register in the Australian Taxation Office and to support the efforts of the Fair Work Ombudsman to address workplace exploitation. This is a positive development, but it remains to be seen how effective this support will be given the structure of backpacker employment relations. </p>
<p>Much of the employment is <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-dream-a-nightmare-for-many-labour-hire-employees-37479">organised through labour hire arrangements</a> and placement agents, some based on phoenix companies, and backpacker hostels that broaden <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/2016-media-releases/september-2016/20160921-boonah-packing-eu-presser">the range of exploitative practices</a>. These include backpackers being charged to obtain work, excessive accommodation costs in substandard and overcrowded facilities, and being charged for transport between accommodation and work sites. </p>
<p>The Working Holiday Maker visa scheme was set up as a cultural exchange, allowing young international visitors the opportunity to work for up to six months or 12 months if they worked in regional and rural Australia.</p>
<p>However, it has become evident that the cultural dimension has become increasingly overshadowed <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369183X.2013.876896">by the ever-growing reliance</a> employers are placing on backpackers to meet seasonal workforce needs, especially in agricultural, horticultural and tourism and hospitality industries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Rosewarne receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The government’s changes to the so called “backpacker tax” will mean these holidaying workers will have less super than other temporary workers in Australia, creating even more inequality.Stuart Rosewarne, Associate Professor, Department of Political Economy, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/571182016-04-04T05:13:17Z2016-04-04T05:13:17Z‘Backpacker tax’ will put more strain on labour shortage<p>The so called “backpacker tax” on Working Holiday Maker visa holders, announced in the 2015 Budget, will not only deter tourists from working in Australia but also put strain on industries that have come to rely on this workforce.</p>
<p>Following strong criticism from industry groups representing Australia’s agricultural and tourist industries, the federal government has launched a <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/BudgetReview201516/Holiday">review of the measure</a>, which would require employers to deduct 32.5 cents in every dollar earned by the visa holders.</p>
<p>The measure would override present taxation arrangements, which exempt all income earners from paying tax on income below a threshold of A$18,200. The government maintains that the measure is designed to assist in addressing the budget deficit, and that it’s modelling forecasts that this will generate A$540 million over a three-year cycle. </p>
<p>Farmers, including the National Farmers Federation, <a href="http://www.nff.org.au/read/5182/petition-launched-against-proposed-backpackers-tax.html">which is spearheading a campaign against the backpackers’ tax</a>, and the <a href="http://www.vtic.com.au/victorian-tourism-businesses-call-for-proposed-backpacker-tax-to-be-abandoned/;%20http://www.tourismcouncilwa.com.au/backpacker-tax-would-devastate-regional-wa-tourism/14837;%20http://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2016/03/18/review-of-australias-backpacker-tax-welcomed/">tourist industry</a> argue that the tax will act as a significant disincentive to prospective international tourists wanting to work in Australia for some part of their holiday. The organisation <a href="http://www.nff.org.au/read/5182/petition-launched-against-proposed-backpackers-tax.html">says this will have a detrimental effect</a> for industries that have come to rely “on backpackers to fill severe labour shortages which are often seasonal and temporary.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.englishaustralia.com.au/article.php?group_id=3356">Anecdotal evidence</a> suggests that increases in the visa application fee – following the adoption of the “user-pays” system in December 2012, from A$280 to A$360 in January 2013 to a planned increase of $440 in July 2016 – have acted as a deterrent to prospective working tourists. </p>
<p>The Working Holiday Maker visa is now considerably more expensive than the cost of similar working holiday schemes available in other comparable countries. Canada and New Zealand charge $C250 ($A250) and $NZ208 ($A186) respectively. And the visa also costs substantially more than a tourist visa. </p>
<p>This increased cost has coincided with <a href="https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/working-holiday-report-dec13.pdf#search=working%20holiday%20makers">declining visa applications</a> from Ireland, Taiwan and South Korea, which have been among the top five source countries. The negative trend continued into 2014, with grant applications from each of the top five source countries – United Kingdom, Germany, France, South Korea and Taiwan – declining. </p>
<p>South Korea and Taiwan <a href="https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/working-holiday-report-dec14.pdf#search=working%20holiday%20makers">displayed the largest drop-off</a> in applications of 20%.
