Highlights
- The government removed the 20 hours or 40 hours per week working hours restriction for student visa holders
- International students can work more hours regardless of the industry they are in
- OPINION: It will greatly affect those who have acquired full time hours if the working hours restriction will be reverted
Thousands of international students arrive in Australia to study with the hope of securing an employment opportunity during and after their studies. Filipino international students are not an exception to this narrative. With the ease of working hours restriction for student visa holders, it has greatly helped international students to financially help themselves especially with the ongoing rise of the general cost of goods.
Erin Trivino, who is currently finishing her Bachelor of Commerce at the University of New South Wales, is working one full time job and a casual hospitality job during weekends. She works as a business process analyst at a major ride-hailing company full time. She credits the unrestricted working hours for student visa holders as a key to securing this full time role. On weekends, she works as a manager at a restaurant in Sydney.
She acknowledges the benefits of having to work full time hours as she gets more financial freedom. While Erin do not spend for her rent, she acknowledges the fact that she needs to save so she can finance herself after her studies.
Stephanie Janolo, a postgraduate student at Western Sydney University doing her Master of Marketing, shares how more hours of work help her pay her tuition fees.
While it is apparent that international fees are more expensive than domestic fees, Stephanie had a better saving capacity to pay for her tuition due to being able to work more than 20 hours a week. Stephanie uses more than half of her earnings to pay for her tuition fees. She said she was thankful that she lives with her siblings thus she does not need to pay anything for rent.
Allowing international students work more hours helps in addressing the current shortage of workers in Australia.
"The first thing we have to check is whether it's a skills shortage or whether it's a shortage of jobs with fair wages and conditions. Too often employers claim a shortage, but really, as we know, we've seen way too many temporary workers exploited and not given the wages and conditions that should be paid in Australia."Michele O'Neil, Australiajn Council of Trade Unions
Both Stephanie and Erin hopes that this ease of restrictions will continue as it helps a lot of international students with their cost of living. Furthermore, it will impact their current employment in case the restrictions of 20 hours per week will be brought back as part of the student visa conditions.
