Changes from 1st July 2024 for International Students in Australia
1st July in Australia means the start of a new financial year.
And the new financial year brings changes affecting people in Australia, including international students.
In this article, we will look into changes coming into effect from 1st July 2024 that will have an impact on International students.
Let’s look at them.
Increase in Student Visa and Other Visa Fees
There is a major change for student visa application fees in Australia.
The government has decided to increase it from $710 to $1600 from 1st July 2024.
This significant increase means that students have to pay 125% more for non-refundable visa application fees from 1st July 2024.
Temporary Graduate Visa application fee also has been increased to $1920 and visitor visa from $475 to $490.
Change in the Minimum Wage
The minimum wage in Australia is increasing to $24.10 per hour from the 1st of July 2024.
It is great news for international students, as many of them work on a minimum wage in Australia.
International students are allowed to work up to 48 hours per fortnight while the study in session and unlimited hours during the official school holidays.
Increase in Superannuation
Along with minimum wage, superannuation is increasing from the 1st July 2024.
The new superannuation rate is 11.5% of your wages or salary.
It is increasing to 1.5% from the previous financial year.
For those students who don’t know, superannuation is like your retirement fund, which you can’t take the money from until you actually retire, or you leave the country permanently.
Tax Cuts
Tax rates are changing from the new financial year.
There is a reduction of tax rates for middle and low income earners in Australia, which is great news for working international students once again.
The table below shows the new tax rates coming into effect for the financial year 2024-25.
Source: Treasury.gov.au
There is a reduction of 3% tax rate for people earning between $18,201 – $45,000.
Also, there is a tax rate reduction for people earning between $45,000 to $135,000 (previously $120,000). It has been reduced by 2.5% from the previous financial year.
Changes To Temporary Graduate Visas
From 1st July, there are few changes coming into effect for temporary graduate visa holders.
First one is the length of temporary graduate visa, which will reduce the stay duration for some of these temporary graduate Visa holders.
Also, a 2-year extension program for select degrees that was introduced in a previous year comes to an end from 1st July 2024.
The time duration for each of these qualifications will be as follows:
Another change for the temporary graduate visa holders will be a reduction in the age requirements.
For most students applying for temporary graduate visa holders after 1st July 2024 must be under the age of 35 years.
However, there will be exemptions for people who are doing their masters by research or PhD programs. They are still eligible to apply until the age of 50 years. Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders are also eligible to apply up to age 50.
No More Visa Hopping
From 1st July 2024, visitor visa holders, temporary graduate visa holders, maritime crew visa holders and some other Visa subclass categories will not be able to apply for student visas onshore.
Any of the categories mentioned in the image below will not be able to apply for student visas onshore.
Source: Department of Home Affairs
They can still apply for one if they want to, but they need to do it offshore (outside Australia).
It means they need to go out of Australia in order to apply for a student visa. Otherwise, it won’t be possible for them to apply for a new student visa within Australia.
So, these are some major changes for international students from 1st July 2024.