Student visa work hours in 2026

If you hold a Student visa (subclass 500), you can work up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session, and unlimited hours when it is not. That is the short version of visa condition 8105. The detail is where students get caught: how a fortnight is counted, and what "in session" actually means. This guide covers it using Home Affairs' own wording, written for students in Melbourne.

The rule in plain words

Condition 8105 is on almost every Student visa. It says three things:

You cannot start working until your course has started. The only exception is if you already held another visa with work rights when you applied for the Student visa.
While your course is in session, you can work up to 48 hours in any fortnight.
When your course is not in session, there is no limit.

Your family members on your visa get the same 48-hour limit while your course is in session, but they do not get unlimited hours in your breaks. Their limit stays.

You can check your own conditions any time in VEVO. Your grant letter lists them too. The full text of condition 8105 is on the Home Affairs visa conditions page.

How a fortnight is counted

Home Affairs counts a fortnight as any 14-day period starting on a Monday. It is not "two of your pay periods" and it does not reset at the start of each month.

Home Affairs gives this example. A student works:

week 1: 15 hours
week 2: 30 hours
week 3: 30 hours
week 4: 10 hours

Weeks 1 and 2 together are 45 hours, so that fortnight is fine. Weeks 3 and 4 are 40 hours, also fine. But weeks 2 and 3 together are 60 hours. If the course was in session, that fortnight is a breach, even though the monthly total looks reasonable.

A simple habit: keep your own log of hours by week, starting each week on Monday. Then check every pair of consecutive weeks, not just the pairs your employer pays you for.

Two jobs, one limit

You can have more than one job. Plenty of students do, a cafe shift on weekends plus support work during the week, for example. The 48 hours is the total across every job you hold, not 48 hours per employer. Nobody adds this up for you, so you need to.

What counts as "work"

Home Affairs says you are considered to have worked if you:

attended a workplace for a rostered or timesheet period (unpaid breaks do not count)
were clocked on to a system that records work activity
were paid for the time, as shown on a payslip, unless you can prove you were not working

So a rostered shift counts even if you spent part of it waiting around. A rideshare or taxi driver counts as working from the moment they sign in as available until they sign out.

Work experience and placements also count toward the 48 hours, paid or unpaid, with one exception. If the placement is a mandatory part of your course and is written into the course's CRICOS registration, those hours do not count. Home Affairs gives the example of a pharmacy student doing a compulsory four-week placement with no hour limit for that period. An optional internship, or extra hours beyond what the course requires, does count.

When your course is "in session"

Your course is in session:

during the semester, including exam weeks
during a term break if you are doing another course that counts toward your main course

Your course is not in session:

during scheduled course breaks (your provider's published semester break, for example)
if your course has been deferred or suspended in line with Standard 9 of the National Code
if you have finished the course listed on your Confirmation of Enrolment and your visa is still valid
if your enrolment was cancelled because your provider closed or was sanctioned, until you start a new course

That third point matters for students finishing up. Once you have completed the course on your CoE, you can work unlimited hours for the rest of your visa. If your visa is ending soon and you are planning your money around that, our guide on what to do when your student visa is ending covers the practical steps.

Who can work more than 48 hours in session

Only two groups:

Students whose visa was granted for a master's degree by research or a doctorate, once that degree has started. Their family members also get unlimited hours.
Anyone whose extra hours are a mandatory, registered part of their course, as explained above.

There is a middle case worth knowing. If you are studying a master's by coursework or a master's (extended), your family members can work more than 48 hours a fortnight, but you still cannot. Your own limit stays at 48 while the course is in session.

What to do now

Open VEVO and read your actual conditions. Do not rely on what a friend on a different visa was told.
Find your provider's official semester and break dates. Those dates decide when your unlimited-hours windows are.
Start a simple weekly hours log, Monday to Sunday, across all your jobs.
Before taking extra shifts, check both fortnights the new week falls into, not just one.
If an employer asks for proof your course has started, give them your Confirmation of Enrolment or a letter from your provider. Home Affairs tells employers to ask for this.
If you are paid for fewer hours than you worked, that is a separate problem from your visa. See the next section.

Your pay rights do not depend on your visa

The Fair Work Ombudsman is clear on this: visa holders have the same workplace rights as every other employee in Australia, and that stays true even if you have breached a visa condition. Your employer cannot cancel your visa. Only Home Affairs can do that.

Fair Work's own example is a student kitchen hand made to work 60 hours a fortnight and paid for 48. The boss said the visa only allowed 48, so the rest would not be paid. That is wrong under workplace law. The student is still owed every hour. Contacting Fair Work does not cancel your visa, and they say so on their visa holders page. You can call them on 13 13 94, or call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask for Fair Work in Bangla.

There may still be consequences under migration law for going over your hours. The two things are separate, and you should deal with both.

Questions people ask

Can I average my hours over a month?

No. The limit is per fortnight, and every 14-day period starting on a Monday is checked. A quiet month with one heavy fortnight in the middle can still be a breach.

Do unpaid or volunteer hours count?

Unpaid work experience counts unless it is a compulsory, CRICOS-registered part of your course. Home Affairs' definition of work is about attending by roster or being clocked on, not about whether money changed hands. If you are unsure whether something counts, read the 8105 wording on the Home Affairs page linked above before you agree to it.

I have finished my course but my visa still has months left. Can I work full time?

Yes. If you have completed the course on your CoE and still hold a valid visa, your course is treated as not in session, so the 48-hour limit does not apply. This only covers the course on your current CoE. If you start a new course, the limit comes back once it is in session.

Where to get help

Many students in Melbourne pick up support work alongside study because the shifts fit around classes. OneCall Melbourne's jobs page explains how we help students find and apply for that kind of work, free. If your question is about the visa itself, your course, or what happens after you finish, our partner education consultants can talk it through. Send a message through OneCall Melbourne, or call Sarah, OneCall's line, on 0485 057 057.

Sources

General information only, checked against the official sources above on the day it was written. It is not migration advice: only a registered migration agent or a lawyer can give you that.

Student visa work hours in 2026: the 48-hour fortnight rule explained