Foreigners’ preference for cities sparks action on regions

More than 95 per cent of inter­national students in Australia live and study in major cities, according to census data.

Major cities are the overwhelming preference for international students.

More than 95 per cent of inter­national students in Australia live and study in major cities, according to data from the 2016 census just released by the Australian ­Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show that major cities are the usual place of ­residence for 96 per cent of ­international students, while 3 per cent live in “inner regional Australia” and only 1 per cent reside in “outer regional Australia”.

The Morrison government has responded to the overwhelming preference that international students have for living in cities by looking for ways to persuade more of them to live and study in regional areas.

This would boost economic ­activity in the region­s and ease infrastructure problems in the cities.

The government’s Council for International Education is expected to make recommendations soon that could lead to a policy ­announcement before the federal election.

The census data also shows that the most popular job for international students in Aust­ralia is as a cleaner and laundry worker, closely followed by work in ­hospitality.

The figures show that 51 per cent of international students are in the labour force (that is, either working or looking for work), and the unemployment rate (of those who are in the labour force) is 20 per cent. Of the students who worked, 59 per cent earned between $300 and $649 a week, with 20 per cent earning less than that, and the rest earning more. Fifteen per cent of those who worked earned between $650 and $999 a week and 5 per cent earned more than $1000 a week.

The data also shows that 29 per cent of international stud­ents believe they speak Englis­h very well, while another 49 per cent say they speak English well. Another 8 per cent speak English only.

The census data also shows that the student unemployment rate is similar, close to 20 per cent, regardless of how good a student believes their English is.