Universities Australia has told the government that revoking Ministerial Direction 107 is a non-negotiable, after Minister for Education, Jason Clare acknowledged this morning that parts of the sector have been hit hard by its impact. However, it appears that this is already the government’s plan, with Clare saying that enrolment caps were designed to replace Ministerial Direction 107.
Clare told the AFR Higher Education Summit that he was aware that, although some universities had benefitted from Ministerial Direction 107, some have been hit hard (On caps: “I know change can be difficult” says Clare).
Following Clare’s speech, Universities Australia Chief Executive Officer, Luke Sheehy said that “the government should now go further and revoke Ministerial Direction 107 to stem the financial impact it continues to cause and allow universities to operate in a more stable and certain environment that offers equity and diversity of international students among universities”.
In a follow-up interview with Julie Hare, Education editor at the AFR, Clare said that the government’s proposed enrolment caps would replace Ministerial Direction 107. However, the Minister refused to be drawn on what number of international students was “too many”, telling Hare that the answer was a “level that maintains the support for this important sector in this country and enables us as a nation to build stronger relationships with other countries in our region”.
With visa grants in higher education down by 23 per cent, or 60,000 fewer students, in the past year, Universities Australia says that this represents a $4.3 billion hit to the economy. “Ministerial Direction 107 has undermined our efforts as a sector to diversify our international student base and is creating significant financial anxiety and pain for universities,” said Sheehy.
Clare went on to say to Hare that “the intention here is not to turn a $40 billion or $50 billion industry back to a $20 billion industry”.
Ministerial Direction 107 was signed in December 2023 by former Home Affairs Minister, Clare O’Neil, requiring the Department of Home Affairs to process offshore Subclass 500 (Student) visa applications in an order of priority, with an education provider’s risk rating as the main criteria.
