Australian government to set international student limit

Navigating Change: Australia’s Evolving Education Landscape

Australia’s education sector is undergoing a significant transformation, marked by proposed changes aimed at ensuring its sustainability and maintaining its reputation for excellence. Here’s the breakdown:

Since May 11th, discussions have revolved around implementing caps on international student enrolments by January 2025. The objective? Striking a balance between meeting demand and preserving the quality of education.

The planned legislation will allow Minister for Education Jason Clare to limit the number of new international enrolments that can be offered by Australian providers. The Australian newspaper characterized those new limits as a “soft cap,” which is “better than the alternative of a rigid limit on student numbers.” That softness, or flexibility, in the cap model arises from a provision that allows providers to recruit above a cap limit if they “establish additional, new supply of purpose-built student accommodation to benefit both international and domestic students and free up pressure on the rental market.”

While education stakeholders will need more detail on the implementation of the new cap before drawing any hard conclusions, Australia’s international education sector, which has been campaigning for months against any such limits on foreign enrolment.

In addition to the enrolment cap, the planned legislation will introduce a package of additional measures, some of which have been floated by the government previously. Specifically:

• Education providers will be prevented from holding ownership positions in education agencies;
• Registrations for new international education providers will be paused for up to 12 months; as will approvals of new courses proposed by existing registered providers;
• Institutions or schools seeking to register as international education providers will be required to demonstrate “a track record of quality education delivery to domestic students before they are allowed to recruit international students”;
• Dormant provider registrations will be cancelled;
• Registered providers under regulatory investigation will be banned from recruiting new international students;
• There will be additional data sharing related to education agents; and
• Agent commissions on onshore student transfers will be prohibited.

“Most providers do the right thing and are in education and training for the right reasons,” said Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor, in introducing the new measures this weekend. “They will benefit from a high quality and sustainable international education sector, and the Government’s efforts to crack down on non-genuine and unscrupulous actors who undermine integrity and trust in the sector.” At the same time, he added, “Because there is no place for dodgy operators who undermine the strong reputation of the sector, we are making it tougher for bottom-feeders to take advantage of international students for a quick buck.”

The Framework sets out a broad range of consultative questions, including:

• “Are there further reforms governments should consider that will improve the quality and integrity of the sector?”
• “What more can providers do to improve the integrity of the international education sector?”
• “What factors should inform government’s approach to allocating international student enrolments across sectors, providers, and locations in Australia?”

“This Strategic Framework marks a significant shift for Australia’s international education sector,” concludes the draft Framework paper. “Government invites views from the sector and interested parties on the issues raised ahead of finalizing the Strategic Framework later in 2024.”

“The Government is committed to the careful management of Australia’s international education sector, and to strengthening its quality, integrity and reputation. We seek to shape a sector which is sustainable in the long-term and which plays a leading role in delivering on Australia’s national objectives. Enhancing the quality and integrity of the sector, strongly aligning education outcomes with areas of skills needs, and continuing to build our innovative delivery models are just some of the key measures that will help advance Australia’s position as a world leader in education.”

There is little to argue with in those statements. But even so, sector stakeholders will reasonably enough wonder about the nature of the upcoming consultation. That this week’s announcement of an enrolment cap (and related measures) came unexpectedly over a weekend – and with a framework already in place – will leave many to question if the government has set the stage for a real collaborative consultation or has simply laid down a roadmap for further reforms.