7/10/2020
Our International Student numbers coming to Australia are plummeting in line with or at a faster rate than the rest of the economy. Already the most recent data is suggesting that our numbers are struggling to get anywhere even close to half what they were a year ago. Of course the closure of International borders would be a significant contributor to that decline.
Given that in the past, International students have contributed in excess of $35 billion to our economy, this is a very real loss of substantial proportions. If the Federal or State Treasurers do not reflect this loss of revenue in their respective budgets, as being almost a permanent one, questions will be raised.
All of the feedback we are reading here and in overseas publications and newspapers is that the students here currently are advising their contemporaries in home countries not to come to Australia. Since the start of the pandemic International students have been vilified, abused and generally discriminated against. And State and Federal governments have contributed by excluding these visa holders from any access to job keeper and job seeker payments.
A direct impact of this loss of revenue will be felt by those students graduating from High Schools here and hoping to undertake further study. Because of this loss of revenue, it is highly likely that Institutions will not be able to offer the same range and quality of study programs as they did in the past.
Now to await the recognition of this in our budgets and to look for solutions.
Suresh Rajan