The UK vs Australian job market.

One thing I found out today is that no matter what country you are in there are still people trying to take advantage of you. Today I worked at a cafe for a trial, in a beach side town in the next suburb over. From 10am to 12:30pm I made coffees, sandwiches, shakes, smoothies, cleaned tables, dishes, work surfaces and generally made myself useful with the potential hope of getting the job. At the end of all this the manager offers me a wage that I later find out does not even meet minimal wages over here and most likely because he presumes that I do not know. It doesn't leave a nice taste in your mouth.
So, after spending what was left of my afternoon trawling the internet to see what other options I might have. One thing I noticed was the abundance of jobs, anything and everything. Within about an hour I managed to send off about six resumes, not bad when I think about the weeks I would spend searching for jobs, in store and online, and would be lucky enough to hand in a a couple. Doubly not bad when I am a student, looking for part time work, flexible hours and something within retail and/or bar/restaurant work.
This got me musing on post-university jobs and the chances of getting work in the industry I would like back in the UK. With the way into the workplace now being more and more reliant on internships and work experience, and yet less and less companies offering such opportunities it's rapidly become a vicious circle that's only added to with the overall lack of jobs but multitudes of graduates. For example, of the 30 or so friends and relatives I know who graduated in May 2010, only two have found jobs in the workplace related to their degrees. The rest are back to retail, bar and restaurant work and anything else in between. Interestingly from my online searching both the UK and Australian government are reporting the same statistics for graduates going into the workplace, at about 85-90%. However, none of them state what this employment is or whether it is actually related to their degree. With more people being encouraged to go to university and a degree almost vital to getting anywhere, it's hard to understand what the point is if the jobs aren't there once you finish.
Despite the fact that there are problems world wide with finding employment for graduates, for Australia the percentage of people out of work is 5.1, for the UK it's 7.2. On top of this Australia is advertising for immigrants, particularly immigrants with degrees in specific roles, such as teachers and doctors. This poses an interesting problem for the Australian government because as a result of it's advertising it is pulling in graduates from all over the globe desperate to work and in many cases work less hours for a considerably better wage.  Which begs the question, why even bother to try and get work in the UK when Australia wants you? Even if the statistics are skewed, it's a very persuasive case when there's a country that's offering you everything your home country can't.
So, despite my first job experience in this country being a bitter one, it's going to be interesting to see what opportunities present themselves over the next few months.