Cooking is the love of Indian migrant Karnvir Singh. It was also his career of choice after migrating to Australia in 2007 to study hospitality. He landed a job as a chef at an Indian restaurant on the Gold Coast.
Mr Singh's boss promised to sponsor him for a permanent visa in Australia under the Employer Nomination Scheme. But later he would ask Karnvir to work without pay.
The Fair Work Ombudsman says last financial year more than two thousand visa holders were helped with workplace disputes.
That was twenty per cent of the total number of disputes dealt with.
Workplaces were fined nearly five million dollars in penalties in cases involving visa holders and more than two million dollars in lost wages were recovered.
Mr Singh worked for 8 months without pay before leaving; he has since lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman seeking more than 25,000 dollars in lost wages.
Carina Garland, assistant secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council - a union organisation - says cases like his are not uncommon.
She says migrants often don't seek help because of fears of losing their visa and says exploitation can come from anywhere.
Mr Singh says he didn't expect exploitation to come from someone from his home country.
Mr Singh's employer cancelled his visa, but he is now on a bridging visa, while his appeal is before the courts.
He still has big hopes for a future in Australia.
Listen to the feature in Bangla in the audio player above.
