Doesn't it sound beautiful to come to Australia for a job and vacation? you can not only travel and experience local customs and customs, but also make a living. It is beautiful to think about it, but it also attracts many backpackers to come to Australia.
But sometimes things are not as bright as they might be.
Last year, Olivier Max Caramin, a 27-year-old from Belgium, died of prolonged labour in the hot sun.
That raises concerns that backpackers who work on vacation may encounter problems working in rural Australia. These include rape, harassment and unpaid wages.
Backpacker Martin Hand, a workmate of the dead Olivier Max Caramin, had a hunch that something was going to happen when he saw Olivier staggering in the sweating sun.
Hnad, a British traveler, was picking pumpkins with other backpackers on a farm near Ayr, a small town 10 kilometers off the coast.
It was a very hot, 35-degree day, and they worked in a wet, windless basin without even a canopy on the trailer that brought the pumpkin back to the shed.
"it's really hard for you to cool down," Hand said. "We let Max hide under the shadow of the trailer, but I saw him running past me, and his face was completely different from that of the last time I saw him, and his eyes turned into cockfighting eyes." Running stumbled like a newborn deer, trembling arms and legs. I asked him what was wrong with you, and I knew it was serious. "
Max ran 50 to 80 meters, then suddenly fell to the ground, breathing pain. Colleagues tried their best to cool him down while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
"obviously," Hand said, "Max was in bad shape."
Max was taken to Townsville Hospital after he fainted and died a few hours later.
Hand recalled that Max had said earlier in the day that he could no longer work, but that local farmers were angry that he was too slow to work that day.
Backpackers working together also joined forces to stop picking seven pumpkins, but farmers insisted on picking eight because that was their normal quota.
It is reported that at the time of the accident, Max had just arrived at the farm only three days.
Most Australians do not know that some of the cheap, rich fruits and vegetables are the result of state policy arrangements. This arrangement forces young backpackers to often work under harsh conditions.
The Australian government stipulates that if foreign backpackers wish to extend their working vacation visas by one year, they must work for farmers in rural areas for 88 days, including picking and packaging fruit, pruning grape vines and planting trees. Or doing seasonal work, including mining or construction.
Most backpackers say they enjoy traveling in Australia and farm work enriches their experience, but Max's death also highlights the growing problems young backpackers face in rural Australia: rape, sexual harassment. Poor living conditions, violation of workplace security laws and economic exploitation.
Unpaid wages, crammed into dilapidated houses and bathrooms, and sexual harassment are common to these backpackers.
Like the Guardian and British college student Catherine. In rural towns, where poor treatment and exploitation by backpackers is an open secret, found by (Katherine Stoner) during his trip along the Murray River, Katherine also produced a documentary about the 88-day policy.
Mildura is a small town of 30, 000 people near South Australia in the Murray River basin in western Victoria. The Murray River has brought oases to the arid hinterland and attracted many backpackers hoping to complete 88 days of agricultural work.
But it is also one of Australia's hottest regions, with temperatures up to more than 40 degrees.
"I found that there was a problem with the system, that farmers would not treat you very well, that some farmers were rude, sexist, and even sexually harassed against you-but everyone put up with it. "I was really surprised that the backpackers and everyone had to bear it," Katherine said.
She and another 18-year-old female friend, Elle, once met farmers who advised them to pick peaches if it was too hot!
In addition, farmers are required to have sex with young girls on the condition that they sign documents, sometimes offering easier jobs for them to do indoors or in sheds in return for sexual benefits.
More generally, economic exploitation. Sophie Etheridge, a 23-year-old British law graduate, said she did not sign a piece-by-piece contract under Australia's fair work law, but ended up getting a piece-by-piece wage.
After six days of work, she only received a salary of $550.
Experienced pickers also struggle to earn decent income under the system of piece-by-piece wages, but some backpackers are eager to complete the 88-day requirement, believing that they have no choice but to work. Especially if the accommodation fee has already been paid in advance.
Of the 4322 backpackers, international students and 4322 temporary workers with temporary work visas, nearly half had an hourly salary of A $15 or less, compared with a statutory minimum hourly wage of A $21.15, according to the survey.
In addition to low wages, the phenomenon of arrears of wages is also very serious.
(AWU), the Australian workers union, said the incentives inherent in the visa program made backpackers extremely vulnerable.
Shane Roulstone, the union's all-Australian organizer, said the prime goal of backpackers was to get farmers to sign documents, so they were likely to endure illegal low-pay and poor working conditions, and farmers had no reason to train them.
If backpackers choose to travel first and then work until the visa expires, the pressure will increase if they begin to complete the 88-day rule to extend the visa.
Former mayor and current City Councillor Glenn Milne said he was aware of a youth hotel owner who violated work safety rules and exploited the wages of backpackers. At some level, it is convenient to provide accommodation and work for backpackers at the same time, but backpackers are also more vulnerable.
The Australian workers union also said backpackers urgently needed more protection.