Victoria’s foreign students to get inside track on regional work visas

Delhi: Victoria will reserve a quarter of its regional skilled work visas for international students who come to the state’s universities and TAFEs in a bid to lure them to our shores in the face of federal caps on placements.

Premier Jacinta Allan made the commitment on Wednesday while touring a Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan school in Delhi as she ramps up her efforts to market Victoria’s education sector to the world’s most populous nation.

Premier Jacinta Allan speaks with nuns from a local convent at an International Education and Skills Summit.Credit: Kieran Rooney

Under the plan, the state government will commit to reserve at least 25 per cent of the Victorian places for the Skilled Work Regional Visa, also known as subclass 491, for graduates of local universities and TAFEs in the 2024-25 financial year.

The government estimates this would offer an inside running to at least 500 visas this year for international students.

Successful applicants must live and work in the regions to encourage more skilled workers to communities outside Melbourne and can apply for permanent residency after three years.

In the last financial year 365 international students nominated for the regional visa and the scheme aims to grow this number further, with minimum reserve places set in key skill shortage areas such as advanced manufacturing, social services, hospitality and tourism.

Jacinta Allan and parliamentary secretary Nick Staikos are shown through the Laxmi Narayan Mandir temple in Delhi.

“International students are essential to Victoria’s vibrant, multicultural community,” Allan said.

“We are ensuring that when students complete their studies, they have every opportunity to live and work in regional Victoria, where their skills are most needed.

“We’re focused on providing pathways for international graduates to build their futures in regional areas, addressing workforce shortages while offering graduates the chance to contribute to our growing regional cities.”

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust founded in 1938 that operates more than 100 primary and secondary schools.

The Age is travelling with the premier this week as she meets with Indian and Australian delegates and visits holy sites.

Earlier on Wednesday, Allan spruiked Victoria’s education sector to the International Education and Skills Summit, one of the country’s largest events for the industry, at the India International Convention & Expo Centre.

“It is a great pleasure to be here in Delhi over the past three days, and I come with three big priorities, education, education and education,” she told the crowd.

“Victoria is Australia’s number one destination for international students and the number one destination for Indian international students, and we want to see more students studying in Melbourne and across Victoria, not less.

“I hope I can extend an invitation to all of you to visit Victoria soon. To the institutes that are here today [and] prospective students of the future, please bring your executives, bring your faculty, and come and see the possibilities.”

Allan also spruiked her plan to circumvent the Albanese government’s contentious international student caps, announcing a $5 million fund on Monday that would encourage Victorian universities and TAFEs to set up foreign campuses or offer dual-degrees in partnership with other institutions.

The Victorian government has repeatedly urged the Commonwealth to scrap their proposed caps, arguing it would put an unnecessary limit on economic growth.

There were more than 234,000 international students studying in Victoria in 2023, hailing from 170 countries.

After her address, the premier was approached by nuns from a local convent who said they had appreciated her speech.

Later on Wednesday, she was scheduled to attend a film screening showing off India’s multibillion-dollar Bollywood film industry.

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