The beautiful land down under, Australia, is charming for students across the globe not only for its pristine beauty but also its excellent education system, amiable nature, a high standard of living, and equal opportunity for all. Its cultural diversity, globally recognized courses, and relatively lower living expenses and tuition costs, make it instantly popular among students who aspire to acquire quality international education. It also shares a
unique distinction of having 8 top-notch universities in the world. What makes it even more lucrative is that international students are at par with native students, in terms of access to resources and all rights and entitlements.

International students in Australia have the same workplace rights as all other workers, including minimum wages. As per the recent directive effective 1 st July 2020, all those employees who are 21 and above and have not been covered by any award or agreement, are entitled to the new national minimum wage of $19.84 per hour or $24.80, in case of being a casual employee. Generally, most of the employees are covered by an award in Australia. One of the important resources for students to understand their workplace rights and entitlements in Australia is the Fair Work Ombudsman-a workplace regulator. It helps resolve workplace issues, keeping the workplace fair, reporting workplace issues in your language, and access to ‘record my hour’s app’. It also provides assistance in the areas of
pay, leave, employee entitlements, ending employment, stand down from work, and workplace health and safety. Its uniqueness and fairness lie in the fact that anyone can approach It, irrespective of their status as a native/international student. They also have a tool called ‘Find my award tool’, which allows one to find which award applies to their work.

Yet another significant tool offered by Fair Work Ombudsman is ‘Fair Work Information Statement’, which provides information to the new employees about their employment conditions, entitlements, and rights. All employees are entitled to receive a copy of the Fair Work Statement before/ immediately after starting a new job. Many universities are advised to include a copy of the Fair work statement along with a student information pack, at the beginning of their educational journey in Australia.

In the wake of the current COVID 19 pandemic, the Fair Work Ombudsman has widened its reach to address workplace entitlements and obligations during the pandemic time. It has also assured paid pandemic leave for residential aged care employees.

A fair and just system of Australia, surely adds to its goodwill and makes it one of the best places in the world to study and work. It is an additional benefit for international students as they don’t have to stress about being treated any differently within universities than their counterparts or facing any sort of discrimination at the workplace.A beautiful haven, finest
mentors, great living standards coupled with an equitable work system, makes Australia a coveted choice for all international students.
Who knows you could be the next one to make the most of it?