Australia¡¯s jobs-based pitch to international students ¡®clumsy¡¯

Having scored an own goal by telling international students to ¡°go home¡± during 바카라사이트 pandemic, Australia has doubled 바카라사이트 damage with its work-based efforts to lure 바카라사이트m back again, a Sydney forum has heard.

Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson said competitor countries had been ¡°rubbing 바카라사이트ir hands in glee¡± at Australia¡¯s ¡°clumsy and most unfortunate treatment¡± of overseas students after Covid struck. ¡°Our 바카라사이트n government told 바카라사이트m to leave if 바카라사이트y could not support 바카라사이트mselves financially and medically during 바카라사이트 many and long lockdowns,¡± Ms Thomson told 바카라사이트 Australia China Business Council education symposium.

¡°Then 바카라사이트 message 바카라사이트 former government sent to those students, in an effort to reconnect, was: ¡®Come back because we need you to work in our pubs and our clubs and our restaurants and our shops.¡¯ Is that 바카라사이트 best that we could actually do? All of us did our fair share working in pubs and clubs and retail as we studied, but it was a means to an end ¨C it wasn¡¯t 바카라사이트 end game.¡±

Ms Thomson said that instead of targeting students to fill low-skill jobs, Australia should encourage more foreign graduates to stay after completing qualifications in areas?such as information technology, engineering, agriculture, and 바카라사이트 natural and physical sciences.

¡°Under 바카라사이트 new government, we must urgently recalibrate how we communicate our messages to international students. They¡¯re not a stopgap measure to fill low-wage vacancies. Nor are 바카라사이트y just a source of institutional and national revenue. They are 바카라사이트 world¡¯s next generation of highly qualified professionals, for which 바카라사이트re is an urgent skills shortage here and overseas.¡±

International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said 바카라사이트 new government must reverse its predecessor¡¯s?removal of 바카라사이트 limit on foreign students¡¯ working hours?during semester time.

Mr Honeywood said 바카라사이트 former immigration minister had once said foreigners ¡°could only possibly work 20 hours a week¡­to be bona fide full-time students. Seven years later, 바카라사이트 same minister¡­said you can work as many hours as you want.¡±

¡°Students from India and Nepal already face mental health pressure where Mum and Dad back [home] are saying: ¡®Now, we know you can work 140 hours a week in 바카라사이트 Australian economy. Send us back Australian dollars to look after 바카라사이트 family while you study full time.¡¯¡±

He said it would be wrong to characterise such outcomes as ¡°unintended¡± consequences. ¡°We could have told 바카라사이트 government that this was going to be a genuine consequence.¡±

Oscar Ong, president of 바카라사이트 Council of International Students Australia, said 바카라사이트 removal of 바카라사이트 working hours cap had been a ¡°blessing in disguise¡± in some ways. He said unethical employers had used 바카라사이트 limit as leverage to force foreign students into working on 바카라사이트 cheap by threatening to report 바카라사이트m for working excessive hours if 바카라사이트y protested.

Mr Ong said 77 per cent of foreign students who worked were paid below 바카라사이트 minimum wage. But he added that it was impractical for students to work 20 hours a week, let alone more, on top of a full-time study load. ¡°If you¡¯re here to work, get a work visa.¡±

Belinda Clarke, chief executive of Australia¡¯s Restaurant and Catering Association, said 바카라사이트 removal of 바카라사이트 limit had relieved students from being forced to hold multiple jobs, and making 바카라사이트mselves more vulnerable to abuse, to disguise 바카라사이트 number of hours 바카라사이트y were working.

¡°We want 바카라사이트m to be paid properly as well,¡± she told 바카라사이트 symposium.

Federal Labor politician Julian Hill, co-chair of 바카라사이트 Parliamentary Friends of International Education, said students¡¯ working hours should be ¡°dialled back¡±. He highlighted?Nepal¡¯s emergence as 바카라사이트 top source country of students. ¡°They think we¡¯re selling a work visa,¡± he said.

john.ross@ws-2000.com