Aug
24
A new deal between the US and Australian governments means that young Australians may be able to spend a year working in the US before going back to college in Australia.
Thousands of students in Europe and Australia take what is known as a "gap year" between high school and college, to travel and work before embarking on their university careers.
The new visa deal is expected to be announced following talks between US President George Bush and Prime Minister John Howard at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in Sydney in 10 days.
A senior Bush Administration official says, "I don’t know what you call it when people take a year off in Australia, bubgt the idea is these young people would take temporary jobs in the US before they went to college. We’ve been exploring the idea in the lead-up to the visit and we will have something to say about it in Sydney."
According to data from the NSW and ACT University Admissions Centre, an increasing number of students are taking a gap year. Last year 9.75 per cent of students deferred entry to college for a year, compared to 8.82 per cent in 2004. The majority of students who take a gap year travel to Britain, Europe or Japan.
Australian student visas now allow US college students to do some incidental work and travel on an Australian student visa.