Foreign students can now work more than 40 hours per fortnight

This week’s Federal budget announcement has revealed that international students are now permitted to work unlimited hours in tourism and hospitality jobs.

The Morrison government is offering support to the hospitality and tourism industries by permitting employers to employ international students to take on the load at restaurants, hotels and cafes and fill low wage job vacancies.

This contradicts the visa rule that only allows international students to work 40 hours a fortnight.

This rule has been in place to protect migrant workers and ensure they receive legal wages and other minimum standards.

The Sydney Morning Herald has said the move by the government would offer “international students up as sacrificial lambs to these employers renowned for exploitation”.

The new policy also contradicts the 2019 Migrant Workers’ Taskforce recommendation to stick with the 40 hour work restriction, which was agreed in principle by the government.

After weighing up the pros and cons for removing the work limit, the Taskforce instead recommended improving enforcement measures to protect international students from workplace mistreatment.

The Taskforce presented evidence that work restrictions can lead to vulnerability with employers being able to convince students to work longer hours in the hopes to discourage them from reporting their underpayment.

The Department of Home Affairs stated it was important not to jeopardise international students’ primary purpose – to study.

The Department also cited evidence that students working more than 40 hours per fortnight were more likely to fail coursework.

The scrapping of the 40 hour per fortnight rule now goes against those arguments and there is deepening fear that it could lead to lower wage, lower skills and poor job quality within the hospitality and tourism sector.

Irit Jackson, 13th May 2021