Islamabad, Aug 27: Australia said on Tuesday that it would cap the number of new overseas students it will accept for enrollment at 270,000 until 2025. This move comes as the government attempts to control record migration, which has driven up the cost of housing.
The decision is one of a series of steps taken since last year to remove COVID-era benefits for foreign workers and students in Australia, which aided local hiring while preventing foreign workers from entering the country due to stringent border restrictions.
Education Minister Jason Clare stated at a news conference that “there are about 10% more international students in our universities today than before the pandemic, and about 50% more in our private vocational and training providers.”
The maximum number of new international students admitted to institutions will be 145,000, or around 2023 levels, and 95,000 for courses focused on practical skills and courses.
Clare stated that the government would notify colleges of their unique enrollment limitations.
Universities Australia stated that the industry would be “handbraked” by the government action.
Universities Australia Chair Professor David Lloyd stated in a statement, “We acknowledge the government’s right to control migration numbers, but this should not be done at the expense of any one sector, particularly one as economically important as education.”
In the 2022–2023 fiscal year, the value of Australia’s fourth-largest export, after coal, gas, and iron ore, was A$36.4 billion ($24.7 billion) to the economy. This was the value of international education.
However, polls indicate that voters are worried about significant inflows of foreign workers and students placing undue strain on the property market, making immigration one of the likely primary battlegrounds in an election that will take place in less than a year.
With a 60% increase to a record 548,800, net immigration reached a record high in the year ending September 30, 2023, primarily due to students from China, India, and the Philippines. That surpassed the 518,000 persons in the year that concluded in June of 2023.
The government more than doubled the cost of a foreign passport last month in an effort to slow down the immigration wave.
students and pledged to close loopholes in rules that allowed them to continuously extend their stay.
