Working more than 48 hours: condition 8105 breaches on a Student visa (500) in 2026
What happens if you work more than 48 hours a fortnight on a Student visa (500): condition 8105 breaches, cancellation risk and review options.
Working more than 48 hours in a fortnight while your course is in session is a breach of condition 8105 — and 8105 is not an optional extra. Under the Migration Regulations 1994, condition 8105 must be imposed on a Subclass 500 visa in all cases. As at the August 2026 Department of Home Affairs Student visa (subclass 500) page, a student and their family members can work up to 48 hours a fortnight while the course of study or training is in session, and neither can work before the student's course starts. The consequence is not a penalty you pay and move on from: a breach is non-compliance with the visa itself, it can put the visa at risk, and the record of it travels with you into later decisions, because the genuine student criterion expressly directs decision-makers to your immigration history and to whether you intend to comply with visa conditions.
Where exactly is the 48-hour line drawn?
The limit is expressed per fortnight, not across a semester, and it applies while the course of study or training is in session. Who it binds — and how hard — depends on the course and on whether you are the student or a family member.
| Who | Limit while the course is in session |
|---|---|
| Student on most courses | Up to 48 hours a fortnight |
| Family member of that student | Up to 48 hours a fortnight |
| Student on a master's by research or doctoral degree | No work limit |
| Family member of that student | No work limit |
| Student on a master's by coursework or a master's (Extended) | Up to 48 hours a fortnight |
| Family member of that student | Can work more than 48 hours a fortnight |
Two situations sit outside the 48-hour frame. First, the start of the course: the official page states plainly that student visa holders and their family members cannot work in Australia before the student starts their course. Second, periods when the course is not in session: the student can work unlimited hours, while family members still have limited work rights — the exact figure is not restated on the visa page, so it has to be read off your own conditions.
What actually happens when you breach condition 8105?
A breach is a failure to meet a visa condition. The Department of Home Affairs page is blunt about the baseline: you and your family members who applied with you must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws.
Paid work in Australia also leaves traces. The Home Affairs page notes that anyone aged 18 or older who has worked here and was paid AUD450 or more before tax in a month is likely to have money in a superannuation fund.
Suppose a student on a master's by coursework takes on two extra shifts each week during semester, reasoning that the busy fortnights will be balanced out by quiet ones later in term. On the wording of the condition, that reasoning does not help: the cap is 48 hours in each fortnight while the course is in session, not an average taken over the teaching period.
How serious is one breach, really?
There is no published table setting out a number of hours, or a number of breaches, that produces a fixed outcome. What the public material does show is how a compliance record is used.
The genuine student criterion in clause 500.212 of the Migration Regulations 1994 asks whether the applicant is a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student, having regard to the applicant's circumstances and immigration history, and whether the applicant intends to comply with the conditions on the visa. PAM3 and the ministerial direction used in that assessment, Direction No.106, list past breaches of work limits among the negative indicators under "immigration history", and list a past non-compliance record under "willingness to comply with visa conditions". The Migration Regulations 1994 and PAM3 list immigration history that includes breaching work limits among the common reasons applications are refused.
The practical reading is that a breach is rarely an isolated event in the department's eyes: it becomes part of the file that a later decision-maker reads when weighing whether you are a genuine student and whether you will comply next time.
How much does a past breach hurt a later application?
It goes directly to the criterion rather than sitting at the margins. Because clause 500.212 requires the decision-maker to consider your immigration history and your intention to comply with conditions, an over-work record is relevant to a fresh Student visa application, and finishing your course does not wipe it from the assessment. The direction used for that assessment is not a checklist, so a single factor is weighed against everything else in your file — but "I worked more than I was allowed to" is a statement about compliance, which is exactly what the criterion asks about.
This is general information only, not advice on your own circumstances: outcomes turn on individual facts and on the official publications in force when your case is decided.
If the visa is refused, what are the legal options?
Two distinct paths are described in the Migration Regulations 1994 and departmental guidance.
Merits review. Refusal decisions have historically been reviewable by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), with the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) taking over that role. Review deadlines are short — the periods usually cited are 21 days if you are in Australia and 28 days if you are outside — and departmental guidance cautions that a Bridging visa may not be available while the review is pending, so lawful status needs active management. Tribunal names, structures and time limits have changed over recent years, so the current official publication should be treated as authoritative.
Judicial review. If a review body affirms the decision, the Federal Court or Federal Circuit Court can be asked to judicially review it. That pathway is narrower: it looks at legal error (jurisdictional error) rather than re-arguing the facts of the case, and the Migration Regulations 1994 and departmental guidance describe it as more expensive and slower than merits review.
How do you check what your own visa allows?
Use Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) or your visa grant letter, both named on the Home Affairs page as the ways to see your specific conditions, work rights and entitlements. The same page advises checking your visa conditions regularly, including your work rights — sensible advice given that the limits differ between a student on a coursework master's and their partner, between semester and break, and before the course begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is working extra shifts during semester always a breach?
It is a breach if the total exceeds 48 hours in a fortnight while your course of study or training is in session and you are not in the exempt group. Students studying a master's by research or a doctoral degree, and their family members, have no work limit under the Home Affairs page. Outside session periods, the student can work unlimited hours.
Can my partner work more hours than I can?
Sometimes yes. If you are studying a master's by research or a doctoral degree, both of you have no work limit. If you are studying a master's by coursework or a master's (Extended), your family members can work more than 48 hours a fortnight while you remain capped at 48. For other courses, family members share the same 48-hour fortnightly limit while the course is in session, and their rights stay limited when your course is not in session.
Does one breach automatically cancel my Student visa?
No published rule fixes a number of hours or breaches that leads automatically to a particular result; decisions turn on the circumstances and on the decision-maker's assessment. What is clear is that breaching 8105 is non-compliance with a condition that must be imposed on every Subclass 500 visa, and that a non-compliance record is something later decisions are directed to consider.
Will a past breach affect a future Student visa application?
Yes, it is directly relevant. Clause 500.212 requires the decision-maker to weigh your immigration history and whether you intend to comply with visa conditions, and PAM3 and the ministerial direction used in that assessment, Direction No.106, list past breaches of work limits as a negative indicator in that assessment.
Can a refusal decision be challenged?
The Migration Regulations 1994 and departmental guidance describe two stages: merits review by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), which has taken over the role previously performed by the AAT, and then judicial review in the Federal Court or Federal Circuit Court limited to jurisdictional error. Deadlines for merits review are short — commonly 21 days onshore and 28 days offshore — and the Administrative Review Tribunal's current guidance should be checked for the period that applies to your decision.
Do research students and their families have any limit at all?
Under the Home Affairs page, students studying a master's by research or a doctoral degree, and their families, have no work limit. Even so, the page advises checking your conditions regularly, since your grant letter and VEVO remain the record of what was actually imposed on your visa.