On Wednesday last week, Jason Clare made-nice with the international education industry – he left the full and frank stuff to his offsider in a speech on student visas.
“The spike in visa refusals has been driven by genuine concerns about integrity,” Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill told an industry event, Friday.
“The jump in applications from some of the poorest countries and regions was by students who could not afford to study in Australia without seeking or gaining a longer-term migration outcome,” he added.
However, Mr Hill acknowledged that aspiring students are discouraged by applying for visas for fear rejection would reduce their chance of qualifying for other countries and said officials are consulting “to develop options for updated financial standards for South Asia.”
And he released a consultation paper setting out options for their depositing varying shares of tuition costs and living expenses in an Australian account. Mr Hill said he was “interested” in such a policy established in New Zealand.
But he added, “the aim in all of this is to be as clear as possible to prospective students on the financial capacity requirements and ensure the published rules remain aligned with the Department’s internal processing approach.” The consultation paper also states that financial capacity would stay separate to the genuine student assessment.
“Even if this means raising the financial standards and a smaller pool of prospective students, I want grant rates to improve and greater certainty for everyone,” Mr Hill added.
He also made clear his reading of the political weight of the industry, pointing to providers over the expected 18% reduction in net overseas commencements by end 2026. “Frankly, I would have preferred Universities to put forward more students who meet visa requirements.”
But he also made plain he values them more than private providers, “who often innovate, partner with industry on training needs” but “simply harvest private profit.”
“A surplus made by a public provider is reinvested in … many public goods.”
And Mr Hill suggested that the Government is the best political friend international education has, assuring his audience it, “will not engage in a race to the bottom on migration as the Coalition and One Nation are doing.”