Life in Australia Guide

Holders of the Australian Student visa (subclass 500) can take on work such as part-time jobs, as long as they meet the conditions. However, while the course is in session there is a cap on working hours. Since 1 July 2023, the cap has been 48 hours per fortnight. By contrast, during official course breaks set by your education provider, you can work without an hour limit. This work restriction is managed through condition 8105, which is attached to most visas, and you should check the exact wording in your own visa grant letter.

The unit for calculating the cap is not the 'week' but the fortnight (two weeks). Under the Home Affairs definition, a fortnight is a 14-day period that begins on a Monday. As long as your total working hours within these 14 days do not exceed 48, you are fine. You do not have to divide it into exactly 24 hours each week; you can distribute it freely across the two weeks, and as long as the total is 48 hours or less you have kept to the rules.

Before you start working, there are a few things you must check. The most important is that work is only possible after the course has commenced. Before the start date, you cannot work even if you have already received your visa. You also need a TFN for tax purposes and to check your own visa conditions.

• Check the course start date — based on your CoE and academic calendar. No work before commencement.
• Apply for a TFN (Tax File Number) — apply with the ATO. Without one, a higher tax rate is withheld from your pay.
• Check your visa conditions via VEVO — check your work rights and hour conditions and, if needed, prove them to your employer.

Even with the same student visa, the hours you can work vary depending on 'when and what activity' it is. Here are four representative cases.

This is a practical checklist for working safely without breaching the rules.

• Record your working hours from each Monday to keep track that your fortnight total does not exceed 48 hours (while the course is in session).
• Check the start and end dates of 'course in session' and 'official course breaks' in advance from your academic calendar.
• If you work at multiple places, manage this by adding up the working hours from all employers (based on the total).
• Keep your payslips, roster, and working-hour records so you can prove compliance with your conditions.
• Check that your pay and penalty rates meet Fair Work minimum standards, and if there is a problem, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman.

These are mistakes that actually happen often and points to watch out for.

• Misunderstanding it as 'up to 24 hours per week' — the standard is a fortnight total of 48 hours (distribution is free).
• Counting the hours of multiple part-time jobs separately — in reality you must add them all together.
• Working before the course start date — it is only possible after commencement.
• Relying on outdated exception rules — past temporary industry-specific relaxations have been ended or changed, so check with Home Affairs whether they currently apply.
• Misunderstanding that if you work over the hours you won't get paid — you have the right to be paid, but exceeding the hours carries a risk of visa cancellation for breaching your visa conditions.