Universities Australia (UA) has published its pre-budget submission, which repeats the lie that international education is “a $52 billion export engine” and “one of Australia’s biggest money-makers”.
This fantastical $52 billion education export figure comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and is wildly exaggerated because it does not subtract money earned and then spent in Australia, remittances sent home, or commissions paid by universities to overseas agents.
The ABS counts all spending in Australia by international students as an export, regardless of where the money comes from.
