Thousands of young Australians get a summer job over the holidays. While it's seen as a right of passage for many unions and researchers say laws are falling short and failing to protect children in the workplace.
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00:00 Connor Boyle is on his way to a major fast food chain where he's been employed for six years.
00:07 I started working at that fast food place around 16.
00:10 He took the job to earn some extra money after school, but he could have started much younger.
00:15 Unfortunately we don't have a clear minimum standard for the minimum age of working.
00:20 That's something researchers and unions are hoping to change as the number of young people working spikes over summer holidays.
00:27 Up to a million children are contributing to the Australian economy every year.
00:34 Around the country the rules are vastly different.
00:37 In Queensland the minimum working age is 13, excluding the entertainment industry,
00:42 but there are restrictions on the number of hours school children can work.
00:46 It's similar in Victoria, except businesses employing anyone under the age of 15 need a licence.
00:52 In some states, like New South Wales, there's no minimum working age, but there are restrictions on hours.
00:58 I think we need a stronger, less diluted and more consistent set of state legislation.
01:07 There's also a possibility for national regulation.
01:11 In Victoria, the child employment watchdog is cracking down on businesses.
01:17 In the last 12 months we've prosecuted 11 employers for breaches of the child employment laws.
01:23 We headed out with them on an operation.
01:25 The manager's not in? That's ok. Do you know if you employ any young children at all?
01:30 So we found that most businesses are unaware of Victoria's child employment laws.
01:35 Unions want national regulations.
01:37 We need to do more to protect them. We need to make sure that they're educated about what their rights are.
01:43 A push for greater regulations for some of our most vulnerable workers.
01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]