No end in sight for Australia's international student crisis

Terri MacDonald Policy & Research Officer

With the Federal Government making clear that international students will not be returning to Australia to study on shore any time soon, the one thing the sector is sure of is there will be more losses – both financially and in jobs.

With the political focus on repatriating Australian citizens and residents, international education looks set to continue as primarily an off-shore, online experience.

The question is, how are international students responding? Is it a case of everything will be fine, as the Federal Government would have the public believe? Or is this likely to see a fundamental change to Australia’s higher education market – which could see a flow on to the higher education sector more broadly?

The most recent information is that other countries, most notably Canada, the USA and the UK are positioning themselves to step in to the gap left by Australia.

While much attention – most rightly – has been focused on the desperate plight of international students left stranded in Australia with no support or even interest from the Federal Government, COVID-related closures also affected off shore students. Recent media coverage of international students protesting for the right to come back to Australia to complete their courses highlighted the situation that many international students found themselves in as a result of the closure of our international borders.

Clearly, many of those who either returned home, or where not able to get into Australia before the borders closed last year, want to resume their studies in the country. They argue that they have lives here and are part of the community, and many were on track for residency.

There are also problems around studying online, with complaints that online learning has not delivered the education experience that many of these international students were looking for. While some universities are now offering reductions on course fees for off shore international students studying online, many are not – although a number are offering other forms of incentives.

The question is, have these issues had an impact on the attitudes of international students – both current and prospective – to studying in Australia? One thing is for sure though – we have more students leaving, than coming in – and that is a problem.

The most recent information is that other countries, most notably Canada, the USA and the UK are positioning themselves to step in to the gap left by Australia. This is no surprise – international education is a highly competitive market, with countries looking to leverage what advantage they can in the pursuit of international student enrolments.

While the thought was that Australia’s COVID safe reputation would be an attraction, this is of little relevance when our international borders are still closed to these students (even assuming they can get the flights here in the first place).

It is no surprise, therefore, that the sector is predicting even further declines in international enrolments in 2021, with the Mitchell Institute predicting Australia to lose half its international students by mid year.

While there are, of course, very good public health reasons for the current policy settings around international borders, it nonetheless shows that firstly, Australia’s higher education has been, and remains, highly exposed to risk as a result of our over reliance on international education – some 17,300 job losses are direct evidence of that.

Secondly, it also highlights that international students are not all content to learn online; that a large part of the appeal of studying internationally is to experience all that country has to offer. Thirdly, while less has been made of this, it is also a fact that skilled migration is tied to higher education, and the current policy settings make it impossible for many international students to continue their progression towards permanent residency.

We are yet to see whether the COVID-related collapse of Australia’s international education market will in the end be a (relatively large) ‘bump in the road’ or whether there will be longer lasting, more fundamental changes that result.

What is clear, however, is that the Federal Government’s continued dismissal of the crisis will only deepen the current problems, and make future international students far less likely to consider Australia as a destination. •

...skilled migration is tied to higher education, and the current policy settings make it impossible for many international students to continue their progression towards permanent residency.