Overall, there was a decline of 10.9% in the six months to December 2014 compared with the previous comparable period. </p>
<p>The ramifications of this trend for those industries that have <a href="http://ausfoodnews.com.au/2016/01/11/australian-vegetables-threatened-bydropping-backpacker-numbers.html;%20http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-08/backpacker-worker-shortage-putting-strain-on-fruit-harvesting/7075674">become more reliant on backpackers</a> to meet seasonal labour needs is all the more worrying given that there is also a fall-off in applications for second Working Holiday Maker visas. Tourists on these visas, who had proved their employment worth by working for a minimum of 88 days in designated occupations and industries in need of labour, could apply for a second 12-month visa. </p>
<p>As the Department noted in a joint submission to the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Migration/Seasonal_Worker_Programme/Submissions">Joint Standing Committee on Migration Inquiry into the Seasonal Worker Programme</a> in 2015, the second Working Holiday Maker visa scheme was specifically introduced to “to address acute ongoing labour shortages in certain industries across regional Australia”. </p>
<p>There are now fewer applications for second visas being made, with applications from Taiwanese South Koreans declining by over 13% in 2014. In noting the decline in these second visa applications granted in 2013, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection <a href="https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/working-holiday-report-dec13.pdf">speculated that</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Economic recovery in some partner countries and seasonal variability in visa application numbers are other potential contributors to the reduction in first Working Holiday visa application grant numbers during the first half of 2013-14.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However each of the countries from which substantially fewer Working Holiday Maker visa applications were made – Ireland, South Korea and Taiwan – has <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com">experienced reasonably sustained economic recovery</a> this decade. This would normally be a trigger for more applications as, the more buoyant the economy, the greater the likelihood that people have the resources to travel overseas for work and holiday. </p>
<p>Moreover, <a href="http://www.age-of-migration.com/">as migration theory explains</a>, once a flow of people has been set in train, migration networks develop that make transnational movement and employment search easier. As part of my research, I have observed these in Australia, and this should translate into a greater number of working holiday makers. The decline in numbers demands more consideration be given to the consequences of the increasing cost of the Working Holiday Maker visa.</p>
<p>The prospect of losing one third of earnings through an income tax, being taxed at a much higher rate than others (including citizens, residents, other temporary migrants and international students), while not having access to the social services and other support that taxes afford citizens and most residents, will all inevitably influence a further decline in Working Holiday Maker applications. All this while prospective working tourists turn to <a href="http://workingholidayincanada.com/get-your-tax-refund/">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.visafirst.com/en/new_zealand_working_holiday_visa_info.asp">New Zealand</a> where the taxation regimes are not so pointedly onerous and discriminating. </p>
<p>Of course, these declining visa applications could be attributed to greater exposure of the exploitative conditions of employment <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/temporary_work_visa/Report">experienced by many of these visa holders</a>. Being paid less than set-industry rates of remuneration and/or being subjected to abusive and exploitative practices are obvious disincentives to considering combining work with a holiday in Australia. </p>
<p>The removal of the tax threshold for Working Holiday Makers will likely do nothing to redress the exploitative situations. Paradoxically, the imposition of the tax may compound the problems because it will discourage the number of prospective visa holders, exacerbating the <a href="http://ausfoodnews.com.au/2016/01/11/australian-vegetables-threatened-by-dropping-backpacker-numbers.html">“acute labour shortages”</a> that the scheme was established to help overcome.</p>
