Visa condition 8105 · rules current for 2026–27
Student Work Hours & Pay Calculator
Check your hours against the 48-hour fortnight cap and see what you actually take home. Free, instant, and no email needed to see your result.
What are you studying?
This decides whether the fortnightly cap applies to you at all.
How much are you working?
Add every job. The cap counts them all together, not one at a time.
Two jobs at 30 hours each is 60 hours a fortnight. Neither employer sees a problem, but you'd be over the cap.
Your tax situation
This changes your take-home pay quite a lot, so it's worth getting right.
Without a TFN your employer must withhold 47%. You get it back at tax time, but it hurts every payday.
Many international students aren't entitled to Medicare and can apply for an exemption. Leave this unticked unless you know you pay it.
Your year
The cap lifts during scheduled breaks, so most students earn more then. This is what makes the annual figure realistic.
A typical two-semester year runs about 40 weeks in session, leaving roughly 12 weeks of break.
No cap applies during a scheduled break, so this can go as high as you can physically work.
What you'd take home
- Gross pay
- $0
- Tax withheldPAYG at resident rates
- $0
- Take-home pay
- $0
- SuperannuationEmployer pays this on top — not deducted
- $0
Across a full year
- In session
- $0
- On course breaks
- $0
- Estimated annual take-home
- $0
What happens to your work rights after you graduate?
Your work rights change the moment your course ends. Send us your situation and get a free assessment of your 485 and PR options.
Your calculator result is attached automatically, so you won't need to explain it again.
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How the 48-hour cap actually works
The rule
- Condition
8105limits most student visa holders to 48 hours per fortnight while the course is in session. - A fortnight is a fixed 14-day period starting on a Monday. It isn't a rolling window and it doesn't reset when you'd like it to.
- The limit covers all jobs added together, across every employer.
- You can't work at all before your course has formally started.
When the cap doesn't apply
- During scheduled course breaks published by your provider. Skipping class is not a course break.
- Once your course is completed, cancelled or deferred, depending on your visa status at the time.
- If you're in a Masters by research or Doctoral degree that has commenced, there's no fortnightly limit.
Worth knowing
- Sector-specific arrangements have existed at times, including aged care. This tool doesn't model them — confirm with Home Affairs rather than assuming.
- Dependants on your visa have their own separate conditions, often different from yours.
The numbers behind this calculator
Rates used
- National minimum wage: $26.44/hr, $1,004.90 per 38-hour week, from 1 July 2026.
- Casual loading: 25%, giving a casual minimum of $33.05/hr. Many awards pay more than this.
- Income tax 2026–27 (resident): nil to $18,200; 15% to $45,000; 30% to $135,000; 37% to $190,000; 45% above.
- Income tax 2026–27 (foreign resident): 30% to $135,000; 37% to $190,000; 45% above. No tax-free threshold.
- No TFN supplied: 47% withheld.
- Superannuation guarantee: 12%.
Not included
- Penalty rates, overtime, weekend and public holiday loadings, award allowances. Real pay is often higher.
- HELP or student loan repayments, which don't apply to most international students.
- End-of-year refunds. Tax withheld during the year is usually more than you finally owe, so a refund is common.
- Any tax treaty between Australia and your home country.
How the annual figure is built
- Session weeks are capped at 24 hours per week. Break weeks aren't capped.
- Tax is worked out on the annual total and then apportioned, which is closer to reality than taxing each fortnight alone.
Check these figures yourself
Every number here comes from a public source. If you're making a decision that matters, go to the source.