The Fair Work Ombudsman report released earlier this month found nearly one in two businesses in Ballarat audited on surprise visits were non-compliant with Australian workplace laws.

Ballarat Regional Trades and Labour Council secretary Brett Edgington said he had 'vastly underestimated' the rate of non-compliance in Ballarat before the release of the report.

"Seeking assistance to recover wages is something we are experiencing on a daily basis and there would be dozens of people in the community who may not have sought help yet," he said.

The Fair Work Ombudsman audited 192 businesses in Ballarat and found 46 per cent, a total of 88 businesses, were non-compliant with all aspects of their workplace relations obligations.

Further data from the Fair Work Ombudsman showed of those 88 businesses, 36 failed to pay their employees correctly but complied with pay slip and record-keeping obligations (non-monetary obligations), 36 were in breach of non-monetary obligations but complied with monetary requirements and 16 were in breach of both their monetary and non-monetary obligations.

READ MORE: Fair Work Ombudsman catches Ballarat businesses underpaying staff

One of the most common breaches identified was underpayment of the minimum hourly rate, making up 31 per cent of all breaches.

Ballarat employee Elizabeth (not their real name) told The Courier they had been underpaid cash in hand by a Ballarat food outlet and experienced bullying from the owner and manager.

They said their experience of six months working at the business that The Courier has chosen not to name lead to anxiety attacks and depression.

"If you did something wrong then your pay would be cut," they said.

"I got $14 an hour cash in hand and didn't get paid superannuation and it was the same rate when I worked until 3am."

The Victorian Government announced it would introduce legislation on wage theft in the lead up to the November state election.

The government will host sessions over the next couple of months for victims of wage theft to learn more about their experiences.

Under the proposed new laws, employers who deliberately withhold wages, superannuation or other employee entitlements, falsify employment records, or fail to keep employment records will face fines of up to $190,284 for individuals, $951,420 for companies and up to 10 years jail.

A government spokesperson told The Courier in a written statement work had commenced on these new laws.

"The existing legal regime has failed to prevent the exploitation of Victorian workers by unscrupulous employers," they said.

"That's why we promised to introduce tough new wage theft laws with better enforcement to send a strong message that Victorians must be paid fairly for their work."

READ MORE: Penalty rates inquiry: Ballarat Trades Hall calls for wage theft prosecution

Mr Edgington said the Victorian Government work to introduce new legislation was a positive step, but it was an 'indictment' on the Fair Work Ombudsman the states have to 'go it alone'.

"At the moment in the Fair Work process, if you make a report of wage theft it goes to a mediation situation and if you don't sort it with mediation it goes to court," he said.

"Say a worker is owed $20,000 in unpaid wages, I can't see how we can sit down and meditate about that. In what other situation of the law can you do that?

"The Fair Work Ombudsman treats this as a mediation situation, you shouldn't have to mediate."

Elizabeth said they hoped the new Victorian Government wage theft legislation would give workers more power and help them feel less afraid to report businesses.

"I would be scared to report the take away shop for wage theft," they said.

"There has to be protections in place for people as well so they are not scared to report their employers. I wouldn't sit down to mediate."

Mr Edgington said worker underpayment in Ballarat was 'endemic' and a 'crisis'.

"The Fair Work Ombudsman report is just the tip of the iceberg," he said.

"We are certainly seeing wage theft happen in the trades - it is not just confined to retail hospitality and tourism.

"If this lawlessness was happening in any other area it would be a crisis and people would be acting. Apart from the Victorian Government there seems to be a general apathy in trying to tackle or deal with this issue from the federal government.

"It is not a victimless crime. For people like Elizabeth who have no super, struggle to pay the bills and have no payslips or no formal work record to enter into applications, their lives are really in limbo."

READ MORE: Ballarat venues named in exploitation inquiry

Commerce Ballarat chief executive Jodie Gillett told The Courier in a written statement: "Of course all businesses must comply with the law in regard to workers' rights and we believe that the majority of employers do.

"The hospitality, accommodation and retail sector was a strong focus in this investigation. Whilst all businesses must ensure they comply in hospitality for example the awards and penalty rates are extremely complex. In any given weekend many hospitality businesses can be negotiating over 100 different rates of pay. Without the appropriate software this is just impossible.

"Whilst businesses must comply with the law we also implore the law makers to take every step to simplify what are extremely complicated award systems."

A Senate inquiry into worker exploitation held in Ballarat in March 2017 named more than a dozen Ballarat businesses whose employees had made representations to the union and its Young Workers Legal Centre.

Take-away food outlets, cafes and restaurants, retail businesses, pubs and bars were targeted in recent Fair Work Ombudsman audit.

Visit fairwork.gov.au/ for information on your entitlements and making a complaint.