On a temporary visa? There is a public list of employers who cannot hire you

An employer in Australia can be barred from taking on another worker who holds a temporary visa, and when that happens its name is published. The names go on the prohibited employer register, a searchable page on the Australian Border Force website. On 19 October 2026 it held one.

The power behind the list dates from 1 July 2024, when new laws made by the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 took effect. Since then Home Affairs has been able to bar employers who break the law seriously, deliberately or repeatedly from employing more migrant workers for a period, through a measure called a prohibition declaration. A declaration can follow breaches of parts of the Migration Act, the Fair Work Act or the Criminal Code that relate to the treatment of temporary migrant workers. The register page names underpayment and sexual harassment among the matters the new laws cover, along with pressure on a worker to breach a visa condition or to hand over a passport.

One name on the prohibited employer register

Each entry shows the name of the business or individual, a trading name, the state and postcode, the ABN, the reason for the prohibition and the date it ends. The only entry is Eatalian Deli (WA) Pty Ltd, in Western Australia, listed with the trading name EATALIAN RISTORANTE. The reason given reads: “The person is subject to a migrant worker sanction”. The prohibition ends on 24 September 2030.

A media release from the Assistant Minister, Julian Hill, announced the five-year ban on Monday 29 September 2025, calling the notice behind it “the first prohibition notice issued under the SEC Act”, the 2024 law. The release said the register gives consumers and visa applicants “visibility of employers who have been sanctioned under the new regime”. The register page was last updated on 9 October 2026.

The staff already there can stay

A prohibited employer cannot take on any additional temporary visa holders while the ban lasts. Workers already on its books are in a different position. The Home Affairs fact sheet on the scheme says: “There is no penalty for migrant workers.” Existing employees can choose whether to keep working for the employer. A mechanic from Kochi who is on the payroll when the declaration is made may stay if he wishes. A student from Pune who applies the following month cannot be hired there.

A prohibition can last up to five years, or up to 10 years where the sanction involves a criminal offence, and there is no maximum for offences relating to human trafficking and modern slavery. Before a declaration is made, the employer receives a notice setting out the reasons and has 28 days, or longer if the notice allows, to make a written submission. Breaching a prohibition is itself a criminal offence. Under the Migration Act the maximum penalty is two years’ jail, a fine of 360 penalty units, or both. A Commonwealth penalty unit has been worth A$364 since 1 July 2026, so the fine can reach A$131,040 for an individual and five times that for a company. Once a ban ends, the employer may hire temporary migrants again but must meet special reporting requirements.

Reporting protections, with conditions

Two pilots that began in July 2024 address what a complaint might mean for a worker’s visa. Under the Strengthening Reporting Protections Pilot, Home Affairs will not cancel a visa over a breach of a work-related condition linked to exploitation, if four things hold. The Fair Work Ombudsman or an accredited third party has certified the exploitation and is helping to resolve it; it happened in the past 12 months, or longer in some special circumstances; the worker agrees to follow the visa’s conditions and purpose in future; and there is no other reason to cancel, such as fraud, character or security. Home Affairs lists the Student visa (subclass 500) and the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) among those covered, and says its list is not complete. The 17 accredited third parties it names include unions, the Migrant Workers Centre, Redfern Legal Centre and WestJustice.

The Workplace Justice visa, part of the Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408), is for workers who need to stay on to pursue a workplace exploitation claim. It lasts between six and 12 months and carries no visa application charge. Applicants must be in Australia, hold a temporary substantive visa with work rights that has no more than 28 days to run or ended within the previous 28 days, have their claim certified and hold adequate health insurance.

The Fair Work Ombudsman says a separate arrangement between it and Home Affairs, the Assurance Protocol, has been paused for the duration of the pilots. Home Affairs pages updated on 7 October 2026 still describe both pilots, and none gives an end date. Under the Fair Work Act, visa holders have the same workplace rights as other employees. The Ombudsman’s number is 13 13 94, with a free interpreter available by calling 13 14 50 first, and its page for visa holders says: “Your visa won’t be cancelled if you contact us or ask us for information or help.”

A longer list for sponsored workers

The Border Force publishes a second register, of sponsors that have breached their sponsorship obligations since 18 March 2015. On 19 October 2026 it held 1,842 entries. Home Affairs tells sponsored workers, and people thinking of becoming one, that the register shows whether a sponsor has been penalised before for not meeting its obligations to migrant workers. The page notes that it is updated monthly, so a recent sanction may not appear yet.

More than two years after the law began, the prohibited employer register holds one name. The two lists rest on different thresholds. One records sponsors sanctioned for breaching their obligations. The other is kept for employers who broke the law seriously, deliberately or repeatedly, and who are barred for a set period from taking on another temporary visa holder.