Students share their experiences of "placement poverty", which is when mandatory, unpaid placements push them into financial stress and sometimes out of their studies.
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.
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.
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/starting-employment/unpaid-work/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.