Australia may turn less welcoming to international students

Time of India

02-05-2025

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With both major political parties signalling tougher stances on immigration and international education, the outcome of the electoral dead heat Down Under will likely shape decisions for thousands of Indian students willing to trade hemispheres for a brighter future, according to study abroad experts.'All eyes are on the federal elections in Australia,' said Ravi Lochan Singh, managing director of Global Reach, a study abroad consultancy based out of Australia. 'Immigration and international student numbers are a big discussion point. Both key parties are of the view that international arrival numbers, in terms of migrants, need to be controlled.'Australia is holding general elections on Saturday. The current Labor government's push for tighter controls and caps on the intake of international students and the opposition Liberal's hard-line rhetoric around a housing crisis, visa fees and more stringent caps have sent chills through the international education sector.(Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)'There's definitely growing unease,' said Adarsh Khandelwal, founder of study abroad platform Collegify. '(Leader of opposition) Peter Dutton's comments linking international students to the housing crisis really struck a nerve. Add to that proposed cap on student enrolments and sharp visa fee hikes, and the message to students is starting to feel more exclusionary than welcoming.'He points to the 2025 student enrolment cap, the recent visa fee spike (from 710 Australian dollars to 1,600 Australian dollars, with another hike to 2,000 Australian dollars on the horizon), and the risk of mid-course policy changes as causes of anxiety—particularly for students in IT, engineering and nursing who are banking on permanent residency.The enrolment cap, proposed to be set at 270,000, was seen as a knee-jerk response by the Labor government after it received flak for allowing the international student population to nearly double under its rule.For others watching the political play unfold, the sense of a broader cultural shift is hard to ignore.'There is a rise in right-wing protectionism, isolation, even racism and xenophobia, across the world, particularly in the Western world, which also includes Australia,' said Vinu Warrier, founder of education consultancy EduVelocity. 'It is a crisis where the world is changing rapidly, jobs and careers are changing rapidly, and the first scapegoats are immigrants, and Indians are more visible immigrants when it comes to the volume of international students.'According to the Australian government's Department of Education (DoE), Indians were the second largest student cohort in 2024 at 139,038, behind Chinese students (189,282).'Migration, and students by extension, have become political shorthand for broader concerns—overstretched infrastructure, rising costs and cultural anxieties. Students are an easy target: they're visible, their numbers have grown quickly, and they tie into the migration stats politicians like to cite,' said Khandelwal of Collegify.Despite the nervousness, the demand story remains intact.'We haven't seen any dip in student housing demand for Australia,' said Saurabh Arora, founder of University Living. 'In fact, our 2025 accommodation leads are higher than last year.'According to his firm's recent report, international students account for nearly 76% of housing demand in cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, underlining their economic footprint in the broader housing and part-time labour market ecosystem. He said: 'When discussions around infrastructure, migration or housing come up, it's natural that such a large and visible group takes the centre stage in the national narrative.'There were 853,045 international students studying in Australia in 2024, up 9% from the year before, as per DoE figures.Even so, the signals are mixed. 'International students are part of a broader national conversation around migration, infrastructure and housing supply,' said Piyush Kumar, regional director for IDP Education. 'It's not about targeting them per se, but about maintaining a sustainable migration framework.'There has already been a slight dip in application numbers over the past 8-9 months, according to Kumar.And if the political winds shift further, international students, excluded from the ballot, could begin voting with their feet.