Student visa work rights increase: this is a proposal, not a policy reform
The 2025 Election Commitments Report – ECR-2025-2848, prepared by the Parliamentary Budget Office, proposes increasing work rights for student visas from 48 to 60 hours per fortnight.
Before this gets framed as a “student-friendly reform”, it’s worth noting that this is not a migration or education policy paper. It’s a fiscal modelling exercise.
The proposal is explicitly based on the proposed reduction to some 240,000 new overseas student commencements per year. In other words, higher work hours are modelled because intake is reduced, not because the system is loosening.
Let’s examine the numbers in detail:
– +$334m in the forward estimates
– ~$1.4bn in additional tax revenue by 2035–36
= All derived from personal income tax
The income from students is modelled primarily as students being taxable workers, not as contributors to education exports, institutional sustainability, or long-term skills pipelines.
What this means in practice:
For government
- Fewer students
- More labour per student
- Higher tax yield per visa
For providers
- Higher work caps = higher compliance risk
- More scrutiny on attendance, progression, and course load
- “Work-friendly” marketing becomes riskier, not safer
For agents
- Genuine Student screening becomes critical
- Selling work rights as a benefit becomes dangerous
- Evidence quality matters more than volume
For students
- More work hours = more scrutiny
- Harder entry
- Higher compliance expectations
Bottom line:
Work rights would not have been expanded to benefit students. They would have been expanded to offset reduced intake and maximise fiscal return.
Important note- this is a proposal, not settled policy.
#InternationalEducation #StudentVisas #ESOS #MigrationPolicy #HigherEducation #Compliance #EducationAgents