Aussie unis fear financial hit from caps on international students

Move also risks damaging global reputations of the country's universities

- Jonathan Pearlman

Australia is set to introduce controversial caps on international student numbers, amid pressure to reduce migrant inflows and ease a housing crisis ahead of an election due by May 2025.

The move is expected to take a financial toll on the country's universities - many of which depend heavily on the intake of international students to sustain themselves and puts at risk tens of thousands of jobs and the institutions' global reputations.

The federal government is set to announce its highly anticipated caps within days.

Legislation enabling the caps has already been approved by Australia's House of Representatives, and is currently being debated in the Senate.

The government has dismissed reports that it might restrict international students at universities to 40 per cent of total enrolments.

However, provisions of the Bill that prescribe new ministerial powers to unilaterally limit enrolments across entire sectors, institutions, courses and locations have been described as "draconian" and "interventionist" by the education sector.

In the year to May, Australia had a record 810,960 international student enrolments, including 399,427 at universities and 278,032 at vocational colleges. The remainder was made up of students in schools, English-language colleges and other institutions.

Though the international education sector is worth A$48 billion (S$42.2 billion) a year and is one of the country's most lucrative exports, the federal government is under intense pressure to address migration-related issues, which are likely to be at the top of voter concerns in the next election.

The Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has already increased visa application fees and imposed tougher Englishlanguage requirements in a bid to curb international student numbers. The Bill to cap the intake of international students marks its most significant step yet to reduce overall migrant rates.