Subclass 500: the cap, the fortnight, and when the cap lifts.
| Situation | Hours you may work |
|---|---|
| Course in session | Up to 48 hours a fortnight |
| Official course break | No cap |
| Masters by research or PhD, course started | No cap |
| Before your course starts | No work |
A fortnight is any 14-day period starting on a Monday, so the cap is checked against every possible Monday-to-Sunday fortnight, not a calendar you pick. The reported increase to 60 hours was proposed but has not become law as of August 2026; 48 is the rule.
The summer break matters more than most people realise: it lifts the cap across the whole Christmas casual season. The Christmas casual page covers that window.
| Live ads | Right now |
|---|---|
| Across our engine | 28,124 |
| State citizens only | 653 |
| Require full existing work rights | 666 |
| Say nothing about work rights | 26,805 |
Fewer than 5% of live ads state a work-rights requirement at all. Silence in an ad is not a yes and not a no. It means the employer has not said.
An ad that states citizens only, or requires full existing work rights, is telling you not to spend an application on it. Almost all ads say neither.
Counted 23 Aug 2026. Signals are read from the ad text by our engine.
Make a free account, set your work-rights status once, and point the radar at your suburb. It remembers your answer.
Start freeJob counts come from our own engine, which reads employer hiring systems across Australia daily. Counted 23 Aug 2026. The visa rules on this page were last checked 23 August 2026 against immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Visa conditions change; your own conditions are listed on VEVO.
This page is general information, not migration or legal advice.