Australia caps international student numbers amid discontent over housing
Al JazeeraAUG 22 2024
The Australian government has implemented a new visa processing system to reduce the inflow of international students. This follows its previous approach to capping student intake, which was reportedly blocked in parliament.
Under the new system, immigration officials will prioritize student visa applications for all institutions until they reach 80% of their allocated international student numbers for 2025, after which the processing will slow down.
This change replaces the controversial Ministerial Direction 107, which had prioritized visa applications for "low-risk" institutions and countries, reportedly putting regional universities at a disadvantage.
This new visa system provides a fairer approach that protects regional and smaller universities while maintaining control over migration numbers. The change offers needed certainty to the education sector and helps to manage international student numbers in a more sustainable way. This solution effectively bypasses the parliamentary gridlock that blocked the original legislation.
These constant changes to visa policy settings make Australia appear unwelcoming as a higher education destination. The 80% processing threshold creates unnecessary confusion in the international student market and could damage the sector's reputation. This new directive is merely another flawed process replacing the previous one, shifting goalposts yet again.