International Students

In 2023, Labor MP Julian Hill, who is the Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, and Assistant Minister for International Education, described Australia’s international education system as resembling a “Ponzi scheme”, accusing agents of misusing student visas by promoting them as cheap work visas with pathways to permanent residency.

I reported earlier in the week on the massive rise in bridging visas, which has been driven by former international students.

The final report from the Federal Senate Inquiry into the Quality of Governance at Australian Higher Education Providers delivered a scathing assessment, largely focused on the corporatisation of public universities and its negative impact on students, staff, and the sector’s public mission.

In September, Frank Chung at News.com.au reported that “international students are overwhelming Australia’s asylum system with bogus refugee applications, as the country’s deportation backlog surges towards 100,000”.

Australia has the highest concentration of international students among major advanced nations.

For years, MB has argued that the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) estimate of education exports is wildly exaggerated because it: Incorrectly includes income from international students working in Australia. Does not adjust for remittances sent home from Australia by international students or former students (which are an import).

Recall that long-time immigration influencer Abul Rizi, who has forever championed a Big Australia and has ruthlessly attacked anybody arguing for lower immigration, amusingly endorsed the Canadian government’s sharp immigration cuts.

I explained this week how the Albanese government has taken specific actions to bolster the flow of international students into Australia.

The Albanese government claims it wants to reduce immigration to Australia.

Claire Field, a former regulator of the vocational training sector, warned in 2022 that a large number of South Asian students were arriving in Australia in “response to the unlimited work rights now available to those on Australian student visas”, enrolling in “lower quality and cheaper vocational colleges” to live and work.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports that international education is Australia’s fourth-largest export, earning the country $51 billion in 2024.

Australia has the second-largest concentration of international students in the world, behind the tiny nation of Luxembourg.

As the debate over the impact of international students continues, the number of myths being repeated continues to grow, particularly on social media.

I reported this week on Jobs & Skills Australia’s (JSA) latest study on the international education sector, which admitted that the primary motivation for international students to choose Australia is to obtain work rights and permanent residency.

Everything I have written about Australia’s student-migration scam has been confirmed by the latest study on the international education sector by Jobs & Skills Australia (JSA).

The AFR’s education editor, Julie Hare, published an alarmist article on the tiny reduction in international student enrolments, which she labelled a “plunge”.

Over the past 20 years, Australian universities have evolved into revenue-driven corporations.

Australia already had the highest concentration of international students in the world before the pandemic hit.

Recall that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC’s Q&A in February that Labor would cut immigration and relieve pressure on the rental market by reducing the number of student visas, which he said were being “abused”.

Throughout her time as Australia’s Home Affairs Minister, Clare O’Neil boasted that Australia was in a “race for global talent” with other advanced nations, like Canada.