Universities must help international students find housing, federal Opposition demands

Higher levels of immigration will put university students under even more financial pressure, with many ‘couch surfing just to make ends meet’.

Senator Sarah Henderson says student accomodation shortages will put people under even more financial pressure.

Universities that enrol “couch surfing’’ students have been blasted by the federal Opposition for failing to ensure they have a place to live.

Soaring levels of immigration to plug skills shortages will place university students under even more financial strain over the next five years, the Coalition’s education spokeswoman, Senator Sarah Henderson, has warned.

In a scathing speech to the Australian Technology Network of Universities on Thursday, Senator Henderson will insist that universities have a duty of care to all their students.

“If universities are going to continue to sell the dream of an Australian education to international students, the sector must take greater responsibility to ensure students don’t end up couch surfing just to make ends meet,’’ she will tell the network’s future learning summit in Melbourne.

“With 1.5 million migrants heading our way over five years, Labor’s Big Australia policy also has big consequences for domestic students who need access to affordable housing and strong job prospects to thrive and succeed.

“As more and more students face cost of living pressures to study, particularly for those who have to relocate from the regions to attend university, we need to ask – what more can we do?

University of Sydney is one of many institutions expecting an influx of foreign students.

“How can students succeed in their studies when they’re battling to pay the rent or put food on the table, while being burdened with HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme) debt increasing at rates not seen since the early 1990s?’’

Senator Henderson told The Australian on Wednesday that universities “must take far greater responsibility for student welfare, particularly housing’’.

“It is untenable that universities are marketing and selling degrees which subject international students to so much hardship once they begin their studies in Australia,’’ she said.

“The Albanese government and the Education Minister, Jason Clare, have shown a reckless indifference to the housing crisis which both domestic and international students are facing.

“The government must be prepared to put students first, and that demands holding universities to account on this critical issue.’’

Senator Henderson said that “delivering value to students is absolutely critical’’.

She slammed Labor and the Greens for opposing the Coalition’s plan to give students the right to refunds for “deficient” degrees.

Senator Henderson said international students, who pay full fees for their degrees, had contributed $25.5 billion to Australia’s economy last year.

“But our reputation which drives this huge dividend for our country can never be taken for granted,’’ she said.

News that some international students are so poor they are “hot bedding’’ – or splitting the cost of a single room by sharing a bed with a shift worker – made international headlines this month.

International student arrivals remain at half the pre-pandemic level, The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday.

In May, 43,950 foreign students flew into Australia to enrol in Australian universities and vocational training colleges – more than double the number in May last year.

However, student arrivals remained 28 per cent lower than pre-Covid levels in May 2019, placing continuing strain on university revenues.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said international students had been worth $40 billion to the economy in 2019, before Australia slammed shut its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Australia continues to benefit culturally, socially and economically from the arrival of new and returning students,’’ she said.

Ahead of the release of the initial report of the Albanese government’s Universities Accord next week, Senator Henderson warned that universities “have a lot of work to do’’ to ensure students learn.

She said that only 55 per cent of university students had reported a positive “learning engagement” in the federal government’s 2022 Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey.

“If students are not engaged, they will not learn … our universities have a lot of work to do,’’ she will say in her speech.

Senator Henderson said universities should be “compelled to be transparent about how they teach’’.

“Face-to-face learning … is a key driver of learning engagement,’’ she will say.