international education
campusreview.com.au
Temps untapped
Report suggests temporary
graduates are underemployed
and underutilised.
By Wade Zaglas
D
espite being young, highly intelligent
and globally oriented, Temporary
Graduate visa holders are being
underutilised in the labour market, a
report from the International Education
Association of Australia (IEAA) has found.
The report, Economic Opportunities and
Outcomes of Post-study Work Rights in
Australia, written by Jonathan Chew, found
that nearly three-quarters of Temporary
Graduate visa holders (subclass 485) are in
full-time (44 per cent) or part time (30 per
cent) employment.
But despite this seemingly optimistic
outlook, the report concluded that
“Temporary Graduate visa holders are
more likely to be working in low-skilled
occupations after they transition from
study into the workforce”.
For instance, 17 per cent of temporary
graduates work in “low-skilled jobs in
retail, wholesale and hospitality”. However,
these are the ‘lucky’ ones in a sense, with
10 per cent unemployed and looking for
work, and 12 per cent not participating in
the workforce.
One of the report’s findings was that a
visa holder’s age largely determined their
employability, with life experience and the
accumulation of skills translating into better
work prospects. The qualifications held by
temporary graduates also played another
important factor in their job prospects.
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“First, it may be the case the Temporary
Graduate visa holders appear to be
‘overqualified’ in the eyes of Australian
employers. The exceedingly high
proportion aged 25–29 years who hold
a postgraduate degree in particular may
be inconsistent with what Australian
employers are accustomed to seeing,” the
report states.
The report also highlighted links
between temporary graduates’
employment rates and their nationalities.
For instance, approximately 50 per cent of
temporary graduates from India and South
Korea were employed full-time, while only
30 per cent of their Chinese counterparts
were employed on the same basis.
Such statistics highlight a missed
opportunity for Australia, according to IEAA
CEO Phil Honeywood.
“Temporary graduates have real potential
to enhance Australia’s productivity,
provided they are able to secure relevant
jobs in which they can apply their skills,”
he said.
The report represents “some of the
most detailed research of its kind” about
temporary graduates in the labour market,
informed by the Australian Census and
Temporary Entrants Integrated Dataset
(ACTEID). The data set combines
information from the Australian Bureau of
Statistics and the visa holder information
from the Department of Home Affairs.
IEAA president Melissa Banks said little
has been known until now about the
outcomes for temporary graduates.
“Post-study work rights are crucial
for Australia to remain competitive in
the global education market. The more
we can enhance graduate outcomes,
the better for all – students, education
providers, employers and the broader
Australian community,” she said.
The Temporary Graduate visa scheme
was introduced under Labor in 2008
and updated in 2013. It was seen as an
important “mechanism for international
students to gain workplace experience”
and to ensure Australia remained
competitive in the global education market.
Temporary Graduate visas vary in length
(between two and four years) depending
on the level of study.
According to Honeywood, it’s time for
“formal evaluation” of the program, “against
its stated objectives”.
“Graduates with a bachelor or master’s
degree by coursework are only eligible for
a two-year work visa. Is this really enough
Post-study work rights
are crucial for Australia to
remain competitive in the
global education market.
time to gain meaningful, course-related
experience in the Australian workplace?”
The formal evaluation of the program
would involve a deeper interrogation
of the ACTEID dataset as well as the
publication of data from the yet-to-
be-published Australian government’s
Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS), which
includes the responses of close to 28,000
international students. ■