<p>Confronted by labour shortages, employers may see no alternative to, and actually see benefits in, employing backpackers on a cash-in-hand basis. Just as Working Holiday Makers – as well as tourists who do not have a Working Holiday Maker visa – face a labour market <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/temporary_work_visa/Report">in which there are few real alternatives</a> for supplementing their savings than to accept work on a cash, tax-avoiding basis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Rosewarne is affiliated with the Sydney Asia Pacific Migration Centre at the University of Sydney. </span></em></p>Changes to the way tourists on the Working Holiday Maker visa are taxed will deter them and may put more pressure on labour shortages.Stuart Rosewarne, Associate Professor, Department of Political Economy, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/373502015-02-11T19:26:13Z2015-02-11T19:26:13ZSeven sustainability lessons we can all learn from backpackers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71564/original/image-20150210-24655-1m7djj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Backpackers may have a reputation for over-indulgence, but are more sustainable than you might think. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/teller/4289078025">Siim Teller/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With a reputation in Australia for public drunkenness and antisocial behaviour, backpackers might not seem likely role models for “greener” ways of living. Most backpackers are from upper- or middle-class backgrounds where high consumption is the norm. Surely those patterns of high resource use will continue on holiday?</p>
<p>In fact, backpackers provide interesting insights into how people can act in more sustainable ways. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2014.978788">Recent research</a> reveals the many ways backpackers act sustainably – often without meaning to. </p>
<p>This research reveals sustainable actions on environmental issues such as reducing resource consumption and waste. It shows how backpackers can help improve our economic sustainability, for example by filling labour shortages or spending money in ways that benefit local communities. </p>
<p>It also highlights socially sustainable actions performed by backpackers, who act in ways that show respect for local communities. </p>
<p>So here are seven sustainability lessons we can learn from backpackers. </p>
<h2>1. They carpool regularly</h2>
<p>Backpackers are into carpooling because it lets them achieve two of their goals – saving money and having new experiences. Scroll through any car-sharing forum – it might be <a href="http://www.gumtree.com.au/">gumtree.com.au</a>, <a href="http://www.coseats.com/">coseats.com</a> or <a href="https://www.couchsurfing.com/">couchsurfing.org</a>, for example – and you will find backpackers. Hostels all over Australia have noticeboards filled with ride-share requests. </p>
<p>Websites such as <a href="http://www.relocations2go.com.au/">relocations2go.com.au</a> and <a href="http://www.apollocamper.com/">apollocamper.com</a> list cars and camper vans that need to be relocated across the country. Some of these relocations require driving very long distances – from Alice Springs to Cairns, say, or from Adelaide to Darwin – but backpackers are happy to do it.</p>
<p>So rather than taking domestic flights, which are expensive, three or four backpackers will come together to buy a car or relocate a camper van. This helps to keep down the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their holiday. </p>
<p>It also forces them to drive through some fairly remote areas of Australia, places that don’t see a lot of visitors. Backpackers still need to purchase petrol, food and accommodation in these places, which provides a small boost to local economies.</p>
<p>While each backpacker’s spending is quite low, the combined effect of their small purchases is <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/psp.674">significant</a>. When backpackers arrive in their destination they drop off the camper van or sell their car to other backpackers looking to do the return journey, and the process repeats.</p>
<h2>2. They don’t waste food</h2>
<p>It has been reported that the average Australian <a href="http://theconversation.com/the-average-australian-wastes-200kg-of-food-a-year-yet-two-million-of-us-also-go-hungry-why-5278">wastes 200 kg of food</a> per year. All of the water needed to grow this food as well as the petrol used for harvesting, processing and transport is then also wasted. </p>
<p>But not so in backpacker hostels, where “free food” shelves are a common sight. Each hostel usually has one in the kitchen and one in the fridge. So when backpackers leave the hostel they (or hostel staff) put their leftover food on these shelves. As backpackers are on a tight budget, scouring the free food shelves is an easy way to save. </p>
<h2>3. They’re not acquisitive</h2>
<p>The amount of possessions backpackers can carry is strictly limited. They are forced to live for long periods carrying only what they can fit on their backs (or, increasingly, in their trolley cases). A backpacking holiday is a good way to learn that life without a lot of stuff isn’t so bad. </p>
<p>As over-consumption drives so many unsustainable practises, voluntarily reducing consumption and standards of living, as backpackers do, is potentially transformative. </p>
<h2>4. They know how to share</h2>
<p>Long before the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sharing-economy-is-a-triple-win-for-consumers-business-and-the-environment-34995">sharing economy</a>” became a globally recognised phenomenon, backpackers were regularly sharing kitchen facilities, food, bedrooms and cars.</p>
