Intersectionality at Work: The Racialised and Gendered Construction of Immigrant Women in Australia

Abstract

This study explored how institutional language influences how migrant women are represented in Australia, focusing on work, caregiving, and migration status. Its aim was to see how each document frames its policy subjects and reinforces gender and immigration inequalities. Using Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) combined with Critical Discourse Analysis, the study analysed two key texts: the federal policy ” Next Steps for Paid Parental Leave in Australia ” and the advocacy report ” Migrant and Refugee Women in Australia: A National Study of Workplace Sexual Harassment, Racism, and Exploitation. ” The analysis examined lexical choices, subject positioning, intertextual references, and silences, revealing how each document constructs its policy subjects, depicts inequality, and legitimises certain solutions- particularly regarding race, migration status, and precarity. It was found that the government document uses a managerial vocabulary—words like “participation,” “productivity,” “flexibility,” and “best practice”—which generalises the subjects (“parents/families/workers”) and silences issues like migration status, racialization, and precarious work. In contrast, the advocacy report highlights inequalities through explicit harms (“harassment,” “racism,” “wage theft,” “fear”) and personal stories, linking individual experiences to larger structures such as visa regimes, enforcement gaps, and casualised work.