International student Saurav is planning to quit the cleaning industry for other sectors that allow extra work hours following the Australian government budget announcements in May.
"Many of my friends have already moved from cleaning to the kitchen because the hours are relaxed and they are getting more money," Saurav said.
International students constitute 30 per cent of the workforce in the cleaning industry.
Experts fear this exodus could leave Australia more vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks.
"[International students] can only work 20 hours in the cleaning industry but they could work up to 100 hours if they wanted to or more in tourism and hospitality, which is great news for those industries, but it's devastating for the cleaning industry," Cleancorp CEO Lisa Macqueen said.
The government allowed international students to work more than 20 hours in the agriculture, food processing, healthcare, aged care, and disability care sectors in May.
But the cleaning industry was left out.
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