<p>Across Australia’s backpacking circuit, four beds to a room are considered spacious. Kitchens will have one or two stoves in hostels that accommodate dozens of people. Dorm rooms have one light and one ceiling fan and each hostel, no matter the size, will have one television. </p>
<p>When resources are shared like they are among backpackers, consumption goes down, greenhouse gas emissions are lowered and less waste is produced. Living in less space has been advocated by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sick-to-death-of-consumerism-find-freedom-in-a-tiny-house-35672">“tiny house” movement</a> as an affordable and environmentally sustainable housing option, but backpackers do it automatically.</p>
<h2>5. They trust each other</h2>
<p>Having to share bedrooms and kitchens and driving halfway across Australia with a bunch of people you’ve just met might seem daunting, but for backpackers it’s tolerated (even enjoyed) as part of the experience. </p>
<p>But what really makes it a functional arrangement is trust. Backpackers have to be able to trust the other backpackers they’re living with – people they have only just met – not to harm them in any way. Mutual trust provides social benefits because it helps keep a community together, and backpacking couldn’t function without it. </p>
<h2>6. They want to respect cultural differences</h2>
<p>While backpackers have a reputation in Australia for loutish behaviour, it is important to look beyond the stereotype. Many backpackers to Australia want to demonstrate cultural respect. This was one way they could carry out socially sustainable actions.</p>
<p>In fact, backpackers in central Australia commonly chose not to climb Uluru upon learning it is against the law of the Anangu, the traditional owners. This is a way backpackers can actively demonstrate cultural respect and understanding.</p>
<h2>7. They’re happy without luxuries</h2>
<p>Backpackers don’t need to shower every day and they are happy washing their clothes by hand. The cooking utensils, kitchen facilities and bedding at many hostels in Australia are in various states of disrepair – but it doesn’t bother backpackers.</p>
<p>This is sustainable because it prolongs the life of these items. By not having to regularly replace kitchen and bedding products, hostels are able to reduce waste, greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption associated with the manufacturing, transport and disposal of these items.</p>
<h2>So… should we all just become backpackers?</h2>
<p>Well – probably not. At a global level, backpacking, like tourism in general, is unsustainable as it depends on long-haul flights and wealth discrepancies between developed and developing countries. </p>
<p>However at the local level, unlike other forms of tourism, backpacking provides many opportunities for the performance of sustainable practises and it is here that we can learn from backpackers. </p>
<p>While backpacking is not for everyone, it indicates that it is possible for sustainable practices to be integrated into people’s everyday lives with minimal effort and cost. It also shows how people used to highly consumptive lifestyles can act sustainably – even without knowledge of sustainability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37350/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With a reputation in Australia for public drunkenness and antisocial behaviour, backpackers might not seem likely role models for “greener” ways of living. Most backpackers are from upper- or middle-class…Ben Iaquinto, PhD student, School of Geography, The University of MelbourneKathryn Williams, Associate Professor in environmental psychology and Director, Office for Environmental Programs, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/132402013-04-18T19:56:14Z2013-04-18T19:56:14ZThey’re long-term, temporary and invisible: our other migrant workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22062/original/jqvkktv3-1365052408.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Backpackers and international students provide a significant source of labour that is often long-term: but this is ignored by policy makers.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>While 457 temporary visas are currently under political scrutiny, thousands of other temporary migrants are now able to work in Australia for extended periods - most notably through working holiday visas and temporary graduate visas. </p>
<p>These visas primarily attract young people seeking an overseas work and life experience, or a pathway to more permanent migration. </p>
<p>Yet, because these visa categories are usually associated with international education and tourism, their significance as forms of labour migration are effectively hidden from public view and often underplayed by policy makers. </p>
<p>Unlike 457 workers, these workers don’t require employer sponsorship or specific skills, and participate in the labour market in diverse ways. Since 2006, the working holiday scheme has offered a second visa, extending stays from one to two years for migrants willing to spend three months doing regional work in specified industries such as agriculture, fishing and pearling, or mining and construction. </p>
