TWO backpackers currently working in the Swan Hill region have spoken out about their horror experience at a rogue house posing as a working hostel in Mildura.
Rebecca Campbell and Karen Lees were made to believe that the ‘hostel’ could provide them with regular work to both obtain their second year visa as well as earn some money.
However, the reality was somewhat different, as the pair were only provided with two days’ work in a fortnight, in which they worked for as little as $2.25 per hour.
“When we called about the job we were told that it was a busy season and there would be a lot of work going on, so we decided to go,” Karen said.
“The woman we spoke to on the phone said that we would be orange picking, and we would earn up to $25 for every bin that we filled.
“We were told that some good people were making ten buckets per day.
“However, she failed to mention that we would be working as a team of four or five, so if you made seven bins, you had to split that money between four or five people.
“There were four people in our team and we had four bins, so we started work at 7am and finished at 3pm and we each earned only $18 for the bins we filled.”
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Friday’s Guardian (January 9).
