Working in Australia after graduation: the Temporary Graduate visa (485) explained

On a Student visa you can work up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session, and unlimited hours when it is not, such as between semesters. Research master’s and doctoral students have no limit. You cannot work at all before your course starts. Study Australia suggests telling your manager about the limit up front, which avoids being rostered into a breach.

Choose the job with your graduate CV in mind. A role in your field, even as a junior assistant, is worth more than extra shifts elsewhere: it gives you Australian experience, a local referee and stories for interviews.

The qualification you use decides your stream, and you cannot change stream after you apply.

• Post-Higher Education Work stream: for a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from a course registered on CRICOS. Any field of study counts. Graduate diplomas started within the same or next academic year after a related degree also belong here.
• Post-Vocational Education Work stream: for an associate degree, diploma or trade qualification closely related to an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. You need a skills assessment for that occupation, and the visa lasts up to 18 months.
• Second Post-Higher Education Work stream: an extra 1 or 2 years if you studied at a campus in a designated regional area and have lived only in a regional area for at least 2 years on your first 485.

The streams were renamed on 1 July 2024: Post-Study Work became Post-Higher Education Work, and Graduate Work became Post-Vocational Education Work. Older articles and agents still use the old names. Home Affairs decides every application and does not assess eligibility before you lodge, so read the stream page carefully.

Most refused or delayed applications trip over timing. Line these up before your course ends:

• Age: 35 or under when you apply, unless you use a research master’s or PhD or hold a Hong Kong or British National (Overseas) passport, in which case under 50.
• Location and visa: be in Australia, and have held a Student visa in the last 6 months.
• Course completion: your degree must have been awarded in the 6 months before you apply, and you must meet the Australian study requirement.
• English: a test result from the 12 months before you apply, such as IELTS 6.5 overall with 5.5 in each component, unless your passport exempts you.
• Police check: evidence you applied for an Australian Federal Police check in the 12 months before you apply, and not on the same day.
• Health insurance: adequate cover for you and every family member applying.

In the Post-Higher Education Work stream, a bachelor’s degree or coursework master’s gives you 2 years, and a research master’s or doctorate gives 3. Indian nationals get longer periods under the Australia–India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement: 3 years for a bachelor’s with first-class honours in STEM or ICT, 3 years for any master’s and 4 years for a PhD. Hong Kong and BNO passport holders can stay up to 5 years.

The visa cannot be extended. The only way to get more time on the same visa type is the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream, which rewards graduates who studied and stayed in regional areas: 1 extra year if you have lived in a Category 2 area (cities and major regional centres) and 2 years in a Category 3 area.

Treat the 485 as a clock. The graduates who stay are the ones who use it to build exactly what the next visa asks for.

• Employer sponsorship: the Skills in Demand visa needs at least 1 year of relevant work experience in the last 5 years. A year of full-time work in your field on a 485 can meet it. From 1 July 2026 the Core Skills stream requires a salary of at least AUD79,423.
• Points-tested visas: Australian skilled employment earns points (5 for at least 1 year, 10 for 3 years), on top of age, English and qualifications. A skills assessment done for a 485 does not count for a points-tested visa, so budget for a new one.
• Permanent employer nomination: after time on a Skills in Demand visa, your employer may nominate you for the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186).

Our Australian work visa guide compares these routes in detail.

Start with your university’s careers or employability service: it runs career fairs, job boards and resume checks, and knows which employers hire international students. Study Australia also points students to SEEK, CareerOne, Adzuna and StudentJob for part-time work, and GradAustralia and Prosple for graduate programs.

Many of Australia’s larger organisations run graduate programs that sign students up to a year in advance, so the time to apply is early in your final year, not after your results. Read each program’s eligibility rules before you invest time in the application, including any citizenship or residency requirement.

If your course has no placement, the Study Australia Industry Experience Program (SAIEP) is a two-week virtual project, about 25 hours in total, where small student teams work on a real brief for an employer. Ask your careers service whether funded places are available. Volunteering in your field counts too, and gives you a local referee.

Australian workplace laws protect international students like any other worker. You must be paid at least the minimum wage, receive a payslip within one working day of being paid, and have your employer pay superannuation if you are eligible.

Watch for common traps. Being paid in food or housing instead of money is illegal, and so is being asked to hand back part of your pay in cash. Employers cannot deduct breakages or till shortages from your wages, and it is illegal for them to take your passport. An employer cannot cancel your visa either: only Home Affairs can. If talking to your manager does not fix a problem, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman, which gives free advice in many languages.