Most Australian universities advise that full time students shouldn’t work more than 10-15 hours a week.
If you do, it could effect your grades or lead to you failing a subject.
Now, that might sound like a lot of hours, but 15 hours of work, if you’re on minimum wage at 18 years old, only earns you around $250 a week.
No where near enough for someone to support yourself.
In Australia, young people only earn a percentage of the national minimum wage until they turn 21. However, you also can’t claim Jobseeker until you’re 22.
So if you need or want to support yourself before you turn 22 you’d need to work well over the recommended amount.
Or you can live at home until you’re 22, relying on your parents to support you.
Only, this isn’t an option for everyone, like those who live in unsafe households.
Or those whose parents can no longer financially support them after being cut off from child support and the family tax benefit when their child turns 18.
Or young people who need to move away from home because their parents live far away from university, tafe and jobs.
Being able to live at home for an extended period after you turn 18 isn’t an option for everyone and our laws should reflect that.
Almost 1 in 4 people experiencing homelessness in Australia are under 24.
40% of undergrads dropping out of uni are doing so because of financial stress.
The Greens want to change Jobseeker and youth allowance so that everyone who is eligible can access them from the age of 18, not 22.
This would allow 200,000 young people to receive youth allowance payments or increase their current payments.
That’s 200,000 safer, more financially secure young people, who don’t have to worry about money on top of studying, working and everything else.
