Australian union calls for review of foreign students' work rights
Updated
Unions are calling on the Australian government to make changes to the working rights of overseas students.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, has recommended all trade occupations be removed from a list of eligible jobs for international graduates. The union has also called on the government to investigate the impact of overseas students accepting low-wage jobs as part of their bid for permanent residency.
Presenter: Bo Hill
Speakers: Bob Kinnaird, a research officer with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union; Wesa Chau is a founder of the Australian Federation of International Students
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HILL: The Australian government has been reviewing the welfare and living standards of overseas students studying in Australia - after months of anger over attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney. It also comes amid an ongoing investigation into privately-run colleges and courses, that are attended by foreign students, and operate without accreditation. But Bob Kinnaird, a research officer with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, says the government should be actually be looking at the effect that international student working rights have on young Australian citizens during the global financial crisis.
KINNAIRD: By about the middle of this year, 2009, we had approximately 45,000 visas granted to international student graduates, at the same time that the number of jobs available for 15 to 24 year olds has shrunk by over 100,000. Overseas students must be treated with respect and dignity, but we are concerned by the rights of Australian workers and young people in particular.
HILL: Bob Kinnaird says the biggest incentive marketed by the Australian education sector is the prospect of Australian permanent residency for international students.
KINNAIRD: In order to qualify for a permanent resident visa which is what a lot of the 45,000 people on these work visas are really after, they have to establish 12 months skilled work experience in the occupation that they're nominating, and because what we do know from research and our own experience is that some overseas graduates are so desperate to get permanent residence that they're prepared to take low and in some cases to take no wages at all in order to qualify for the 12 months. To have that kind of visa operating in circumstances like the present where the job market for young people generally is shrinking that is a recipe for intense competition and undercutting wages and conditions for Australian workforce.
HILL: Monash University professor, Chris Nyland, has told Radio Australia via email that there's no evidence that Australian workers are being displaced by international student workers. But he does say that Australia's most vulnerable workers could be disadvantaged if they're replaced in low skilled areas - jobs that Professor Nyland describes as forming a traditional safety net for skilled workers. But he and his colleague, Professor Simon Marginson from Melbourne University, say the benefits of a $AUD13 billion international student industry, and the employment it creates, balances out such labour market concerns. Wesa Chau is a founder of the Australian Federation of International Students. She says that what her 3,000 members need now is for their struggles, while getting settled in Australia, to be acknowledged, and recognition for the benefits they bring to the country.
CHAU: There is a systemic issue here where we've got the immigraton department having a $12,000 guideline for international students to have before they come to Australia. This is very unrealistic. According to our calculations students need at least $20,000 or more in order to live in Australia. So if the work rights for international students are taken away from them, it means that students cannot meet their living expenses. There is a number of international students who are genuinely here to study. Yes, there are people who are here just for permanent residency, but this is not the majority and I think we need to separate the issue of education and permanent residency.
HILL: But both foreign students and skilled Australian labour needed to be protected. Education analyst Professor Chris Nyland says there is an urgent need for government to address the lack of an employment safety net for Australians and the impact of the economic downturn on international students trying to survive in a new country.
