International student work restrictions eased so they can relieve aged care workers

Work restrictions on international students will be eased so they can relieve aged care workers stricken by the coronavirus.

Work restrictions on international students will be lifted so they can ease the shortage of aged care workers when the coronavirus hits.

The federal government will lift work restrictions on international students to fill the staff shortages expected to emerge when aged care workers fall ill with the coronavirus or are forced into quarantine if they come into contact with a carrier.

Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said it was critical to plan “for a scenario where a large part of the aged care workforce is unable to come to work”.

Currently many international students work in aged care villages or deliver home care to elderly people, but they are restricted by student visa conditions to working no more than 40 hours a fortnight.

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said that “as more workers take leave to quarantine or because of health concerns, we need to make sure there are enough staff to look after our older Australians who are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus”.

He said the government was temporarily relaxing the 40 hour a fortnight work limit to deal with the staff shortage. Only students who are existing employees of approved providers of Commonwealth-funded aged care services will be eligible to work extra hours.

The new measure, announced Wednesday night, is similar to a concession given last week allowing supermarkets to give more work hours to international students (as long as they are existing employees) to help them refill shelves emptied by panic buying.

Mr Tudge said the government was ready to be flexible and allow international students to fill other sudden labour shortages which might appear as the coronavirus takes hold.

“We will continue to listen to businesses as the coronavirus situation develops and may consider expanding these measures to assist other sectors if and when required,” Mr Tudge said.

“We will also consider providing flexibility with other temporary visas should the need arise.”