Education sector gives tighter student visa rules a wary welcome

The federal government’s migration package will mainly affect vocational education, the English language sector and private colleges.

The new migration package aims to ease the way for talented workers to migrate to Australia.

Universities have warily welcomed the federal government’s migration package which, though aimed to cut international student numbers, will mainly affect vocational education, the English language sector and private colleges.

Measures in the package, released on Monday, include a new genuine student test to weed out applicants who plan to work in Australia rather than study; higher English proficiency requirements; restrictions on jumping between courses; and a shorter period of post-study work rights in Australia for international students after graduation.

It also flags a move to help international student get better jobs if they stay in Australia and offers easier visa processes for highly skilled migrants.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said she backed the government’s moves to streamline the migration system and crack down on “unscrupulous operators” exploiting students.

However, “any changes, now or in the future, that restrict the movement of genuine students to our shores need to be weighed carefully against the significant benefits they bring, during and after their studies,” she said.

Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson praised the plan to streamline visa applications for talented migrants, including university researchers.

She said the new “talent and innovation visa” under consideration would help universities and employers attracting top academics and researchers and help retain PhD students in areas of economic need.

However she said there needed to be care in how the migration changes were communicated to students in other countries.

“This is not a crackdown on the high-quality students that we attract and nor is it a crackdown on universities such as those in the Group of Eight,” she said. “Rather it is designed to ensure that other providers are accountable when they are recruiting students.”

Executive director of the Australian Technology Network of universities Luke Sheehy said Australia needed a stronger supply of skilled workers, both domestic and international. “We back any policy setting which recognises that we cannot deliver enough skilled workers on our own in order to meet critical shortages in areas such as tech, health and engineering and these migration reforms can help fill these gaps,” he said.

A key measure in the package is the announcement of two new ministerial directives that give migration officers a high degree of discretion to reject student visa applicants and to slow down processing of students applying to study at colleges and universities that have a high visa risk rating.

These will give the government more levers to control the flow of international students, and reduce numbers if other measures, such as higher English proficiency requirements and shorter periods of post-study work rights, are not effective enough.

The Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia, whose membership includes private colleges, said it broadly welcomed the direction of the government’s migration strategy but said it had “concerns the Australian government’s response will be disproportionate to the risks which may exist”.