Last modified 10/09/2023

How to work in Australia while you are studying ? :

The student visas given by the Australian Government, allow the immigrant study and work for up to 20 hours per week during the period of study and depending on the duration of the course they will pay from 15 % to 30 % of the rate of the refundable taxes or not.

The Australian Government, through the Australian Migratory Program, gives away student visas to every non Australian citizen who wishes to continue his or her studies in Australia, while in temporal or permanent courses, as long as the one giving it away is registered in the Commonwealth Register of Institution and Courses for Overseas Students, known as CRICOS and whose web site is www.cricos.deewr.gov.au, which is the official site of the Australian Government.

Unlike other countries, in Australia, the Australian Migratory Program, allows students who come from other countries, commonly referred as immigrants who have their student visas, to be able to harmonize during the week, studies (graduate and masters) and 20 hours of part time jobs developed while the academic year goes on. Only when they are on vacations they can work at a full time job. In the case of those students who are coursing PhD’s, under any circumstance they can work for more than 18 hours per week.

But these facilities can only be used once the student has started the course he or she enrolled for, requesting the work authorization in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship which can be found in the city in which he or she might be living at. For that, he or she will have to present his or her student’s visa, a certificate that states that he or she has already begin the course and also, paying the corresponding amount for the permission process, which is the equivalent to a little bit more than 50 Australian dollars.

The search and selection of the job is inside the tasks of the student, because the Australian government does not limit the amount of time, the place in which it will be developed or the salary perceived, as long as it is above the minimum wage (10 Australian dollars, including taxes) established by the law.

The immigrant student is advised to, in the search for a job he or she might be performing, look for jobs related to the field of studies he or she might be developing; which, in some cases, is known as “business practices” or that are been developed inside the university’s campus, such as attention in bars, in labs, in bookshops or landscaping services. Alternatively, the immigrant student can find jobs outside the university campus babysitting or in other jobs.

A main roll in matters of getting a better paid job will be the command of the English language, because if your level is low the payments per hour fluctuate between the 10 and 17 Australian dollars, and if you have a better command of the English language, the payments per hour go between the 20 and 25 Australian dollars per hour.

The time of duration of the course in which the immigrant enrolled him or herself into, will be fundamental for those who wish to work at the same time, because if it is less than 25 weeks, he or she will have to pay about 30 % in taxes of total of his or her income during the year, amount that will not be refunded by the Australian Government; but, in the other hand, if the immigrant enrolls him or herself in a course that lasts for more than 26 weeks, the tax rate he or she will have to pay will be about the 15 % of all his or her perceived salary during the year, amount which will be refunded by the end of the annual tributary period.

It is necessary, for those who wish to immigrate as students, to know that, inclusively, his or her spouse can work for the same amount of hours the Departments of Immigration and Citizenship allows.

Summing up, those who wish to study in Australia have facilities to work, including his or her spouse.