The Business Council warns placing further caps on international students will impact one of our major export sectors, reduce growth and impact local jobs.
Business Council Chief Executive Bran Black said the Coalition's proposal for an around 25 per cent cap on foreign students would undermine our international education sector, which is worth more than $50 billion a year to the economy.
"International students are worth more than $50 billion a year to our economy and are an important driver of growth," Mr Black said.
"We're in a period of higher global and economic uncertainty, and so now is the time to prioritise growing successful sectors, such as education, where we already enjoy a competitive advantage.
"Let's remember this sector supports more than 250,000 jobs, and so further reducing international student numbers will risk local jobs and put pressure on businesses that depend on students for their viability.
The BCA also opposed the proposed international student caps legislation introduced by the Government in 2024.
Mr Black highlighted that the real issue we need to address is housing supply.
"If we want to address housing shortages - as we must - we need to urgently focus on supply measures, including supporting local infrastructure development, incentivising states to reform planning processes, reducing corruption risk and placing a greater emphasis on attracting skilled workers to the construction industry," Mr Black said.
Mr Black said caps send the wrong signal to the market and the Canadian experience showed that outcomes in practice can be much worse than those modelled.
"The Canadian experience is living proof that student caps send the wrong signal. Enrolments there are now well below the imposed cap, and so Australia following this model risks impacting our fourth largest export," Mr Black said.
