One of the most appealing aspects for students to choose to study in Australia is the ability to work while studying. Many other countries like Canada, the US and the UK have restrictions on working. However, frequently there are misconceptions about how many hours a student is allowed to work in Australia and when they may be breaching their visa conditions.
By law, a student is able to work 40 hours per fortnight and unlimited hours while the course is not in session.
Here are some examples:
If you work in week one 30 hours and in week two 10 hours, you are not breaching your conditions because you worked in total 40 hours fortnight (two weeks). Also, working full-time while you are on holidays is not against the law.
If you are working 30 hours per week, then you are breaching your visa conditions and this could lead to your visa being cancelled or cause issues when applying for another visa later.
This condition applies not only the student but also to the dependants on the same visa (i.e. wife – husband). The difference is the dependent can only ever work 20 hours per week.
The only exception for the dependent is if you are studying a master or a doctorate degree, your partner is allowed to work full-time while you are completing your studies.
More “tips”
Another interesting “tip” is related to when you are able to start working in the country. In this case, if you are planning to come to Australia weeks before your course starts, remember that you are only allowed to work AFTER your course has started.
On the other hand, if you are student under a Postgraduate Research Sector visa (574), you don’t have working restrictions in Australia. Nonetheless, you are expected to have a satisfactory progress in your course.
Finally, as a general advice, while studying helps support you while you are in Australia, students, if possible, should not rely solely on working while studying to pay for the costs of their studies and living expenses.
At EMSA, we post jobs on our social media and if you are interested in studying in Australia, we can help you to achieve your dreams!