Australia has welcomed nearly 30,000 international students under the new economic incentives in the past six weeks but the international graduates state that they feel unappreciated and even more options must be given to them to support their long-term prospects.
Australia lifted the 40-hour-a-fortnight work cap for student visa holders last month to fill skill shortages and offered to refund the visa application costs of international students who arrived between January 19 and March 19 this year.
International graduates also state that the temporary arrangements were insulting because very little was done to support international students beyond recruitment and once the students complete their studies, job prospects are limited.
Australia allows the students to apply for a temporary graduate visa which allows the students to live and work full-time for a period of two years for those with masters and a period of three to four years for those with a doctoral degree.
However, International graduates state that it was difficult to find employment in their field as public sector jobs require applicants to have citizenship or permanent residency which is leading them to work casual and part-time jobs for the graduate visa length.
Some employers are reluctant to admit foreign students due to the confusion and uncertainty about visa requirements. Many employers do not know what visa policies for international students are and they assume that international students cannot stay in Australia for long and are also unaware of other visa pathways like bridging and residency visas.
The employers also look at whether the students can fit into the organization and workplace culture and if the employers feel that they won’t fit into the culture, they’re rejected, which makes the international students disappointed and confused.
Before the border closures in 2020, international students contributed $40.3 billion to the economy and international education supported about 250,000 jobs in Australia. Students could leverage the other resources that were brought by them to develop their careers in Australia.