Construction giant Lendlease will hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars to Chinese plasterers who worked for weeks on a large Victorian government building project without receiving any pay.

It was revealed last month in The Age that dozens of low-paid Chinese tradesmen had not received pay and superannuation for up to nine weeks while working for Lendlease's fit-out subcontractor on the $630 million Bendigo Hospital site.

Some of the Chinese workers and their families outside Lendlease's Melbourne offices in Docklands last month. Credit:Simon O'Dwyer

The underpayments occurred in the months before the subcontractor – East Malvern-based Asset Interiors – collapsed and entered administration, leaving more than 60 of the workers battling severe financial hardship and struggling to provide for their families.

Lendlease became the target of a fierce public campaign from hundreds of construction union members, who rallied alongside the Chinese workers at the company's Melbourne office building, claiming it had a "moral responsibility" to ensure people were not exploited on its sites.