Foreign students in Australia are facing widespread exploitation in the workplace, a new study has revealed.
The investigation was carried out by researchers from Melbourne and Monash universities, who conducted face-to-face interviews with 200 international students at nine universities across Victoria state.
About 60 per cent were being paid below the minimum wage and more than a third received less than A$10 (HK$74) an hour.
The researchers said large numbers of students were misled by recruiting agents in their home countries about the true cost of living in Australia.
Their report said many international students had an income less than half that accepted as marking the poverty line and must find jobs to survive, although wages were low.
'Many students are forced to accept jobs that pay far less than the legal minimum, that are dangerous and are not covered by workers' compensation insurance,' it said.