Recruit an international student

If you are a Northern Territory (NT) employer, you can recruit an international student to your workforce as an employee or intern.

International students are students who come to Australia to complete all or part of their education.

Students are granted a student visa (subclass 500) for the length of their study.

To find out more about the student visa, go to the Australian Government's Department of Home Affairs website.

You can recruit an international student as an intern or an employee part-time, casually or full-time. The benefits of employing an international student can include: diversifying and encouraging a multicultural workplace, new ideas and approaches to doing businesses, access to intelligence about overseas markets, bi or tri-lingual staff who can effectively communicate with overseas clients/suppliers. 

Read below for more information.

Internships

Many courses require students to gain practical work experience.

Internships are on-the-job training, and often unpaid. They can be full-time or part-time.

Students are not limited to working 48 hours per fortnight if the internship is a mandatory component of their course.

Read more on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Part-time or casual employment

International student visa holders can work no more than 48 hours of fortnight while studying. Student visa holders have no work restrictions when their course of study or training is not in session. 

These restrictions allow students to focus on obtaining a quality Australian education and qualification, while also gaining valuable work experience and contributing to Australia's workforce needs. 

For more information, go to the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs website.

Full-time employment

You can employ an international student full-time if:

• their courses are not in session or
• the students have graduated and hold a temporary graduate visa (subclass 485).

You don’t need to sponsor them.

Depending on their course and level of study, international students who graduate in the NT can stay for up to six years on this visa.

Find out more about the temporary graduate visa on the Australian Government's Department of Home Affairs website.