After a record-high 510,000 migrants arriving in Australia between June 2022 and June 2023 and recent polling showing 62% of Australians support a reduction in immigration, the government released a new ‘Migration Strategy’ which sets a new annual migration target of 250,000 people a year until June 2025. Drastically reducing the number of international students is central to the plan.
The strategy includes increasing minimum English language requirements, creating a new “genuine student test” to weed out students who do not intend to finish their degrees, a crackdown on visa hopping, and a complete overhaul of the Temporary Graduate Visa (TGV).
The review argues that Australia has low English language requirements compared to other nations like Canada, and these requirements do not reflect the language standard needed to thrive in the Australian tertiary system.
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test score for the TGV will be raised from 6.0 to 6.5 and for a Student Visa raised from 5.5 to 6.
Standardised English tests like the IELTS and Pearson Test of English (PTE) have come under increasing scrutiny for being too general and expensive.
The monopolised nature of the testing industry has also exposed the tests to cheating and other compliance risks. Just this year, multiple UK universities withdrew their offers from international students after a PTE cheating scandal.
Grace Street, SRC Education Officer, told Honi the increase in testing standards, “encourages xenophobia and vilifies non-Western people for wanting to start a life in Australia.”
The review also increases the funding of the Visa Integrity Unit inside Home Affairs to implement and enforce the new “genuine student test.”
The test seeks to “discourage non-genuine students, whose primary intention is to work rather than study, from accessing Australia’s international education system.”
The practice of visa hopping, where students move between migration claims to remain in the country, will be cracked down upon.
A common method used by students, according to the review, is to apply for a second course to extend their visa. 150,000 of the 650,000 international students in Australia are studying a second course.
The new policy will require students “to provide evidence in their application to demonstrate that any subsequent course is furthering their career or academic aspirations” to be granted an extension.
Street pointed out that, “for students in vocational education and training courses with a lower ability to show a credible course progression, they are now less likely to be granted a visa, which devalues these students and already precarious career paths.”
The TGV, used by postgraduate students, is also being overhauled to reduce intake.
The review found that the majority of students on the TGV are working low skill jobs and not gaining the needed work experience to transfer into the permanently skilled workforce.
The duration of the initial visa will be shortened, and extensions will only be eligible if they choose to study in a regional area. The maximum eligible age will be lowered from 50 to 35.
In a letter to Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) President Weihong Liang opposed the age cap saying, “an age cap of 35 years will disproportionately impact Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students…The proposed cap risks [the] loss of seasoned research talent and is unfair to individuals who embark on PhD’s in their 30s.”
Liang also argued the cap should be implemented moving forward as opposed to applying to students already studying in Australia.
If these measures do not reduce migration numbers close enough to the desired target, the government is considering harsher policies like a cap on student visas and an international student levy, or tax, to be paid for each student.
More information about these policies will be released alongside the University Accords in January 2024.
The Group of Eight, an advocacy group for Australia’s oldest universities, and lobbying group Universities Australia both welcomed the policy announcement but opposed any levy or cap on student visas.
Universities Australia spokesperson Catarina Jackson noted the pressure from universities against a cap, “we argued strongly through the consultation process against a blunt policy instrument such as a cap, and we don’t see one in today’s announcement.”
Group of Eight Chief Executive Vicki Thompson agreed, saying in a statement, “we would be very concerned about and would absolutely reject the idea of a levy.”
In a separate statement, SUPRA Education Officer Benny Shen also argued against the implementation of the levy, arguing it would place more financial strain on students who are already struggling under the current cost of living crisis.
Street also highlighted that these plans do not address the rising cost of living faced by students. “This scheme will not stop students, particularly those from overseas, from being forced into extortionate housing that the university has privatised, and in expensive courses within an increasingly corporatised university.”
