There is a direct link between the policies designed to restrict or cap international student enrolments and the future quality of health care in Western Sydney, according to Distinguished Professor George Williams AO, Vice-Chancellor, Western Sydney University (WSU).
Speaking as part of a webinar series this morning hosted by The Australia Institute on Universities and Australian Democracy, Williams said that the consequences of the proposed caps on international students will be a lack of trained workers in health care and aged care in Western Sydney in three years.
“[one of] the biggest of the programs we offer is actually nursing and they come here we train them as nurses they work in Western Sydney there’s a critical shortage of nurses in Western Sydney”, he said. “We’re just not going to have the people work in those areas.”
According to Williams, the Australian Universities Accord was “blown out of the water” by international student caps that “came from nowhere” in 2024. The policy was counterproductive and would harm domestic students, he said, while also lamenting that too many policies were politically driven, rather than being about getting good higher education outcomes.
Having to wait for the upcoming election and the associated uncertainty about future international student cap policies is impacting universities’ ability to plan effectively. He said, “it’s so volatile and uncertain”.
Williams advocated for celebrating international education and international students.
“As a nation we benefit so enormously by having these people want to study with us”, said Williams. “It’s all sorts of positives and we’re missing that. We’re focussing on housing, which is just wrong.”
Williams also spoke to issues of expenditure in universities, the importance of the humanities and the role of universities in the community during the webinar.
