Big threat for unis over foreign students

Australian universities and colleges could be banned from enrolling foreign students if they exceed their caps under new laws to ensure the “integrity and quality” of the $48bn education export industry.

The move is also part of the Albanese government’s attempts to limit net overseas migration by reducing the intake of foreign students from 15 per cent to about five per cent.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare on Thursday said the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill was also designed to protect the industry.

“We have to ensure that we manage the international education industry in a way that delivers the greatest benefit to Australia, whilst maintaining its social licence from the Australian people,” Mr Clare told parliament.

The number of international students enrolled in Australian universities was already back to pre-pandemic levels.

“That’s a vote of confidence in our institutions and providers and in Australia as a place where the best and brightest come to study,” he said while introducing the Bill to parliament.

But universities and vocational colleges have been warned they face “enrolment limits” if they exceed their quotas.

“These may relate to a provider level ‘total enrolment limit’, or at the course level imposing a ‘course enrolment limit’, or a combination of the two,” he said.

“In setting enrolment limits, the minister for education will take into account the relevance of courses to Australia’s skills needs.”

The education minister would also be able set limits if the supply of purpose built student accommodation available to both domestic and international students was inadequate.

The plan was touched on in Tuesday’s budget.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers used his speech to tell universities that if they want to take on more international students, “they must build more student accommodation”.

“We will limit how many international students can be enrolled by each university based on a formula, including how much housing they build,” Dr Chalmers said.

Mr Clare also put “shonky providers” on notice, saying the Bill allowed the minister to suspend or cancel courses they did not meet standards.

“This allows the minister for education to limit the delivery of courses with systemic quality issues, limited value to Australia’s critical skills need, or where it is in the public interest to do so – for instance, where students are being exploited,” he said.

He said the government wanted to work with the international education industry to make sure the government got these reforms right.