Just four years after signing a trade agreement with India extending post-study work rights and hailing the importance of international education, the Coalition have made an abrupt about-face, committing to slash international enrolments if they win the next election.
Announcing the new immigration policy today, Opposition leader Angus Taylor vowed to cut commencing international enrolments to 240,000 per year – 55,000 fewer than the international cap set by the Albanese Government.
Onshore international enrolments would be pruned back to 25% of HE enrolments, and net migration would be cut to a total of 100,000 annually for 2028-29 and 2029-30 if the Coalition were to win government. Whether the international enrolment cap would be further reduced to preserve the 25% ratio if domestic enrolments declined, or whether the 55,000 new international enrolments would be enforced after the first two years is not yet clear.
Mr Taylor also vowed to abolish temporary graduate visas, but create a new class of post-study transitional visas for “students completing PhDs, studying health or education, or studying at regional universities”. The Coalition would match Labour’s policy of banning visas for partners and families in most cases, he said.
International Education Association of Australia CEO Phil Honeywood said the proposal to abolish the temporary graduate visa was “shooting ourselves in the foot.”
“Dan Tehan signed a Free Trade Agreement with india allowing Indians students to have an extra year of post study work rights, but with this policy they will break their own FTA,” Mr Honeywood said.
“The Coalition have really kicked an own goal on this policy. They are meant to be pro-business and they refused to recognise this has been a $55b a year industry and according to Dan Tehan when he was Education Minister, it employs 250,000 Australians. From an industry policy position alone, you would have thought the Coalition would have understood how important international education was, quite apart from the soft power benefits.”
While Labour had a policy of allowing 295,000 international commencements, hikes in visa pricing, changes to rules eliminating onshore applications for more categories and slower processing meant that Australia was tracking closer to admitting just 250,000 new international students this year, he said.
Monash University Higher Education expert Andrew Norton said the Coalition’s policies would reduce international student numbers from 528,000 in 2025–26 to 456,000 in 2031–32.
“Under any potential federal government, the number of international students looks set to decline,” Professor Norton wrote.
“While the education sector – and international students – will have to accept this, it can reasonably ask for policy stability. After three years of constant policy change to try and stem the growth of international students, clear rules everyone can plan around are needed.”
Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy said the Coalition’s plan risked lasting damage to the nation’s higher education sector.
“We have been clear with all sides of politics: cutting international student numbers too hard comes with real consequences for Australia,” Mr Sheehy said.
“Restricting post-study work rights also risks making Australia less competitive for talented students and graduates at precisely the time we need more skilled people contributing to our economy.”
“For nearly four decades, governments of both persuasions have supported the development of a world-class international education sector because it is good for Australia,” he said.
“We should be building on that success, not competing over who can cut it the hardest.”