Coronavirus: overseas student job losses to inflame financial crisis
The collapse in the part-time job market for international students could trigger a financial crisis for universities.
A higher education expert says a collapse in jobs for international students could leave them unable to pay university fees, triggering a financial crisis in the sector.
The Australian National University’s Andrew Norton said international students who lacked family and social security support in Australia “were particularly vulnerable as large parts of the student labour market collapse” because of the coronavirus.
International students, who can work 40 hours a fortnight under their visa conditions, are overwhelmingly employed in the retail and hospitality sectors that have been devastated by the pandemic. They are not eligible for government hardship support.
“If international students have to go home or cannot pay their fees, that is the most likely trigger for a broader higher education sector crisis,” Mr Norton said on his blog on Saturday. “At best, thousands of higher education workers will lose jobs. At worst, many universities will need government intervention to survive.”
Mr Norton, from the Centre for Social Research and Methods, said it was “not clear why international students and other temporary migrants should be excluded from the JobKeeper payment”.
“This policy is as much about business continuity as personal welfare”.
Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said if international students facing hardship were not given government support, the situation would soon be catastrophic.
“Before too long we are going to see desperate unemployed international students on the street with no tangible means of support,” he said.
On Saturday, Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge affirmed Scott Morrison’s Friday statement that if international students weren’t able to support themselves, they should go home.
Mr Tudge “strongly encouraged” temporary visa holders – a category that includes international students – to return home if they could not support themselves in Australia for the next six months.
However Mr Tudge said that students who had been here longer than 12 months would be allowed to access any superannuation savings they had accumulated from their part-time work while studying in Australia.
And he left the door open for government to take additional action to support international students, saying that the government would “undertake further engagement with the international education sector”.
The sector has stepped up its pressure on the federal government with Queensland’s official advisory body for international education calling on the federal government to give international students support to prevent them becoming a “public health and humanitarian risk”.
The Queensland International Education and Training Advisory Board wrote to Mr Morrison on Friday asking for a “national hardship fund” to assist needy international students which would be delivered via state and territory governments.
The board warned that if there was not “some level of support” for the most severely impacted students then it would lead to considerable reputational risk for Australia.
The Group of Eight universities backed the call for assistance for international students.
Group of Eight CEO Vicki Thomson said that Australia could not just be a “fair weather friend” to international students who “underpin our $40 billion international student industry”.
“Now, more than ever we need to support these students, many of whom have lost their jobs and are ineligible for any financial support,” she said.
Universities Australia CEO Catriona Jackson said that international students, like Australian students, had lost part-time jobs through no fault of their own.
“Universities will do all we can through support packages and welfare funds to assist our valued international students. We will also continue discussions with government,” she said.
Many universities are offering assistance to both domestic and international students to relieve hardship caused by coronavirus job losses.
RMIT University has a $10 million support package, Curtin University is offering $8 million worth of assistance package and James Cook University has established a food pantry,
Deakin University said on Friday it had received over 1500 application from students for immediate financial support, and had approved 730 so far.
Monash University has a $15 million assistance package with up to $7500 available in hardship assistence per student, as well as $500 immediate emergency grants.
Western Sydney University is giving current international students (who are onshore in Australia) a 10 per cent fee reduction, as well as offering other support measures.
Macquarie University is offering up to $1000 loans to needy students, in addition to an existing loan and grant scheme offering up to $2000.
Murdoch University has $2 million assistance fund for students severely affected financially by the coronavirus and a bursary worth $25 a week to reduce food bills for international students.
More Coverage
Cops probe fresh anti-Semitic attacks
Multiple vehicles, garages and properties have been plastered with anti-Semitic graffiti in Sydney’s eastern suburbs overnight.
Almost half of young Australians vote because they’re scared of a fine
In a new landmark survey, researchers found – surprisingly – that young Australians not registered to vote were more likely to be wealthy students than registered voters who simply forgot to show up on election day.