Health colleges have warned that the Labor government’s international student cap could exacerbate the shortage of nurses and health professionals in Australia.
The government has set a country-wide limit of 270,000 new international student commencements for the 2025 calendar year.
The measure is intended to curb the flow of students into the country, and relieve pressure on the rental market.
While the government said the cap would help improve the quality and integrity of the international education sector, health education providers have raised concerns about its negative impacts.
Michael Bermejo, the director of Key 2 Learning College, which specialises in training nurses and aged care workers, said his college would have to lay off teaching staff in the coming period as the international student cap took effect.
Key 2 Learning previously had a training capacity of 250 students as approved by the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).
However, under the new cap, the college could only train 75 students in 2025.
“We are going to have to significantly reduce staff, [and] we might not be able to deliver nursing courses again,” Bermejo said at a Senate inquiry on Oct. 2.
“Potentially and realistically, it [the cap] might force the closure of the college. So it’s a very significant impact.”
The director added that the changes would worsen the shortage of nurses in Australia, which is short around 75,000 workers.
His remarks were echoed by the Institute of Health and Management CEO Kunnumpurath Bijo, who revealed the impact of the cap on his workforce.
“Currently, we employ more than 150 full-time staff,” he said.
“With the changes coming up, I think … we may have a job loss of more than 45 staff in the organisation–most of them are nurses, clinicians and healthcare educators.
Health Education Providers Call for Exemption
Amid the skill shortages in the nursing sector, Bijo proposed the government provide an exemption for nursing and health education providers.“Our position is that the minister’s power to impose capping on international students is non-transparent and not based on evidence,” he said.
“The most impacted [by the cap] is going to be the nursing students.”
Likewise, Bermejo said there should be a safeguard for vocational and tertiary education providers whose courses were aligned with occupations on the skills list prioritised by the government.
Flight Training Provider Says Cap Will Decimate Industry
Meanwhile, Rob Jouning, the deputy head of operations at Moorabbin Aviation Services, warned that the international student cap would decimate the aviation sector and the country’s reputation as a training destination.“Australia is the training provider of choice. Why? Because of our highly regulated aviation standards, safety record, and reliability,” he said.
“The proposed caps would severely hinder our ability to continue providing this essential service, resulting in enormous long-term reputational damage and pushing business and investment out of Australia.”
Jouning explained that the sharp decrease in international students would make it unprofitable for his company to maintain training programs.
“This would inevitably lead to staff layoffs, a reduction in local pilot training, fewer opportunities for flight experience among local pilots, particularly instructors, and a decreased supply of pilots for local airlines and other businesses,” he said.
“The same impact will be felt by our industry training colleagues in aircraft maintenance and engineers, fuel suppliers, avionics providers, and the list goes on.
Basair Aviation College CEO David Newton revealed that the Australian aviation training sector, excluding universities, could accommodate 2,850 international commercial pilot students, generating almost half a billion dollars in tuition fees.
However, the proposed cap limited the number of aviation students to 308 or just over 10 percent.
