Australia restricts international students to work full-time

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KATHMANDU: Australia has cut full-time work rights for international students. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement saying that from the beginning of the next financial year, the right given to students to work more than prescribed will be stopped.

International students coming to study in Australia are legally allowed to work 40 hours in two weeks. But shortly after the start of the coronavirus infection, Australia relaxed this provision.

Due to the long-term border closure and the regular shortage of workers due to the corona infection, the government gave students the right to work full-time. Under this, the students had the right to legally work up to 80 hours in two weeks.

But the Department of Immigration and Citizenship of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a public notice and said that this right will be closed after June 30, 2023. After that, students will not be allowed to work more than 40 hours a week.

In the statement issued by the Ministry, the students are asked to follow all the rules of the student visa, and it is mentioned that there should be satisfactory study progress and class attendance in educational institutions.

In the same way, the government has maintained the change in the time limit of the ‘Post Study Work Rights’, which are given after completing higher education, in order to fill the shortage of workers in specific fields.

Home Minister Claire O’Neill announced a few weeks ago the decision to extend the deadline for foreign students who have studied in areas with a shortage of skilled workers to work after their studies.