A System Built to Exploit: How Recruitment Agencies Are Failing Workers in Australia and New Zealand
Imagine arriving in a new country, promised a steady job, only to find yourself unpaid, unsupported, and trapped. Or picture a young local jobseeker, desperate for work, endlessly applying to job ads that don’t exist. For thousands across Australia and New Zealand, this is not fiction — it’s the reality created by a broken recruitment industry.
Recruitment agencies claim to help people find work. In truth, too many of them thrive on insecurity, blur legal responsibility, and profit from the desperation of workers. And governments — instead of protecting citizens — have become complicit in enabling this system of legalised exploitation.
The following examples illustrate just how many people find the recruitment process frustrating, exhausting, and dehumanising:
A Dangerous Business Model
At their core, many recruitment agencies operate on a business model that rewards turnover, not stability. Their profit depends on volume — getting people into jobs, not keeping them there. It doesn’t matter if the job lasts three days or three months, as long as they can tick a box and claim a payment.
In Australia, under the Workforce Australia scheme, agencies are paid by the government for “placing” jobseekers. But investigative reporting has exposed the truth: many of these placements are temporary, unsuitable, or outright fraudulent. Over $8.5 million in public funds was returned in a single year due to false claims. This isn't a few mistakes — it’s a system-wide abuse of public money at the expense of vulnerable people.
But the deeper harm isn't just financial. It’s psychological. Workers are treated as statistics. They’re promised support, only to be ignored, ghosted, or pressured into jobs that don’t match their skills, health, or availability. The result? People lose trust — not just in agencies, but in the entire system meant to help them.
A System That Exploits the Most Vulnerable
Nowhere is this more brutal than in the treatment of migrant workers in New Zealand. Many arrive with hopes of building a better life, only to fall into the hands of recruitment firms that exploit legal grey areas. Some are promised jobs before arrival, only to be left with no work and no income. Others are placed in roles that breach their visa conditions — a crime committed by the agency, but with consequences that fall on the worker.
There are cases where migrants were forced to sign blank contracts, made to pay their own recruitment fees, or threatened with visa cancellation if they spoke out. These workers are not protected by unions. They fear deportation. They don’t know their rights. And the agencies know this — and use it. This isn’t an accident. It’s a deliberate design, where power is centralised in the hands of private recruiters, and accountability is scattered or nonexistent.
This is why individuals seek aid from Employment Law Firms like Mathews Walker in New Zealand, which offers a “no win, no fee” policy for personal grievances — making legal help more accessible for those with limited finances. Similarly, in Australia, firms like Maurice Blackburn and Slater and Gordon also offer no win, no fee representation, helping vulnerable workers challenge unfair dismissals, wage theft, or exploitation without upfront legal costs. In both countries, community legal centres and pro bono networks also provide free advice to migrant and low-income workers, but the demand often exceeds capacity. Affordable firms like these are critical lifelines for migrants seeking justice in hostile work environments.
Fake Ads, Real Harm
Even locals aren’t spared. In both countries, job boards are flooded with recycled or fake listings, designed not to fill real roles, but to gather CVs and inflate agency databases. Many jobseekers, particularly the young, unemployed, or disabled, report being strung along by promises of interviews that never happen. Some never hear back at all. Over time, this doesn’t just waste time — it destroys confidence.
You can’t measure the emotional toll of being ignored, lied to, or treated like a number. But it’s real. And it’s growing.
Governments Know — But Do Nothing
And where are the politicians?
They know this is happening. Reports have been tabled. Whistleblowers have come forward. Advocacy groups have cried out for change. And still — nothing. Why?
Because this system serves their interests.
Recruitment agencies give governments an easy win. By outsourcing job placement, politicians can show rising employment numbers without investing in proper public services. If people are unhappy, they blame the agencies. If complaints rise, they launch reviews that go nowhere. Meanwhile, some former officials move straight from public office into recruitment consulting firms — a quiet revolving door that ensures nothing ever really changes.
This Is Not Just a Labour Issue — It’s a Moral One
At its heart, this is a question about what kind of society we want.
Do we want one where people are treated as disposable, shuffled between unstable jobs by middlemen chasing government bonuses? Or do we want one where work is dignified, fair, and protected by laws that are actually enforced?
Do we believe that migrants deserve protection, or are we comfortable turning a blind eye because they’re not “our” workers?
Do we accept that young people and jobseekers must be demoralised, deceived, and discarded — simply because it keeps labour “flexible” and costs low?
These are not rhetorical questions. They are the consequences of the system we’ve built.
A Call for Real Change
It doesn’t have to be this way. But change will not come from within the industry. It must be forced from outside — by voters, by workers, by those who see this exploitation for what it is.
Governments in Australia and New Zealand must:
Require transparency: agencies should prove real job placements, not just database growth.
Enforce licensing and bar companies with histories of exploitation from operating.
Rebuild public employment services, and stop paying bonuses for unstable or unsuitable placements.
Guarantee rights for migrant workers, including protection against retaliation and clear reporting pathways.
Because if we don't act, we are not just enabling exploitation. We are endorsing it.
Final Thoughts: This is about justice
We cannot continue to let a profit-hungry industry define the terms of work, migration, and dignity. Recruitment agencies do not deserve blind trust — they require serious scrutiny. Every day this system remains unchanged, another worker is let down, another dream crushed, another family made vulnerable. The silence of those in power is not just negligence — it is betrayal.
It’s time to stop pretending this system is working. It’s time to fight for one that does.
for more information:
Migrant workers being exploited in AEWV work visa scheme
What's No Win No Fee? - Mathews Walker
No Win, No Fee Lawyers - Maurice Blackburn
No Win, No Fee Lawyers - Slater and Gordon
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