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Migration Intermediaries and Codes of Conduct: Temporary Migrant Workers in Australian Horticulture

Author

Listed:
  • Elsa Underhill

    (Deakin University)

  • Dimitria Groutsis

    (University of Sydney)

  • Diane Broek

    (University of Sydney)

  • Malcolm Rimmer

    (La Trobe University)

Abstract

Over recent decades, developments in network governance have seen governments around the world cede considerable authority and responsibility to commercial migration intermediaries for recruiting and managing temporary migrant labour. Correspondingly, a by-product of network governance has been the emergence of soft employment regulation in which voluntary codes of conduct supplement hard (enforceable) legal employment standards. This paper explores these developments in the context of temporary migrant workers employed in Australian horticulture. First the paper analyses the growing use of temporary migrant labour in this industry. It then describes how different types of intermediaries interact with this workforce. The paper then outlines both hard and soft employment regulations, and contrasts them with actual employment conditions, questioning how a network governance approach has affected this vulnerable workforce. The paper concludes that changes in network governance of migration and employment relations have emasculated formal legal regulation, leaving market forces to operate without effective or ethical constraints at the expense of the public good.

Suggested Citation

  • Elsa Underhill & Dimitria Groutsis & Diane Broek & Malcolm Rimmer, 2018. "Migration Intermediaries and Codes of Conduct: Temporary Migrant Workers in Australian Horticulture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 675-689, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:153:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3351-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3351-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Dong Hoang, 2019. "Labour Standards in the Global Supply Chain: Workers’ Agency and Reciprocal Exchange Perspective," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-25, May.
    4. Dimitria Groutsis & Annika Kaabel & Chris F Wright, 2024. "Temporary Migrants as Dehumanised ‘Other’ in the Time of COVID-19: We’re All in This Together?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(3), pages 615-635, June.

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