<p>This has been a boon to regional employers, particularly those needing seasonal labour. Working holiday makers are picking grapes in our wine regions, or serving us in bars and cafes in our major cities. But they also participate in jobs beyond the typical “backpacker” stereotypes, in areas like IT, healthcare and skilled trades. <a href="http://www.anao.gov.au/%7E/media/Uploads/Documents/2006%2007_audit_report_72.pdf">There is also increasing evidence that women on working holiday visas are a source of foreign labour for the Australian sex industry.</a></p>
<p>With the global economic recovery still limiting employment options for young people in core source countries such as Ireland, working holidays are increasingly more about work than an extended tourist experience. At the end of 2012 there were 162,000 working holiday makers in Australia, with the number of arrivals increasing by nearly 60% from 2005-06 to 2009-10.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/students/_pdf/2011-knight-review.pdf">The 2011 Knight Review</a>of the student visa system has also liberalised temporary post-study work options for international students. From early 2013, international students who have completed at minimum a Bachelors level qualification (involving at least two years study in Australia) are eligible for a two to four year post-study work visa, depending on their level of qualification. In 2012 there were over 216,000 international students in university courses in Australia. </p>
<p>If only one third of these take up the temporary graduate visa, this constitutes 72,000 new temporary migrants into the workforce. Employers can benefit from the temporary graduate scheme, gaining locally qualified workers, often with valuable multilingual skills and cultural capital. If these workers fill “in-demand” gaps on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List, they could also be sponsored and stay on at the end of their graduate visa period. </p>
<p>However, international graduates are not always considered “work ready” by industry, and Australian employers are often generally reluctant to hire workers with temporary visa statuses, particularly for professional positions. The new temporary graduate visas are primarily a means to maintain Australia’s education export market, as post-study work rights have become, globally, an important factor in international students’ choice of study destination. </p>
<p>What remains to be seen is whether Australian employers will give temporary graduates a go, or if too many graduates will end up underemployed and deskilled - reiterations of the old student-migrant trope of the taxi driver or convenience store worker with an Australian MBA.</p>
<p>Working holiday and temporary graduate schemes are important to the Australian economy and to Australian business. They shore up the international student market and the tourism industry. They allow important cultural and professional links to be forged between Australia and migrants’ home countries. And, they provide a workforce to fill specific skilled and unskilled labour market gaps.</p>
<p>However, these visa categories need to be properly acknowledged as important forms of labour migration, and the consequences of a long-term temporary workforce need to be carefully considered by both government and industry. “Visa churn” means temporary migrants can often remain in Australia on a series of temporary visas for far longer than their graduate or working holiday period allows. A migrant can arrive in Australia as an international student, complete an undergraduate and a Masters degree, and then work under a Temporary Graduate 485 visa for three years. </p>
<p>Similarly, a migrant could begin on a working holiday visa for two years, gain sponsorship and work on a 457 visa for four years, and then commence postgraduate study on a student visa. With casual work rights available to student visa holders, both pathways encompass at least eight to nine years of work and residency in Australia with a temporary status. Generally, the longer people stay, the longer they want to stay, yet these pathways do not guarantee permanent residency.</p>
<p>Socially and politically, legal classifications of “temporary” are problematic when migrants have many years of labour market participation, residency and paid taxes behind them. Moreover, Australia will have long-term members of society without access to many government-funded social services and welfare benefits, as well as potential for worker exploitation, and for the integration of temporary workers into grey labour economies. </p>
<p>For these schemes to be successful for both employers and migrants, we need acknowledgement that temporary graduates and working holiday makers are important sources of migrant labour, and ensure their skills are properly utilised, and their rights adequately protected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13240/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shanthi Robertson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While 457 temporary visas are currently under political scrutiny, thousands of other temporary migrants are now able to work in Australia for extended periods - most notably through working holiday visas…Shanthi Robertson, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.