Foreign students will be allowed to pick up more hours to help alleviate worker shortages as more people are forced into isolation due to Australia's Omicron COVID-19 outbreak.
Key points:
- The federal government has removed the 40-hour-a-fortnight working restriction on visa holders
- International students have welcomed the government's announcement
- The fuel retailer's association says the decision will ease pressure on its industry
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the federal government will remove the 40-hour-a-fortnight cap on student visa-holder workers, meaning they will no longer have restrictions on the amount of hours they can work.
Forty-hour work limits on international student visa-holders were lifted for people in the tourism and hospitality industry in May last year.
Mr Morrison encouraged international students to return to Australia, and backpackers are also allowed into the country under working holidays visas, on the condition they are fully vaccinated.
There have been worker shortages in the food distribution and manufacturing industries recently because a large number of workers have had to isolate due to a surge of coronavirus cases.
Emergency services and food distribution workers in New South Wales and Queensland who are close contacts can leave isolation to go to work, if they do not have any symptoms.
High-risk contacts, such as people who are living with a positive COVID-19 case, must take a rapid antigen test every second day until day six of their isolation period.
As of Wednesday next week, Victorian workers in emergency services, education, critical utilities, custodial facilities, transport and freight can be exempt from isolating as close contacts, expanding an exemption that already applies to healthcare and food and drink distribution workers.
Australia's top health panel recommended state and territory leaders consider expanding the number of workers permitted to leave self-isolation.
International students welcome the decision
Malvin Geonardo is an Indonesian student studying human resources management and is working as a part-time bricklayer in Sydney.
He said he was delighted to hear working restrictions will be removed.
He has been working at the bricklayer company for 20 hours per week for the last two years.
"I'm happy with this new regulation because this means that my [international student] friends can work longer hours and I don't need to cover too many things at work," he said.
He said many workers returned to their home countries after Sydney's first lockdown, meaning the company he works for has struggled to find workers.
Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association (ACAPMA) CEO Mark McKenzie told the ABC the decision was welcome news for petrol-station owners.
"The extension of visa hours would provide a major relief in a pressure point we currently have in our workforce," Mr McKenzie said.
He said between 10 and 12 per cent of workers in the petrol retail industry were isolating because of COVID-19 — about half with coronavirus and the other half because they were close contacts.
"The situation in the fuel industry is very different to the grocery industry. What we're doing is we're managing the issue as it currently stands with a small outage in the workforce."
Decision could put more pressure on international students
Council of International Students Australia (CISA) president Oscar Zi Shao Ong said many students would welcome the government's decision.
However, Mr Ong said international students already spend about 40 hours a week at university, attending lectures, tutorials and working on assignments.
He said lumping a bigger workload on international students to fill the worker shortage would place additional pressure on students already trying to meet university deadlines.
"The biggest question is that international students came here to study," Mr Ong said.
"If you're asking them to be entirely just working as a skilled worker, then the question is should they get a different visa rather than student visa?"
He said international students may also not be aware of the changing rules and studying requirements, particularly new students who have arrived in Australia recently.
"I think it's a very dangerous situation for them because they won't be having the correct advice," he said.
He said getting international students to work more could put them at a higher risk of catching COVID-19.
"Then who's going to be responsible to take care of them, if international students fall sick?"
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIyLTAxLTEzL2ludGVybmF0aW9uYWwtc3R1ZGVudHMtYWxsb3dlZC10by13b3JrLW1vcmUtaG91cnMvMTAwNzUzODAy0gEA?oc=5
2022-01-13 07:39:39Z
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