Housing Shortage and Soaring Rents Cause Strain
Considering Limits on International Students at Universities
The Australian government has more than doubled the application fee for student visas after an influx of international students following the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to The Australian and other daily newspapers, from the 1st of this month (local time), the Australian government raised the student visa fee from 710 Australian dollars (about 650,000 KRW) to 1,600 Australian dollars (about 1,480,000 KRW). Additionally, those currently staying in Australia on visitor visas or temporary graduate visas are now prohibited from applying for student visas.
Clare O'Neil, Australia's Minister for Home Affairs, stated, "The additional revenue generated from the fee increase will be used to support Australian student education funding and provide financial assistance to local trainees and employers," adding, "It will help create a fairer, smaller, and better immigration system."
Since the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has seen a surge in immigrants, including international students. According to the Australian government, the current number of international students residing in Australia exceeds 700,000, marking an all-time high.
With the rapid increase in immigrants, Australia is suffering from housing shortages and soaring rental prices. Therefore, the Australian government plans to reduce the annual net immigration level to about half of the current figure. In particular, it has been continuously tightening the requirements for issuing student visas, judging that a significant number of student visa entrants misuse the student visa as a low-skilled foreign worker stay visa.
The Australian government is also considering imposing a cap on the number of international students at universities.
According to local media, more than 35% of students at the Group of Eight (Go8), a coalition of eight major Australian universities, are international students. Notably, 47% of the total students at the University of Sydney are international students. Vicki Thomson, CEO of Go8, expressed concern that if the number of international students at universities is limited to pre-2019 levels, it could result in a reduction of about 5.4 billion Australian dollars (approximately 5 trillion KRW) annually and 22,500 jobs.
Luke Schih, CEO of Universities Australia, said, "Both universities and the Australian economy heavily rely on international student tuition fees," adding, "Ongoing government policy pressure on the education sector could jeopardize the competitiveness of Australian universities."
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg News, Australia's international education market is valued at 48 billion Australian dollars (about 44.3 trillion KRW), accounting for approximately 7% of the country's total exports.
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