Cut post study visas for international students, says Grattan Institute
Australia’s generous post study visas for international students should be cut back, says a new Grattan Institute report.
Australia’s generous post-study visas that allow international students to stay on and work after graduating should be cut back because a growing number struggle to find jobs, according to a new Grattan Institute report.
The report, Graduates in Limbo: International Student Visa Pathways after Graduation, found that only half of international graduates who stay on in Australia on a temporary visa find a full-time employment. Most are in low-skill jobs and have little chance of gaining permanent residency, it says.
“Temporary graduate visa-holders earn less on average than working holiday-makers,” the report says.
Currently 200,000 international graduates are in Australia on temporary graduate visas and Grattan forecasts this will rise to 370,000 by 2030 if current policies continue.
“Encouraging so many international graduates to stay and struggle in Australia is in no one’s interests,” said the report’s lead author, Grattan economic policy program director Brendan Coates.
He said current policies eroded public trust in Australia’s migration program and the number of graduates on temporary visas added to population pressure in areas such as housing. Current policies were also unfair to international graduates, he said, because rising numbers of temporary visa holders reduced the already slim hope of them getting permanent residency.
“Seeing so many disenchanted international graduates eventually return home after struggling in Australia for years damages the reputation of our international higher education sector,” the report says.
It recommends that the visa rules for international graduates should focus on encouraging the most talented to remain in Australia and become permanent residents and others should have the duration of their temporary graduate visa reduced.
Only in July the federal government increased the time period international graduates are entitled to stay in Australia after their course, provided they studied in a skill shortage area or lived and worked in regional Australia.
Following the changes, international students who graduate from a bachelor, masters or PhD degree are allowed to stay in Australia on a temporary work visa for a period ranging from two to eight years.
Graduates of two-year vocational courses can stay for 18 months (temporarily two years) if their skill area is in short supply.
The report says it is clear that most international graduates on temporary visas struggle to make best use of their skills in Australia. They “benefit Australia less than many other cohorts of permanent and temporary migrants”, it says.
The report also calls for a higher English language requirement for visa holders, an end to the visa extensions that began in July this year, and a new “exceptionally talented graduate visa” with a direct path to permanent residency.
It says the visa extensions now offered to graduates in skill shortage areas, or who live in the regions, should end.
The report says a better way to identify talented graduates, and put them on a path to permanent residency, is to offer extensions only to those earning more than $70,000 a year.
International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said the Grattan report overlooked the role of international students in meeting Australia’s skill needs.
“Grattan’s hypothesis is that we must be concerned if every overseas student does not gain a course related career outcome here,” he said.
“However, most students are far more pragmatic.
“They understand that it may take some years and a few career changes to reach their ultimate goal.
“In the meantime, they are earning far more than in their home country, acquiring new skills and undertaking jobs that many domestic student graduates thumb their noses at.”
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