International Students

I have frequently maintained that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported $48 billion in education exports are inflated and vastly overstates the benefits of international students to the Australian economy.

New data from the Department of Education shows that international student enrolments surpassed one million for the first time in the year to September 2024.

Over the last two decades, Australia’s universities have transformed into greedy, revenue-driven enterprises.

Last week, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) published an analysis showing that more than 300 Australian university executives earn more than state premiers amid widespread wage theft among lower-level staff.

I have argued repeatedly that the purported $48 billion education export figure published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is exaggerated and massively overstates the benefits of international students to the Australian economy.

David McCloskey and Bob Birrell from the Australian Population Research Institute (TAPRI) have released a report examining the impact of international students on the nation’s rental market.

I have repeatedly argued that Australia’s universities have devolved into greedy profit-maximising corporations that do not pay taxes.

The Coalition is under scrutiny for joining forces with the Greens to block legislation to cap new international student numbers from 2025.

Any objective analysis of Australia’s international education sector would conclude that enrolment numbers are too high.

English Australia CEO Ian Aird claims that the federal government’s proposal to cap international student numbers will have an economic impact on more than just the education sector.

The latest temporary visa statistics from the Department of Home Affairs revealed 2,463,600 temporary visa holders in Australia, excluding visitors, as of 30 September 2024.

One of the nation’s least-kept secrets is that most international students come to Australia to “study” because of our generous work rights and opportunities for permanent residency.

Anyone with half a brain knows that reducing the number of international students (and migration in general) will help to ease the rental crisis.

The Department of Home Affairs released temporary visa data for the September quarter of 2024, revealing that there were 2,463,600 temporary visa holders in Australia, excluding visitors, at the end of September.

The ABC’s Jacob Greber claims that the international education sector is an “export giant” that is being unfairly targeted by the federal government’s desire to lower net overseas migration.

Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro has compiled data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing that the unemployment rate for recent arrivals to Australia surged to around 8% in Q3, up from around 5% at the trough.

The e61 Institute has published an interesting report examining so-called “visa hopping” by international students to extend their stays in Australia.

Following a strategic review of the student visa program in 2011 (the “Knight Review”), the Gillard government significantly enhanced employment rights for graduate (485) visas in 2013.

The AFR this week reported that the number of temporary migrants in Australia spiked by around 100,000 in the past year, with the volume of student visas surging to an all-time high 679,293 at the end of August.

Preliminary data reported in The SMH shows that the number of offshore student visa applications fell to 18,697 in July, compared with 36,207 during the same period in 2023.

For many years, MB has argued that the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) estimate of the export of education is exaggerated because it incorrectly included income from international students working in Australia.