Opinion: Why I oppose the temporary extension of international students' working hours

Decheng Sun critiques the treatment of working international students.

“The Department of Home Affairs on Friday announced Australia’s major supermarkets will temporarily be able to offer more hours to international student employees to help keep shelves stocked,” SBS reported. 

Student visa holders in Australia are generally allowed to work 20 hours per week. Perhaps surprisingly, as a student who works up to the limit, I am disappointed by the new policy. 

Organisations in Australia, for example, trade unions, have been campaigning and lobbying for the abolition of the 20-hour-limit for visa holder workers for years. One of the most significant arguments against the limit is that this law creates an area between immigration law and the enforcement of Australian industrial law. 

A very common scenario is that employers would threaten international student workers not to lodge complaints about wage theft or safety and health violations to the Fair Work Ombudsman, otherwise employers would report visa condition breaches to the Department so students’ visas might get cancelled, as union leader Mark Morey suggested to SMH. 

Regardless, the government has been very reluctant to lift the restriction, from a job protectionist approach. The government’s other argument is that the 20-hour limit can ensure that international students focus on their academic career. 

But the new policy to allow international students in the retail industry to work for more than 20 hours is hypocritical and self-contradictory. It throws international students under the bus of the COVID-19 pandemic with irresponsible economic incentives and harms the health of the Australian community. 

If the federal government intends to encourage international students to spend sufficient time on their study and thinks 20 hours is the fitting maximum time to work under an acceptable study plan, it slaps its own face. If only international students working in supermarkets can work for more hours, does it mean that their study is of less importance or difficulty than other students? The federal government is now encouraging students to sacrifice their education to address the temporary shortage of human resources of multi-billion businesses, which could instead be addressed by a temporary pay rise to casual staff.   

The message that the government is sending is essentially ‘let international students be sick and Australian citizens can be safe’. Regardless of their visas and passports, more than 800,000 international students constitute an important part of Australian society as workers, consumers, and tax-payers, although they are denied a number of rights under the law or due to unwritten systematic problems. International students constantly have contact with the rest of society. In a pandemic, increasing the health risk of international students can put a larger danger to our healthcare system.

Having private health insurance is a condition of a student visa grant. But the coverage of these medical insurance policies is usually less than Medicare. It means that international students pay more than other Australians when they need to see a doctor. In addition, due to the potential language barrier and unfamiliarity to the Australian health system, international students can be less likely to see a doctor when they feel unwell. It is also worth noting that international students are usually casual employees who are not entitled to paid sick leave, so they are more likely to continue working if infected. If the government uses this small economic incentive to encourage them to work while risking infection, it throws the health of not only international students but also all Australians under the bus.   

What can they do instead? 

If Woollies and Coles can operate on public holidays when most workers want to stay home, they can operate now. The difference is that employees are paid penalty rates to compensate for their sacrifice of the holiday enjoyment but they are not compensated for their sacrifice to maintain our daily supply under this national emergency. Economic stimulus funds should go to those who courageously do their duty.  

All international students should be allowed to work for more than 20 hours regardless of what industry they work in, as long as they can fulfil their class attendance requirement. Immigration law shall not be an obstacle to enforce our labour law. 

The healthcare system is key. The pandemic should teach us a lesson that all parts of our society, including international students, need to be protected to reduce the risk of the whole community.