Key Points
- Many international students on temporary visas earn less than $53,000 a year, according to a new report.
- Most are working in jobs below their skill level and earning less than the average Australian worker.
- The report calls for tighter English language tests and a cut to temporary graduate visa durations.
International students on temporary visas are being "left in limbo" and struggle to pursue their chosen careers after graduating in Australia, according to a new report.
Those that do find work are being paid substantially less than domestic students - with their wages being closer to those of backpacker workers, the report from think tank Grattan Institute found.
The report said most international graduates on temporary visas were working in low-skilled jobs, and half of the cohort earned less than $53,300 per year.
It also found that nearly 75 per cent of Temporary Graduate visa holders earned less than the average Australian worker in 2021.
How much less do international students earn?
International students on temporary visas on average earn about $53,300 per year. That’s only slightly more than working holiday-makers at $50,7000.
That's significantly lower than the average earnings of $64,400 made by all 20-29 year olds with at least a bachelor’s degree.
Source: SBS News
International graduates with a postgraduate coursework degree in business management earned around $58,000 a year less than domestic graduates with the same qualifications.
Those with computing and engineering postgrad coursework degrees earned about $40,000 less.
International students with an undergraduate degree in engineering or computing earned $12,000 less than their domestic counterparts. For business graduates it was a difference of about $10,000 a year.
“International graduates who studied a health-related degree reported the highest earnings,followed by science graduates, but earnings were still lower than domestic graduates in the same fields,” the report reads.
Why do international students struggle to find jobs?
The report also found only half of international students on temporary visas secured a full-time job upon graduating.
That’s in part because employers are reluctant to hire them due to the uncertainty around their visa status, according to a survey conducted as part of the report.
The institute said the length of post-graduation work rights might be giving international students false hope of attaining permanent residency.
International graduates stay in Australia on temporary visas once they graduate, but struggle to pursue their chosen careers, it said.
How many international students are in Australia?
There are around 654,870 international students in Australia as of July 2023, according to the report.
This compares to 634,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The institute said its modelling showed the government’s changes to allow graduates to stay and work longer would push the number of Temporary Graduate visa-holders to double to about 370,000 by 2030.
Calls for stronger English test, visa duration cut
The report’s lead author, Brendan Coates, said that policy would leave more graduates in "visa limbo", with even worse prospects of ever securing permanent residency.
He said it was not in anyone's interest to encourage so many to stay on and struggle in Australia.
Source: SBS News
"It hurts the long-term prospects of those graduates who do stay permanently. It's unfair to those graduates who invest years in Australia with little prospect of securing permanent residency. And it adds to population pressures in areas like housing."
Among its raft of recommendations, including a higher English language requirement for Temporary Graduate visa holders, and reducing post-study work visa durations, the report called for a new 'Exceptionally Talented Graduate' visa that offers permanent residency for the most high-value graduates.
It also said the government should only offer visa extensions to graduates on at least $70,000 a year.
Students 'victims' of competition
International student Yeganeh Soltanpour said international and domestic students alike were "victims" of increased competition across the workforce.
"We have more students graduating with the same degrees, and it's becoming harder and harder for just a degree to be enough to secure a role," she told SBS News.
"It is not that these visas are giving them false hope at all."
Another added barrier to employment was that international students did not have local community networks or connections, Soltanpour said.
