Foreign students allowed to work in Australia
Updated
Foreign students in Australia will now be eligible to work part time, under streamlined arrangements introduced by the Federal government this week.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Senator Chris Evans, Australia's Minister for Immigration and Citzenship.
EVANS: Well the current system was actually disadvanting the students and disadvantaging the Australian economy. There was another barrier to students being able to work. We think it's important that they be allowed to work immediately because a lot of them need to support themselves. They come in, they pay fees, they want to study but they've also got to find the means of supporting themselves while they're here.
So it's important that they be able to work quickly and efficiently, and so this facilitates that. And secondly from our point of view, from the Australian government's point of view we want them to be able to work, we've got a labour shortage, many of them have skills we need and we want to encourage them to work, not more than the 20 hours because they're here to study, but we think 20 hours is a reasonable amount of work that helps them, helps our economy but still doesn't interfere with them studying. So we think it's a win-win and we do want to encourage overseas students coming to this country and this will help that.
LAM: What are some of the skills that you're thinking of?
EVANS: Oh a number of them have experiences in a range of industries. I mean the reality is a lot of students work in service industries because of the nature of their studies is requiring them during the daytime to attend classes etc. A lot of them work in sort of the hospitality and other service industries, but some of them bring other skills and work in other businesses.
But the important thing is that they're able to sustain themselves to meet their costs of living, and that'll allow them to study, to continue their studies to the point where they feel they've got what they need in the way of qualifications. So we think it's a really important change.
LAM: Indeed it's only up to 20 working hours a week but will the foreign students be monitored that their studies will not be affected?
EVANS: Certainly we have compliance activity and we seek to make sure they don't work more than the 20 hours. As I say that's really to ensure that they're here for the purpose of study. We have different visa classes for people who are coming in to work and they have to meet other requirements. These people are coming in to study, we want them to complete their courses. Obviously part of their visa conditions is that they pass and complete their courses, but this allows them to support themselves and so it's just a matter of getting the balance right.
We think 20 hours is about right and if they don't complete their courses or if they seek to work more hours. You know if the purpose for coming in is not to study then we will enforce the fact that they're here on a study visa, that's what they're here to do, and the working rights is if you like a bonus in order to make life easier for them, but it's not to be used as a false means of getting into the country.
LAM: Well as you mentioned earlier the scheme is not entirely altruistic given that the revised visa scheme will also benefit Australian industries. But where these foreign students are concerned shouldn't they make sure that they are in a viable financial position before coming to Australia?
EVANS: Well look a lot of them underestimate that I think the costs of living, the costs of housing, the Australian economy's quite buoyant, and so a lot of them do need to work to support themselves, and I think that's not unreasonable. We do require them to have the capacity to sustain themselves anyway, but a lot of them like most students in this country have to work to ensure that they've got a reasonable standard of living.
So I think that's perfectly reasonable and we have had issues sometimes with students not having enough money desperate to study here, supported by their families but often just find there's not enough financial support. So as I say I think it's a win-win, it allows the student to be able to have a reasonable standard of living to complete their studies appropriately and also as I say benefits the Australian economy.
