Criminalising 'Wage Theft' in Australia: A Proposed Regulatory Model

dc.contributor.authorNikoloudakis, I.
dc.contributor.authorRanieri, S.
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstract‘Wage theft’ is widespread in the Australian labour market, including ‘deliberate wage theft’ which occurs when an employer deliberately deprives an employee of their monetary employee entitlements. In2020, Victoria and Queensland were the first Australian jurisdictions to criminalise this conduct. This article discusses how deliberate wage theft became criminalised in these states before undertaking a comparative analysis of both regimes. This analysis reveals that the Victorian model is significantly more advanced than the Queensland counterpart in terms of its ability to deter deliberate wage theft. The final substantive Part provides the first framework within the academic literature on how this conduct ought to be criminalised. It contends that a federal offence is required that criminalises deliberate wage theft. The offence must be enacted within a legislative regime that understands the common context in which this offending occurs and must be backed by robust enforcement and suitable civil recovery mechanisms.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityIrene Nikoloudakis, Stephen Ranieri
dc.identifier.citationUniversity of New South Wales Law Journal, 2023; 46(4):1134-1168
dc.identifier.issn0313-0096
dc.identifier.issn0313-0096
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/141022
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherLaw School, University of New South Wales
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1174523
dc.rights© 2024 Informit
dc.source.urihttps://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/article/criminalising-wage-theft-in-australia-a-proposed-regulatory-model
dc.subjectLabor laws and legislation; Comparative law; Wages and salaries; Civil penalties; Theft; Criminal law; Employment Law; Regulation
dc.titleCriminalising 'Wage Theft' in Australia: A Proposed Regulatory Model
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

Files

Collections