Know Your Rights at Work sessions

The Migrant Workers Centre delivers “Know Your Rights at Work” community legal education sessions to help migrant workers understand their workplace rights and safety in Australia.

Most migrant workers in Australia experience problems at work at some point, such as underpayment, workplace injury, or unfair treatment. But only a small number ever speak up or seek help about these issues.

“Know Your Rights at Work” sessions give workers confidence and practical knowledge to respond to workplace issues and connects them with support services that can give them free and confidential advice.

"What a wonderful session. Thank you so much for coordinating and supporting my request for Migrant Workers Centre to present a session to the Multicultural Community Engagement Network. It was a very informative session and the presentation style was very well received."

"The information you provided was beautifully presented, engaging and the students were noticeably very responsive. I would say that’s the best information session with a group that size that I have seen. The content was so well timed for that group of students."

"It was such a great session and Reham (MWC ambassador) really gave everyone in the room some space to open up and share their experiences. We all took a lot away from the session and it was great to see how engaged everyone was."

Submit an expression of interest form here

Who can book a session?

These sessions are ideal for community groups, educational institutions, migrant support programs, and any organisation interested in supporting workers’ rights.

Sessions for community groups and not-for-profit organisations are free.

If you are a business interested in holding a session for your clients, employees, or other stakeholders, please contact us for pricing.

Our sessions are tailored for newly arrived temporary and permanent migrants and refugees, but they are open to anyone who wants to learn about their workplace rights.

We cannot deliver sessions outside of Victoria or to audiences that are primarily outside Victoria.

What topics do the sessions cover?

We tailor our sessions to each audience. Our “core” presentation covers the following topics:

Types of jobs (permanent, casual, contractor, unpaid work)
Pay entitlements (minimum wage, penalty rates, superannuation, payslips, PACT calculator)
Health and safety rights, including workers’ compensation
Unfair dismissal
Discrimination
How to get help

You can also select from the following additional modules (generally up to 3):

Where do our rights come from? (introduction to employment laws)
Junior rates
Annual leave and personal leave
Overtime
Public holidays
Parental leave and parental leave pay
Family and Domestic Violence leave
Basics of tax
Record my Hours app
Making a workplace injury claim
ABNs and sham contracting

If you are unsure of which modules will be most relevant to your audience, you can ask us to deliver our “standard” presentation which includes a selection of modules based on what we have found to be useful to most participants.

We use multi-media slides and a range of activities, focusing on practical problem-solving and encouraging early intervention.

How long are the sessions?

The length of “Know Your Rights at Work” sessions is typically between 60 and 90 minutes (including activities and Q&A), depending on the number of additional modules and level of engagement from the participants.

The minimum length for an introductory session covering only basic topics is 45 minutes.

We may be able to accommodate longer sessions, or multi-part events. Please contact us to discuss.

How are these sessions delivered?

We can deliver in-person sessions Monday-Sunday, during and after business hours, anywhere in Victoria.

Sessions are delivered by our team of Bicultural Work Rights Ambassadors and MWC staff members in more than 30 community languages and English.

Sessions can be delivered in-person or online. We strongly encourage in-person sessions as the higher level of engagement and interaction leads to better outcomes for participants.

The optimal group size is between 10 and 30 participants. We may not have capacity to deliver to groups smaller than 10, and we may ask to break up larger groups into multiple sessions.

We can co-deliver with other agencies to present a broader range of topics and support services available.

How can I book a session for my organisation?

Submit an expression of interest form here

We will contact you to discuss your request and confirm date, time, and other details. We generally require at least four weeks’ notice but may be able to accommodate urgent requests depending on availability.

If you have any questions, please email Project Support Organiser Alba Khouri ([email protected])