Australia’s peak higher education body has said the international education sector was pivotal in preventing the country from slipping into recession last year.
This comes as the Labor government proposes new legislation to cap the number of overseas students each Australian higher education institution can enrol each year, aiming to improve the “quality and integrity” of the sector.
Stakeholders have raised significant concerns that the legislation could damage the industry’s reputation, and negatively impact education service providers, employment, and international students.
During a Senate inquiry hearing on Aug. 6, Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy highlighted the importance of the international education sector to Australia’s economy.
“International students accounted for more than half of Australia’s GDP growth last year, almost single-handedly saving the nation from recession,” he told the Education and Employment Legislation Committee.
“The sector is our second biggest export, behind mining, worth almost $50 billion (US$32.6 billion) to the economy and supporting around 250,000 jobs.”
However, the CEO noted that the sector had been treated unfairly despite its economic contribution, saying the government had taken a “sledgehammer” approach to international education even before the introduction of the legislation.
“Department of Home Affairs data shows visa grants to higher education are down 23 percent in the past year, the equivalent of 59,410 university students,” he said.
“This can be put down in large part to ministerial determination 107, which came into effect in December, slowing visa processing to a trickle and leading to a spike in visa cancellations for many universities.”
According to Sheehy, the 60,000 drop in international enrolments resulted in a $4.3 billion loss to the economy and could lead to over 14,000 jobs.
Universities Australia Criticises New Bill as ‘Political Smoke Screen’
In addition, the CEO alleged that the new bill was the government’s attempt to gain an upper hand in the migration battle with the Opposition ahead of the upcoming federal election.“We believe the bill as drafted is more a political smoke screen than an instrument for good policy,” he said.
Sheehy explained that the bill would grant the education minister unprecedented powers to crack down on the industry.
He said the bill was also being used to shift blame for the housing crisis on international students.
“Our main issue lies with the amendments that seek to control the number of international students our universities can enrol in and what courses they can enrol in,” he said.
“This is a ministerial overreach to an extent we have never seen before.
“Both major parties are linking the post-pandemic return of international students, who they have encouraged back, to Australia’s housing shortage.”
This number of international students commencing their studies also reached the highest level on record (259,057) in the year to April 2024.
The significant growth in international students came as the government struggled to contain the flow of migration into Australia.
“No other major export industry is treated the way international education is right now, not mining, not agriculture, not tourism,” Sheehy said.
Home Affairs Department Raises Concerns about Integrity
Meanwhile, Tara Cavanagh, a group manager at the Home Affairs Department, raised concerns about integrity issues in the sector at the hearing.“There is evidence of exploitation of overseas students and of actors in the sector who seek to subvert Australia’s migration and education systems to enable the entry of people into Australia for purposes other than study,” she told the Committee.
“This exploitation can range from providing poor quality education products to high student fees and false promises of pathways to permanent migration.
Furthermore, Cavanagh said the problem extended to severe offences such as sex trafficking, bonded labour, and slavery and that the funding derived from such activities was used to support criminal networks inside and outside of Australia.
“Data on the student visa program makes clear that the integrity concerns that we have been facing have occurred in the context of record student visa application growth between 2015 to 16 and 2022 to 23,” she said.
“The number of student visa applications lodged grew from 360,000 per year to 590,000 per year.”
Cavanagh also noted the need to ensure that Australia’s education sector remains internationally competitive while preserving high levels of immigration integrity.
