Ahead of a Senate Committee Inquiry hearing into the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 on Tuesday 6th August, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and Spokesperson for Higher Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi is calling on the Labor government to dump their disastrous international student caps policy.
Senator Faruqi, who is on the Senate Committee, has said that of the 68 submissions, nearly all do not support the Bill, and every university that provided a submission expressed serious concerns about the consequences of the caps. Notably, the Victorian, WA, SA and ACT Labor governments also voiced significant apprehension about the Bill.
The submissions warn that the Bill:
- Scapegoats international students for a housing crisis they did not cause
- Allows for unprecedented ministerial overreach and intervention
- Will result in significant job and financial losses
- Damages Australia's reputation as a destination for international students
Senator Faruqi is calling on Labor to read the writing on the wall and scrap the caps.
As stated by Senator Mehreen Faruqi:
"It is high time Labor listened to the sector. Almost all of the submissions to the Inquiry into this terrible Bill don't support it, raising significant concerns that the Bill will cause major and long-lasting damage to Australia's higher education sector.
"This is clearly a migration policy disguised as an education policy.
"Labor is crushing universities in a bid to look tough on borders and compete with the Liberals on cruelty.
"Using international students as cash cows and then scapegoats for the Labor government's failure to provide affordable housing is pure racist dog whistling which targets and harms international students and migrants.
"Not only are these caps damaging to Australia's reputation as a destination for international students, they are also a direct attack on the fundamental principles of student choice and university independence.
"Such unprecedented ministerial intervention and micromanagement of universities and international students is a terrible approach which compromises both teaching and learning needs.
"While Labor seems intent on making bad legislation, I urge Mr Burke to use the opportunity as the new Immigration Minister to swiftly reset this unfair decision and scrap the caps entirely.
"Rather than putting more pressure on university staff and students, Education Minister Jason Clare should focus on fixing the ballooning cost of education by immediately dumping the job-ready graduates policy, wiping student debt and making uni free."
Extracts from submissions to the inquiry into the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 of some key concerns:
Scapegoating international students for a housing crisis they did not cause
Business Council of Australia: "If we are to solve the housing crisis, we need to go to the core of the problem. Short term policy reactions such as a cap on international student numbers will not fix the issue, will detract from real solutions and have negative consequences for the broader economy."
International Education Association of Australia: "Our Association fundamentally opposes the premise of enrolment limits (the caps). We believe that they have been designed as a politically blunt policy instrument to address a spurious narrative that international students are the principal cause of the current 'rental crisis' in Australia."
Allowing for ministerial overreach and intervention
Group of Eight (Go8): "The central command and control regime for international education that caps represent simply will not work… what will be achieved is the undermining of Australia's most successful and largest services export industry."
University of Sydney: "... the proposed changes would represent an unprecedented intervention by the Commonwealth in the affairs of Australia's independent and autonomous public universities. … previous similar government attempts to manipulate Australia's higher education market - like the Job-ready Graduates Package of 2020 - have failed to deliver their objectives and had unintended consequences because student choice ultimately drives demand."
Resulting in significant job and financial losses
Universities Australia: "The Bill, as drafted, puts at risk thousands of jobs, Australia's reputation as a welcoming destination, and the strength of a major economic driver for our nation and universities. These legislative changes do not provide universities with clarity or certainty but will leave them vulnerable to the Minister's, or future Ministers', discretional powers with limited oversight and intervention through consultation or review process."
NTEU: "To suddenly introduce at short notice significant regulatory controls that are linked to government priorities that are not sector related… will inevitably create financial stress and job losses at many institutions."
University of Melbourne: "The rationale for these measures is flawed and their implementation could harm both international and domestic students, jeopardise the sector's reputation and long-term sustainability, and lead to significant job losses."
Damaging Australia's reputation as a destination for international students
UNSW: "International students enrich our communities and are a critical part of Australia's social fabric. The global reputation of Australia as a top education destination is at stake…"
Queensland University of Technology: "It is not possible to introduce the proposed regime or anything like it on 1 January 2025 without throwing the sector into complete disarray. Australia's global reputation as a stable, desirable, reliable international study destination will be severely damaged, potentially irreparably."
