Subclass 500 visa conditions: what you can and cannot do on a student visa.

Your subclass 500 visa grant letter lists the conditions that apply to your visa. These are legal obligations under the Migration Act 1958 — they are not suggestions or guidelines. Breaching a visa condition can lead to visa cancellation, detention, and removal from Australia. Even if you are not immediately detected, a condition breach discovered during a subsequent visa application (e.g. a 485 or skilled migration visa) can result in refusal on character or compliance grounds.

The four conditions that most commonly affect international students are: 8105 (work limitations), 8202 (enrolment and academic progress), 8501 (health insurance), and 8533 (address notification). Each condition is monitored differently — some through data-matching with the ATO and your education provider, others through Home Affairs compliance operations and tip-offs. Understanding the specific requirements of each condition and how compliance is monitored helps you avoid inadvertent breaches.

Condition 8105 limits you to 48 hours of work per fortnight when your course is in session. A fortnight is a 14-day period starting on a Monday. The 48-hour limit applies to all paid work, including casual employment, part-time employment, gig economy work (Uber, Deliveroo, Airtasker), and self-employment where you receive payment for services. Unpaid work, such as volunteering for a charity or participating in an unpaid internship that is not part of your course, may still count as "work" if it displaces an Australian worker or creates an employment relationship.

During scheduled course breaks, there is no limit on work hours. A scheduled break means a period published in your education provider's academic calendar as a vacation period — winter break, summer break, or mid-semester break. A week without classes that the academic calendar describes as a study or exam period is not a break. Always use the official academic calendar, not your personal class schedule, to determine when the break applies.

Work that is a formal, registered part of your course — such as a work placement, internship, or clinical placement that is required for course completion and is listed on your CoE — does not count toward the 48-hour limit. However, the placement must be a mandatory component of the course, not an optional or extra-curricular arrangement. Your provider can confirm whether a specific placement is a course requirement.

Condition 8202 has three parts. The first part — 8202(1) — requires you to remain enrolled in a registered course. If you withdraw from your course, are excluded by your provider, or let your enrolment lapse without a valid deferral or leave of absence, you breach this condition. You must be enrolled in a course at the same AQF level or higher than the course for which your visa was granted.

The second part — 8202(2) — requires you to maintain satisfactory academic progress. Your provider sets the standard for satisfactory progress and publishes it in their academic progress policy. Typically, failing more than 50% of enrolled units in a semester triggers an academic progress intervention. The provider must give you an opportunity to improve before reporting you to Home Affairs — usually through a formal intervention plan or show-cause process. If you are placed on an intervention plan, take it seriously: failing to meet the plan's requirements leads to a report to Home Affairs, which can trigger visa cancellation proceedings.

The third part — 8202(3) — prohibits you from changing to a course at a lower AQF level than the course for which the visa was granted. If you were granted a visa to study a master's degree, you generally cannot transfer to a diploma course. There are limited exceptions — for example, if the provider has assessed your academic performance and determined that a lower-level course is appropriate, or if your original course was cancelled by the provider and the only available alternative is at a lower level. Before changing courses, check the AQF levels of both courses and confirm with your provider's international student office that the change is permitted.

Condition 8501 requires you to maintain adequate health insurance for the entire period of your stay in Australia. For most international students, this means Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) from an approved provider (Bupa, Medibank, nib, Allianz, CBHS, or AHM). Your OSHC must cover you from the day you arrive in Australia — arriving even one day before your OSHC policy starts is a breach.

OSHC policies typically last for the expected duration of your student visa plus a short additional period. If your visa is extended or you stay beyond your OSHC expiry, you must renew your OSHC before the expiry date. Gaps in cover are not permitted. If you included dependant family members in your visa application, they must also be covered by OSHC — a separate family policy or individual policies for each family member.

If you are a student from a country with a reciprocal healthcare agreement with Australia (Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden, or the United Kingdom), you may be exempt from OSHC if you enrol in Medicare under the reciprocal agreement. However, reciprocal cover is limited — it does not cover ambulance services, dental, optical, or physiotherapy. Most students from reciprocal countries still choose to maintain OSHC for comprehensive cover.

Condition 8533 requires you to notify your education provider of your residential address within 7 days of arriving in Australia, and to notify them of any change of address within 7 days of moving. You must also keep your contact details current in your ImmiAccount — email address, phone number, and residential address.

While Home Affairs rarely cancels visas for isolated address notification breaches, failure to update your address means you may miss important correspondence from Home Affairs or your provider, including notices of intention to cancel, requests for further information, or court hearing notices. If legal action is taken against you and the notice was sent to an outdated address, you may not have the opportunity to respond — and the action may proceed without your input.

Some providers enforce condition 8533 strictly and may report multiple failures to update your address to Home Affairs. Combined with other compliance issues, a pattern of address notification failures can support a finding that you are not complying with visa conditions generally, leading to cancellation proceedings.

Lucas, a Brazilian student on a subclass 500 visa studying a Master of Engineering in Sydney, worked 25 hours per week at a café during the semester — 50 hours per fortnight, 2 hours over the 48-hour limit. He did not realise the fortnightly limit applied to the combined total from all jobs and thought each employer had a separate limit. When the ATO reported his income to Home Affairs through data-matching, Home Affairs issued a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOICC).

Lucas responded to the NOICC within the 14-day deadline. He provided: his payslips showing the exact hours worked, a statutory declaration explaining he misunderstood the fortnightly calculation and had reduced his hours immediately upon learning of the breach, a letter from his employer confirming his hours were reduced to 20 per week, and a letter from his academic supervisor confirming he was maintaining satisfactory progress in his master's program. Home Affairs decided not to cancel his visa but issued a formal warning, noting that any further breach would result in cancellation without a further notice period. Lucas now tracks his hours weekly and checks the fortnightly total before accepting additional shifts.

• Miscalculating the fortnightly work limit. The 48-hour limit applies to total work across all employers in a 14-day period starting Monday. Working 24 hours at one job and 25 hours at another in the same fortnight totals 49 hours — a breach, even though each job individually is under 24 hours.
• Assuming gig work does not count. Uber, food delivery, Airtasker, and other platform work counts toward the 48-hour limit. The ATO reports platform income through the sharing economy reporting regime, and Home Affairs can match this data to visa holders.
• Letting OSHC lapse between policies. If your OSHC policy expires on 31 December and your new policy starts on 1 January, that is no gap. But if there is even one day between policies, it is a breach. Set a renewal reminder 2 weeks before your OSHC expiry.
• Transferring to a lower AQF course without confirmation. If you want to transfer from a bachelor's degree to a diploma, confirm with your provider's international office and Home Affairs that the transfer is permitted under condition 8202(3) before you change enrolment. Changing first and asking later can result in a breach report.
• Ignoring an academic progress intervention. If your provider places you on an intervention plan after failing units, the plan is your last chance to avoid a report to Home Affairs. Failing the plan's requirements results in cancellation proceedings. Take the intervention seriously — attend all meetings, submit all required work, and seek academic support.

For the specific requirements of condition 8202 around enrolment changes and attendance, read the condition 8202 guide. For work rights during study and after graduation, read the student work rights guide. For OSHC requirements and health coverage details, read the health and OSHC guide. For what happens when you change courses or providers, read the changing course or provider guide.