‘Far-reaching impacts’: WA’s tough border rules will hurt foreign student numbers into the future

Western Australia will suffer a significant disadvantage to the eastern states over its limited acceptance of foreign students in the wake of its continued border measures, StudyPerth has warned.

The McGowan government recently told education institutes that the delay in the border reopening will mean that most foreign students will be prevented from returning to WA campuses in semester 1.

Chinese students at a graduation ceremony in Shanghai. Australia and US universities got fewer students from China since the start of the pandemic.Credit: AP

The only international students who may still make it across from interstate under WA’s expanded exemptions need to already be in Australia ahead of the February 5 changes.

Under the new G2G Pass conditions that come into effect on Saturday, those wishing to attend primary school, secondary school, university or TAFE in WA may travel from interstate – but not overseas.

“The impact is significant now in terms of a further reduction of international students being able to study in WA, and we expect the sector will be impacted for some time in the future,” StudyPerth interim CEO Tara Colyer-Long said.

“It has obviously put WA at a disadvantage compared to other Australian states in the international education sector.

“This will have far-reaching impacts both financially and emotionally for many people.”

StudyPerth is the leading organisation which manages international students enrolments in WA.

While Ms Colyer-Long was unable to provide clear figures about the expected drop in semester 1, she said she remained hopeful some students would still be able to comply under the rapidly evolving exemptions and borders would reopen before semester 2.

An international student from France who was enrolled in the University of WA’s Bachelor of Science, completed her first semester online last year.

But the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was unable to complete two out of four units in her second semester because those labs needed to be face-to-face.

“I still want a go to UWA because in the future I would like to live in Australia and UWA is a great university to study,” she said before the latest change to border rules.

She looked forward to having a normal student life, meeting people, working, visiting Perth, enjoy a face-to-face life instead of an online life.

UWA has a total of 4180 international students, of whom 51 per cent are in Australia, while 49 per cent remain offshore.

Prior to the border delay, UWA developed a range of transition plans and arrangements for international students arriving in WA at different points in their degrees to help them transition effectively into campus-based learning.

“We’re confident that most, if not all of our offshore students will choose to come back to Perth, in addition to new students opting to study in one of the safest places in the world,” a spokesperson said in early December.

But on Tuesday a UWA spokesperson said they were still talking with government as it was “a dynamic situation”.

“Obviously it’s a disappointing situation for our students, we know many students wanted to come to Perth for semester 1, so it’s too hard to estimate the impact on student enrolments,” they said.

Murdoch University expected 1200 to 1500 international students to arrive throughout 2022, with the largest intake likely in semester 2.

Of those, about 300 students were studying offshore.

On Tuesday, Murdoch interim vice-chancellor Jane den Hollander said the university was working with other WA tertiary education colleagues and the state government to help bring in as many new and continuing students as possible.

“And we are working to support those whose travel plans have been disrupted,” she said.

Both universities undertook sharp measures to reduce staff and turn academic positions into teaching only roles in light of concerns about falling finances with borders shut.

Curtin University and Notre Dame also underwent rounds of redundancies to cut out tens of millions of dollars in salaries, while Edith Cowan University bucked the trend by investing in new research positions.

Curtin has around 1700 offshore students enrolled at its Bentley and Kalgoorlie campuses, with enrolment for new international students closing February 13.

“Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for everyone, and we particularly want to thank our students who have demonstrated their trust and commitment to Curtin, by continuing their studies online during this disruptive period,” a spokesperson said in December.

The university sector was the only one not helped financially by the Federal Government during the pandemic.

ECU refused to provide its international numbers after a damning report into its proposed $695 million city campus suggested that its projected student numbers were overblown.

The project was given approval, however, by DevelopmentWA in December, with construction at Perth’s Yagan Square to begin this year.

ECU vice-chancellor Steve Chapman said at the time that he expected “one of the most dynamic, innovative and technologically advanced university campuses in the southern hemisphere” to attract more than 9000 students and staff from 2025.

UWA, Curtin and ECU have refused to comment on the latest border issues.

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