Who are Australia's 'outworkers' ?

Most outworkers are first generation migrant women who have difficulty speaking English and don’t know about their working rights in Australia.

Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmer, Macedonian, Turkish and Arabic women are most likely to be outworkers. Sometimes other family members, such as children, help after school and on weekends so deadlines can be met.

In the past, the manufacturing industry employed a lot of children, usually between 13 and 16 years of age. However, in the 1950s the number of child factory workers fell because the school leaving age rose and parents could afford to keep their children in school longer. State laws today ensure that the health, safety and moral welfare of children at work are protected and that work does not adversely affect their education. However, these laws are difficult to enforce when children work in a home environment.


Here are a few stats to help put things into reality:
•47% of outworkers work more than 12 hours a day.
•73% of outworkers have one or more chronic injuries.
•75% of clothing companies have most of their clothes made by outworkers.