Comment on Doing 1,000 hours of unpaid work to graduate is the reality of 'placement poverty' — and it's taking a toll on students

• Zagorath@aussie.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Engineering, at least at UQ where I did my degree, requires you do 60 days of work, but there’s generally an expectation that you will be paid during that work. You’re doing that work for private companies finding places yourself, so they kind of have to treat you as a normal intern (which in Australia, means being paid). It’s different from the placements that the uni themselves organise with government departments like happens in medicine and education.

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  • brisk@aussie.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    www.fairwork.gov.au/…/student-placements

    Being paid is, unfortunately, not a legal requirement if work experience is a mandatory part of your course.

    In SA paid internships exist but are very competitive. Most of my graduating class was unpaid.

    I’m very glad to hear that’s an expectation in Qld, companies should be ashamed to offer unpaid positions.

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