Café under fire for hiring 11-year-olds to fill staff shortages
A café is hiring children as young as 11 to make jams and relishes.
The NSW regional venue has a 100-strong workforce, most of whom are children, with some as young as 11.
The revelation comes as the federal government considers a recommendation to bring the minimum working age to 15, or 13 for “light work”. Some exemptions will be considered for under 13s.
To deal with its worker shortage, The Long Track Pantry in Jugiong began to hire children aged 11 and older to work in the factory kitchen and cafe.
They are paid award wages to wash dishes, make jams and relishes and serve customers.
Notably, NSW does not have a minimum age for work, while the minimum wage for children under 16 is 36.8% of the national minimum wage.
The café has come under fire for the move, with some accusing it of child labour although the accusations have been taken down from social media posts.
There was some support with one Twitter user tweeting it was an “entirely normal and healthy aspect of growing up”.
Political and economics writer Tim Colebatch called the move “common sense”.
There are about 214,500 children aged 15 and under legally working in Australia.
A parliamentary committee noted that work could benefit young people but “the bulk of the evidence suggests that except in cases where a youth works only a few hours per week, child and youth labor is harmful to development, educational success and health”.
The national children’s commissioner, Anne Hollonds, noted risks facing child workers.
“It’s not just making sure it’s not hazardous work, it’s the environment of young children working with older kids and adults,” she said.
“Obviously there’s a huge variety of circumstances – kids working in a family business, a corner shop, is a different environment to working in a factory – but regardless of the circumstances, size or type of the business, we have to remember that a child is at greater risk of harm from co-workers, customers and the business owner themselves.
“Because of that we need to have in place the appropriate protections … we have an obligation to protect children; that’s not optional.”
Irit Jackson, 12th April 2023
