Preface

This year the Association has continued to navigate the everevolving COVID-19 crisis and to influence and shape policy for our sector.

We have structured the annual report around the three key pillars of the Association’s strategic plan:

Advocacy, policy and representation

IEAA’s advocacy role in shaping sector policy is more crucial than ever. As we face some hard challenges and roadblocks, the Association continues to be a united voice for our sector to advocate the interests of our members, the international student cohort, and engage governments and the wider community to foster a shared understanding of the richness our sector brings to Australia. In the past year, we continue to represent key federal and state level advisory committees, and have been profiled across various media outlets and platforms. At its core, the Association remains a resilient champion for international education.

Professional learning

IEAA maintains its role as the leading provider of professional learning for international education professionals, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.

Our professional learning calendar of Network forums and webinars continue to be a great asset for IEAA members and non-members alike. They have become well-established annual events and I thank all those who have contributed to making the virtual events engaging and informative. Our webinar delivery has been impressive, with over 3000 registrations for webinars in 2020–1.

While the sector could not come together physically, we could at least connect colleagues across Australia and across the globe and begin to re-imagine how international education can operate in a post-COVID-19 world.

Research

IEAA’s research output during the pandemic underscores our commitment to drive groundbreaking studies that help influence government policy and inform institutional decision making. Publications this year include:

• International student employability: A guide for Australian education providers

• Australian school curriculum offshore: Opportunities for growth

• IEAA Research Digest – Impact of cohort mix on student experiences and educational outcomes

• Student voices: Domestic cohort engagement with international students during COVID-19. We have also commissioned Studymove to conduct a time-series study on learning abroad in COVID-19, and continue to work on smaller state and federal government grant projects. Considering all of this investment, we are pleased to remain in a sound financial position with over $900,000 of members’ equity (see pages 47–60). This gives us confidence that we can continue to invest in the Association to deliver on our strategic plan and enhance our offering to all our members whilst still ensuring we remain cautious in a climate of uncertainty.

Since this is my first AGM as President, I want to thank our CEO and the Secretariat team. They have worked tremendously under continued challenging circumstances to keep the Association actively advancing the interests and agendas to the benefit of our members, and more broadly, the international education sector in Australia.

I present to you our annual report for the period 1 July 2020–30 June 2021.

Janelle Chapman

IEAA President