The ATO, Fair Work Ombudsman and Australian Border Force have launched Operation Flint, a joint investigation into labour hire providers in Griffith’s horticulture sector. This week, the three regulators visited over 15 farms, mostly citrus growers, as part of the Shadow Economy Taskforce.
The operation targets unlawful practices including wage and super underpayment, tax non-compliance, inaccurate pay slips, and breaches of the Migration Act, including migrant worker exploitation. Employers were selected using risk profiling, data analytics and community intelligence. Investigations are ongoing.
Officials noted the Riverina has previously been flagged as a compliance hotspot, with the FWO finding 83% of labour hire employers investigated in the region had breached workplace laws. Regulators reaffirmed zero tolerance for exploitation, stressing that outsourcing labour doesn’t mean outsourcing responsibility, and that visa-holding workers retain full workplace rights and protections if they report breaches.
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