The federal government has proposed to cap international student enrolments in the country to 270,000, including individual limits for each institution.
The federal government has proposed to cap international student enrolments in the country to 270,000, including individual limits for each institution.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare today announced the bill which would set national planning level for international student commencements, for tertiary and vocational education sectors, for 2025.
The federal government reported 289,230 international student commencements in 2024, as of May.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics found foreign students spent about $48 billion in the country in 2023, with international education becoming the fourth largest export sector in the nation's economy.
Under the proposed national planning level, 145,000 students would start at publicly funded universities and 95,000 would go to vocational education and training (VET).
Other universities and non-university higher education providers will share the remaining allocation of 30,000 places.
Limits for individual institutions will be outlined in an International Student Profile (ISP), the government announced.
"Publicly funded universities have been provided with their indicative ISPs," the announcement reads.
"In developing ISPs, a number of factors have been considered based on data provided by universities, including recent levels of new international student commencements and the concentration of international enrolments in their onshore student cohorts."
Mr Clare said the level proposed for universities would be about 15 per cent higher than the number of international students before the pandemic.
“The level for private vocational providers will be about 20 per cent less,” he said.
“For universities all up, it means they'll be able to enrol about as many international students next year as they did last year, 2023.
“For some, it will be less, and for some it will be more. The big winners are regional universities.
“Almost every regional university will be able to enrol more international students next year than they did last year.”
Mr Clare said the legislation was designed to make the system fairer and more sustainable.
“What that has meant is that some universities have got a lot more students this year than last year, and a number of universities ‑ a lot of universities ‑ have got a lot less,” he said.
“And they're bearing the brunt of that at the moment.
“Those universities have asked me to act, to set up a system that's better and fairer than the current one, and that's what this legislation that's before the Parliament will do.”
The 270,000-student limit is only proposed for 2025 with the federal government to look at the intake year by year, according to Mr Clare.
Responses
The legislation proposing to cap international student enrolments had been a source of some concern for some tertiary education bodies since its announcement in May.
Universities Australia chair David Lloyd said the proposed foreign student intake would apply a handbrake to the sector.
"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," he said.
"Curtailing growth in the $48 billion international education sector risks our nation’s ambition and the university sector’s ability to support the delivery of national priorities.
"International students accounted for more than half of Australia’s GDP growth last year, almost singlehandedly saving the nation from recession. The sector is our second biggest export behind mining, worth almost $50 billion to our economy and supporting around 250,000 jobs.
"Even without legislated powers to limit international student numbers, the government has already taken a sledgehammer to the international education sector."
Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia chief executive Troy Williams said the proposed national planning level was welcomed but further advice for educational providers was needed.
“The sector-wide limits need to be accompanied by immediate and precise information to ITECA members about what it means for them in their context,” he said.
“They need this so they can provide meaningful advice to their staff whether they will still have jobs and to intending students seeking news on the possibility of them being able to study in Australia next year.
“Right now, when contemplating the future of their institution and the jobs of their staff, all our members have is a government media release. This is a less than satisfactory state of affairs.”
The Business Council of Australia said the international student number cap would damage the economy and deliver long-lasting harm.
BCA chief executive Bran Black said applying arbitrary caps when the economy has been stalling would limit growth of the international education sector.
“International students are worth $48 billion to our economy and in March 2024 accounted for almost a quarter of GDP growth — so it seems entirely counterproductive to stymie that growth when we face economic headwinds,” he said.
“I’m disappointed the government is intent upon implementing such a blunt mechanism that will dent our capacity to drive research and result in course cancellations for domestic students.
“Many international students have already accepted enrolments at Australian universities and will have to be turned away following this decision, which will cause long-term damage to our reputation as a sought-after destination for international education.”
Mr Black said the debate over student caps had been unfairly linked to housing affordability in Australia.
The Student Accommodation Council has welcomed the proposed student numbers for 2025, claiming it would be sustainable for housing supply.
SAC executive director Torie Brown said the proposed cap would enable the industry to partner with universities to deliver more accommodation in confidence.
“Minister Clare has recognised that to grow the amount of student accommodation in Australia we need to see the higher education sector partner with the private sector to increase supply,” she said.
“The Australian government’s ambition to build more purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) will only work if its state colleagues work with the sector to turbo-charge supply.
“The quickest way to do this by 2026 is to ensure students are taking up existing beds and incentivise further accommodation development.
“The PBSA sector is reliant on a strong, sustainable pipeline of international students to underpin the viability of future projects. International students make up 74 per cent of our residents.”
