With another announcement apportioning some of the blame for Australia’s housing crisis to international students, the Federal Government have announced a new draft framework for International Education and Skills Strategy, as well as legislation to further curb international student numbers.
The new legislation and framework, announced over the weekend, extracts political capital from clamping down on unnamed ‘shonks’, agents and international students with a range of changes including:
- Pausing registration of new courses from existing providers and new international education providers for up to 12 months;
- Giving the Education and Skills Ministers ongoing power to cap international student numbers for each provider
- Requiring universities that want to enrol above the Minister’s cap, “to establish additional, new supply of purpose-built student accommodation to benefit both international and domestic students and free up pressure on the rental market.”
- Preventing education providers from owning agent businesses, prohibiting agent commissions on student transfers between Australian providers, and improving data capture relating to agents.
- Requiring new providers to demonstrated quality education delivery to Australian students before receiving registration to teach international students
The Draft Framework has also been released, and is rapidly attracting feedback.
A clue to the Government’s perception of international education can be found in the introduction, noting that in addition to integrity and quality of education and the need for international education to contribute to Australia’s skills needs, an additional pressure that has emerged is that “unpredictable international student numbers onshore have the potential to undermine the sector’s social licence.”
It appears the Government believes that HE has lost substantial community support after accepting too many students post-Pandemic.
The Framework proposes a more interventionist model to control international student intakes, seeking to align enrolments with Australia’s workforce needs – despite wanting to reduce international student numbers and offering no substantive changes to work rights.
HE expert Professor Andrew Norton called out the double standard on migration policy, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that, “The plan to align international enrolments with Australia’s skills shortage is a bad idea. As most students go home after finishing their degrees they should be able to take whatever courses match their own interests and career plans.
“Yet again we are sending mixed migration messages – implying that we want internationals to stay to fill gaps in Australia’s workforce.”
While lobbies appeared to know what was coming, they did a good impression of stunned mullets with first responses.
Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy warned that, “decades of careful and strategic work by universities and the government has seen Australia grow to be a leading provider of international education. We can’t let this work go to waste.”
The Go8 supported the quality and integrity measures but warned, “if the problems are neither simple nor one-dimensional then the solutions won’t be either.”
“The Framework consultation process will be extremely important as we seek to get the right balance of outcomes for the nation and our international students,” Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson added.
New La Trobe U VC Theo Farrell welcomed the focus on skills needs, “such as health and education, including a greater focus on regional and rural areas” course and markets where LTU is strong.
However, the International Education Association of Australia spoke out against the reform plan, saying that, “while stakeholder consultations are being offered, this latest measure will send all the wrong messages, yet again, of Australia’s reliability as a welcoming study destination country.”
Others expressed surprise at the timing. The release of the Framework and legislation are part of a big week for Mr Clare and the Sector, with the Budget expected to provide a range of further reforms based on the recommendations of the Accord Final Report.
