Australian Australian government has announced that it will increase post-study work rights for international students in areas of skill shortage and will maintain uncapped work rights during study until next year, while investments will be made to reduce visa waiting times.
Post-study work rights: Minister for Education, Jason Clare, and Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil, confirmed the changes in the joint statement after the government’s recent Jobs and Skills Summit.
In areas of verified skills shortages, post-study work rights for international undergraduate students will increase from two to four years, while selected master’s degrees will increase from three years to five years, and selected PhDs will rise from four years to six years.
A working group has been established to advise the Ministers on the development and on which academic fields should qualify, and is due to report its findings by 28th October.
Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) tweeted that he was one of the appointees to the five-person group.
Minister Clare said, “At the moment, only 16 per cent of international students stay on after their studies end. This will mean they can stay on longer and use the skills they’ve gained in Australia to help fill some of the chronic skills shortages we have right now.”
Universities Australia – which had recently lobbied for enhanced work rights for international students in the run-up to the Jobs and Skills Summit – welcomed the government’s announcement.
“It’s critical that we develop the skills of Australian students to maintain a homegrown pipeline of talent,” said Catriona Jackson, Chief Executive.
“But at the same time, extending post-study work rights sends the right signal to international students who want to use their Australian education in Australia’s regions and cities, when and where there is a clear need for their skills.”
She added, “Allowing more international students to remain in Australia could see thousands more nurses and doctors working in hospitals from Geelong to Geraldton and Cooma to Cairns. That is not to mention the skills gaps international students will plug across our engineering, information technology, and teaching sectors.”
Uncapped work rights during study: Meanwhile, the current setting of uncapped work rights for international students while they are studying will be retained until June 2023, it was announced.
Work limits for international students were lifted in January this year as an incentive for international students to come to Australia and to address labour shortages in certain industry.
Minister O’Neil said that work hours will be capped again from June next year, following feedback from stakeholders. Concern have been expressed that students would not meet attendance and progress requirements because of unlimited work rights.
The number of work hours to be permitted from June will be decided after further consultation. Some industry stakeholders have called for work rights to be set at 24 hours per week, a slight increase compared with the pre-pandemic setting of 20 hours per week.