International students working in the tourism and hospitality sector will no longer have their working hours capped as the Morrison Government is planning to increase visa flexibility to support these sectors.
NRI Affairs News Desk
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke MP has said in a Facebook post that Student Visa holders working in these jobs will no longer have their working hours capped.
Highlights:
– International students working in the tourism and hospitality sectors will no longer have their working hours capped.
– The Morrison Government is planning to increase visa flexibility to support these sectors.
– More than half a million Australians work in Tourism and hospitality sector.
International students have a fortnightly cap of 40 hours on their working hours, as a visa condition. However, several students have been demanding removal of the cap after losing jobs due to the pandemic in 2020.
“Temporary visa holders will be able to access the Pandemic Event Visa for 12 months by working in the sector,” said Minister Hawke in his FB post.
More than half a million Australians work in the tourism and hospitality sector. However, the pandemic has left the sector struggling due to multiple lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Now that Australia is open to domestic tourism, the businesses are struggling to find workers, one of the reasons being that international students cannot enter Australia due to a travel ban.
Mr Hawkes hopes that, with these changes, “they can supplement their existing workforce, generating more Australian jobs.”
“We have listened carefully to the States, Territories and industry and will now introduce these changes in support of sectors which are critical to Australia’s COVID-19 economic recovery,” said Mr Hawke in his post.
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