When news broke last year of systemic exploitation at 7-Eleven, Australians were shocked, but for many international students the wages were not so surprising.

Underpayment is not limited to the multinational company — students working in hospitality, retail and cleaning told Story Hunters it was an accepted part of life in Australia.

Former international student Kenny said he worked his way through his degree at a popular Chinese restaurant for $8 an hour.

"Most Australians would find that shocking — that's not much money at all," he said.

International students can legally work 20 hours a week during the semester, but many say the low pay means they have to work more just to get by.

International students in Australia International students by numbers: Total in Australia (May 2016) 500,189 Contribution to economy $19.7b Contribution to education sector $12b Top five countries of origin: China 141,507 India 56,009 Vietnam 21,752 South Korea 21,248 Malaysia 21,057 Source: Department of Education

"We know that it's illegal — if the Government finds out we'd be kicked out. We know the employer is doing the wrong thing … we can't complain. Too many students are looking for work," he said.



Kenny, from China, said working for $8 to $12 an hour was common amongst his peers, particularly those from Asian countries, but he said in his experience Vietnamese students were particularly susceptible to exploitation in the workplace.

Story Hunters joined two Facebook groups of 41,000 students from Vietnam and asked them: what is it like working part-time while studying in Australia?

Around 60 students commented, emailed or messaged with their stories within three days, and more than 500 people responded to two polls, with two-thirds saying they were paid under the minimum wage.

Four students — Chi, Daniel, Vincent and Darren — agreed to speak to us in person, under varying conditions of anonymity.

Vietnamese students turn to ex-pat community

Sorry, this video has expired International students on Facebook

Arriving in Australia can be a daunting and lonely experience for an international student.

For many Vietnamese students, it is their first time away from home and Australian English is vastly different to the American pronunciation that they learnt at school.

"I could not even order KFC when I first came here, because they couldn't understand me and I couldn't understand them either," Darren said.

Darren said the experience rocked his confidence and, in need of work, he turned to the established Vietnamese community, who offered him a job waiting tables for $12 an hour.

"I thought that when people speak Vietnamese with each other, they would treat me way better — but the opposite turned out to be true," he said.

"When I speak Vietnamese they just abuse me because they think that I don't have the ability to talk English to communicate with others and tell my story."

Vincent said business owners assumed students like him would accept below-award wages because the average rate of pay in Vietnam was so much lower.

"They say 'you should be happy, because in your country think of how much you can earn, and now how much do we pay you'," Vincent said.

Even as the students were discussing their frustration with the system, employers were advertising positions for as little as $10 to them on the same Facebook group.

"Most of us when we work for mostly Vietnamese-Australian owners … it's very rare for us to get the $12 an hour if we don't have any experience, mostly it's about $8 - $10," Chi said.

"Those very first days in my work, I felt like when I came back from work I didn't want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to lay on my bed and cry alone, because I didn't expect that. It's really terrible."

When we met Chi she was working at a bakery for $8 an hour. It was her first job since arriving here four months ago.

The way she was treated by the Vietnamese owner shocked her.

Daniel said he had been in the country for four months. His first job paid $9 an hour. ( ABC News: Loretta Florance )

She said she was expected to come in with no notice, worked 12-hour shifts without meal breaks and was regularly abused by management.

"In Vietnam my parents own a fashion shop and they do hire people but never in my life have I seen them yell at their employees," she said.

"Never in my life have I seen this kind of thing happen.

"I can't say that every Vietnamese boss in Australia is like that, but it's not just me, it's not just my boss. Many Vietnamese students have experiences like this."

Daniel said his first job in Australia at a Thai restaurant paid just $9 an hour.

"It was my first job and I don't know how to report him, and other workers with me were paid $9 so I thought it was normal," he said.

"I don't want to go to any Vietnamese restaurant in Australia to eat anymore because I'm afraid that behind that bowl of food there's a scene of the employer exploiting another Vietnamese student," Chi said.

Youth, language barriers, loyalty and fear

When 7-Eleven was sprung for dodgy practices, it was a clear case of a multi-million-dollar business being greedy.

The Fair Work Ombudsman took them to court, they were forced to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages and are now reviewing their practices.

But for international students working in small businesses across the country, justice is hard to come by.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the body only received "a couple of hundred complaints" from international students each year.

"That doesn't to me suggest the full story, particularly when you consider there are 430,000 international students in the country," she said.

Some international students said they did not expect to be paid award wage. ( Facebook )

Ms James said there were four key factors which made international students vulnerable to exploitation: youth, language barriers, loyalty to their employers, and concerns about losing their visas.

These factors came up again and again when speaking to international students.

Students told us stories of being yelled at, belittled and breaking down in tears after a long day's work, but recoiled at the idea of going to the authorities.

"If I talked to the Fair Work Ombudsman — I know that they will help us, but if I tell them the business will get [fined]," Vincent said.

"My restaurant has 18 people, it will change the life of the boss, the business will close. The first thing — the worker will lose the job.

"If I tell them, the whole Vietnamese community is affected, not only me."

"If the Government forces the employers to raise wages to the minimum level, then those owners will fire us, because they cannot afford it," Chi said.

"The reason why the owner is paying $8 or $10 an hour is because of the relationship of supply and demand … if I don't work, other people will."

Finding a solution

Some students suggested lowering the minimum wage for international students as a way to encourage employers to put staff on the books.

It is a controversial idea even amongst the students, with ramifications for local workers competing in the job market, not to mention on Australian ideals of equality.

"If [we] are allowed to work in Australia, then we should be treated fairly," Chi said.

There have also been calls for the Fair Work Ombudsman to conduct more random checks on small hospitality businesses known to hire international students.

Ms James pointed out the fundamental flaw in this suggestion.

"We need people to talk to us. If people can't tell us 'these are the hours I've worked, and this is what I got paid and it's not enough', then it's very difficult for us to recover under-payments for them," she said.

"If the employers' records aren't right, if they're being so deliberately exploitative that they're paying $8-10 an hour then they're probably not keeping accurate records of that, so simply looking at the books is not going to fix the problem, that's actually not going to tell us what's going on. We need to talk to people."

Minimum wage rates in Australia: Adult (21+) Base: $17.70

Base: Casual: $22.12 Junior 18yo - Base: $12.09 Casual: $15.11

18yo - Base: Casual: 19yo - Base: $14.60 Casual: $18.25

19yo - Base: Casual: 20yo - Base: $17.29 Casual: $21.61 Source: Fair Work Ombudsman

Vincent called on Vietnamese-Australian community leaders to address the situation and call out those business owners doing the wrong thing.

While they may not yet be leaders, a number of students are putting this idea into practice, starting a Facebook group where students can report dodgy employers.

"The new students when they come to Australia — they'll know not to go there and also we also want the customer to not go to the restaurant that treat people badly," Chi said.

If you think you are being exploited at work you can contact the Fair Work ombudsman on 13 13 94.

The ombudsman advises students to keep a record of the hours they work and their payslips to help with investigating illegal practices.

If you are assisting the ombudsman with an investigation they can contact the Department of Immigration to ensure your visa is not at risk.