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The short answer is yes, you can do an unpaid internship during your semester breaks, but you must ensure the arrangement complies with both Australian employment law and your visa conditions.
If your internship is unpaid, it must legally qualify as either a mandatory vocational placement or a structured volunteer/observation experience under the Fair Work Act 2009. If it does not meet these criteria, you are legally considered an employee and must be paid the national minimum wage.
For international students, the absolute best part of working an internship during official university semester breaks is the work hours exemption.
Just because you have unrestricted visa hours during a break does not mean a business can legally use you for free labor. To be lawfully unpaid during your break, your internship must fit into one of two legal categories:
If the internship is a compulsory unit required to pass your course and graduate, it is a lawful Vocational Placement.
If you are doing a voluntary internship during your break just to boost your resume, it is not a vocational placement. To stay lawfully unpaid, the arrangement must meet the Fair Work Ombudsman’s "learning-benefit" test:
To ensure you never face an automated compliance flag from the Department of Home Affairs, you must be able to prove that the exact dates of your internship fell within an official holiday block.
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