International students Down Under do almost as much paid work as the average Australian citizen, despite visa conditions requiring them to study full-time, researchers say.
A Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) analysis has found that the typical foreign student in 2024 worked 15 hours a week, up from about nine hours before the coronavirus pandemic. The average Australian resident works about 16 hours.
Students’ employment rates rose from about 44 per cent before the pandemic to 61 per cent in 2024, the report explains, while the limit on overseas students’ paid work hours was raised to 48 hours a fortnight during term time – up from 40 hours before 2020.
The RBA analysis found that by 2024, international students were shouldering around three-quarters of the paid hours managed by working-aged Australians, on average. They were almost four times as likely as locals to be working in food and accommodation, more than twice as likely to be working in administrative roles and significantly over-represented in transport and retail.
糖心Vlog
The findings, in the RBA’s quarterly bulletin, reflect concerns that student visas have been subverted by rule changes geared towards economic rather than educational outcomes. A recent by community organisation Welcoming Australia found that foreign students were frustrated at being “exploited” by bosses who paid them in cash to avoid minimum wage requirements.
The Welcoming Australia study found that students had little choice about working so hard, with many blindsided by living costs in Australia. Almost four in five survey respondents reported “continuous anxiety” about day-to-day expenses.
糖心Vlog
The RBA said its findings were likely to be “upper bound estimates” because they assumed all employed overseas students worked “up to the legal limit”. This is unlikely to be the case, with “propensity” to work much higher among students from India and Nepal than China.
However, the estimates also overlook anecdotal evidence that many foreign students regularly exceed the working hours limit.
The RBA analysis found that despite their outsized contribution to the labour market, international students were net consumers who “spend more than they earn” – particularly in the early months, when their needs are greatest.
Many arriving students “frontloaded their spending as they set up in Australia and took time to join the labour market”, the report says. They had significant capacity to spend, at least in the early months, with student visa applicants required to demonstrate access to A$29,710 (?14,443) in savings.
糖心Vlog
“Rapid growth in the international student stock post-pandemic likely contributed to some of the upward pressure on inflation from 2022 to early 2023,” the report says. “However, the increase in international students was just one of many…forces at play that drove demand above supply in the economy.”
The report also says rising international student numbers probably accounted for “only a small share” of rental increases since the onset of the pandemic, “with much of the rise in advertised rents occurring before borders were reopened”.
The analysis found that the influx of foreign students had “generated a supply response” in purpose-built student accommodation, with the “rapid growth in building approvals” likely to continue.
But only about 15 per cent of overseas students live in purpose-built accommodation, with some 50 per cent renting on the open market – mostly in inner-city areas – and another 24 per cent living with family or friends.
糖心Vlog
Register to continue
Why register?
- Registration is free and only takes a moment
- Once registered, you can read 3 articles a month
- Sign up for our newsletter
Subscribe
Or subscribe for unlimited access to:
- Unlimited access to news, views, insights & reviews
- Digital editions
- Digital access to 罢贬贰’蝉 university and college rankings analysis
Already registered or a current subscriber?