Fair Work Ombudsman secures $48,000 fine against McCrystal Agricultural Services
A sweet potato farmer has copped a big fine for exploiting vulnerable farm workers, deducting thousands of dollars from dozens of employees.


News.com.au
September 19, 2025

A Queensland sweet potato farmer has copped a $48,500 fine for exploiting 66 Pacific Islands farm workers.   

The Federal Circuit Court imposed a $43,000 fine against McCrystal Agricultural Services, which runs a sweet potato farm west of Bundaberg, and a $5500 penalty against Russell McCrystal, the sole director of the company.

The court found Mr McCrystal had breached the Fair Work Act in 2021 and 2022 by fining workers under the company’s alcohol policy and unlawfully deducting overtime overpayments and health insurance premium payments.

The Fair Work Ombudsman investigated the farm and labour hire business and found that between January and March 2022, 29 employees faced fines under the alcohol policy totalling $14,500.

Most of the impacted employees were living in accommodation on the farm, the watchdog said on Friday.

The workers, all from the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, were working on a sweet potato farm near Bundaberg.

Further, the company illegally deducted $2.50 more per week than the cost of the health insurance premiums obtained for the employees, resulting in deductions between November 2021 and March 2022 of $47.50 each for 27 of the company’s full-time employees, or $1282.50 in total.

The FWO also found that after overpaying 28 casuals for an overtime in error in August 2021, the company then deducted, without the employees’ approval, $2548.60 from their wages to recover the overpayments in the following pay period.

In total, McCrystal Agricultural Services unlawfully deducted $18,331 from 66 employees for work performed between August 2021 and March 2022.i
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workers were all visa holders from Vanuatu on the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme.


“The visa holder workers underpaid in this case were highly reliant on their employer,” Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said on Friday.

“Acting to protect visa holder workers and ensuring compliance with workplace laws across the agriculture sector are priorities for the Fair Work Ombudsman.

“That focus includes ensuring any deductions from the wages of vulnerable visa holder workers are lawful and appropriate.

“Where they are not, we will hold employers to account and significant penalties may follow.”   

The company rectified the underpayments, the FWO added, and has amended its alcohol policy.