On Friday, the Australian Financial Review and the Age/Sydney Morning Herald ran pieces on the visa situation, The Koala thanks them for their acknowledgements and quotes. The Minister quickly tweeted soon after.
David Crowe, chief political correspondent for The Age/Sydney Morning Herald ran the piece International students turned away in record numbers. Julie Hare, the Education Editor for the Australian Financial Review, ran this: Unis cancelling full-fee international students.
The Koala encourages those with access to read and engage with these pieces.
Minister Tweets
On Saturday, the Minister for Home Affairs, Claire O’Neil tweeted:
The comment “Our plan to get migration back down to sustainable levels is working. This is led by changes that are reducing exploitation and rorting in higher education” has ruffled feathered in the industry.
Ravi Lochan Singh CEO of Global Reach, an agent supporting students from the sub-continent, posted the tweet on Linkedin saying:
This is the latest tweet from the Hon. Minister for Home Affairs…
Over the last few months, we have seen a significant increase in refusals across South Asia and all this while there has not yet been any change in visa regulations. Universities and agents have been following the guidelines as it was in 2023 and while we wondered on the reason, we were often blamed for the quality of students or there being fraud in the caseloads. We (Universities and agents) often wondered where the missing link was and now we even have Universities asking agents to withdraw the visas before a decision is reached as they fear that it could lead to a refusal and then lead to a decline in their risk level.
The tweet has now confirmed what we had suspected. The Government was following a strategy to reduce student intake and for this was refusing visas even when the visas met the requirements… I find this fairly painful and thousands of students will lose out on visa fee, money in terms of forex charges when seeking refunds and also in terms of time. Australia is bound to lose its attraction even for the genuine students… What a bad policy to follow… The solution if the government wants to reduce the student intake is to increase the visa requirements but still grant visas to those who meet the requirements… Who will bell the cat !
It is sure to draw the ire of many who believe the sector has long followed the government’s lead and playing within the rules set by the government all along.
The point and what’s missing
There appears to be an alignment issue around the notion of “exploitation and rorting” in education and higher education as the Minister states.
In the Koala’s extensive discussion over the past 6-12 months, as the government has reviewed the sector, not one person has indicated to the Koala that any unscrupulous behaviour should be tolerated. “Get rid of them” is generally the phrase used.
The government’s posturing, however, appears to be blurring the lines between what may occur by a handful of providers – remember Minister O’Connor’s comments earlier on “Probably more than a dozen, but under 100” (TKN 3/10/23).
The point that exploitation was occurring within colleges is well made, but this is the first time any reference to exploitation of the visa system itself has been made. For those in the sector, it is nigh on impossible to ”work the system” with the amount and checks and balances required by the feds greater than ever before.
What the sector is seeing is rejections made on the basis of “economic grounds” meaning those in their home countries may not be in the same economic situation as they are in Australia.
The Koala has obtained wording from visa rejection letters and while they do change from officer to officer and post to post the following is consistent:
I have considered all the information provided with the visa application. Given the comparatively greater economic opportunities in Australia and the applicant’s own country, I am not satisfied that the applicant is a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student.
The inconsistency is a point well made by a Reddit contributor who posted the following on Saturday morning:
While the reaction to this kind of thing on Reddit is normally “Good, we don’t want them”, the process in which numbers are being cut needs to be examined.
Canada is going through the same housing challenges as Australia, and had a near identical student visa program. They announced that they would be capping numbers at a certain level. They gave absolutely clear criteria under which students would or would not be accepted, and made it clear when the quota is reached, there are no more visas.
Australia went a different route. The government announced it would reduce student visa numbers. Visas are now refused, but the government will not explain why. Where two identical applications are lodged (and I mean identical – twin sisters in one case), one will be accepted and one will be refused. The government refuses to explain the criteria under which refusals are made.
The article is incorrect where is says that new standards are being applied. Actually, what is being applied is an entirely subjective test called the “Genuine Temporary Entrant”. It can be applied by visa officers to reject an otherwise perfect application. The preferred reason for rejection is that students could potentially earn more in Australia than their own country. With wages as they are in Australia, this would seem to be something that can be applied to everywhere except Switzerland and Norway … and it is. It’s common to see a visa refusal that says, basically “You have met every criteria for entry. The potential to take advantage of potentially better economic circumstances exists in Australia, however, so…well, no”.
For students, this is a gross abuse. Students who have saved to meet every financial requirement, and have spent years in education working towards meeting the academic and language criteria are simply refused entry. No real explanation. It makes no difference if they are attending a language school or moving into a Masters course, or anything in between. It’s random.
For institutions, this is a complete disaster. Institutions, both public and private, are required to maintain the integrity of the student visa system. They are judged on an ‘assessment level ‘, meaning that where visas are refused the institution is ultimately penalised. Some have now responded by simply pulling the plug on thousands of offers – ie a student has been accepted, but with absolutely random processes applied to the visa process, there is no way for the university to judge if they will be granted a visa. As such, places like Wollongong University and La Trobe University (and many others) have made the decision simply to cancel the enrolment of thousands of students – many of who would have been packing and ready to fly to start semester one. This is students who have left their jobs, sold houses, farewelled families and prepared for years living abroad. Again, this is a grotesque abuse.
To use an example for another sector, imagine if the iron ore industry (similar in economic size to international education) loaded carriers up at port and sent them off to overseas markets. Halfway through the journey, the government then randomly turns half the boats back, with no explanation. When they arrive back, the miners are penalised and prevented from mining again in future. Buyers do not receive their purchases, the mining companies are shut down. That’s the new student visa program.
Many students in Australia on language programs would have been looking to move into TAFE or university this month. With visas randomly denied and other cancelled, many are going home. Many others are now instead exiting the student visa system and either going illegal, or claiming asylum. This will take a decade to unwind.
Some reform was required. The Albanese government has instead introduced complete and utter chaos.
It’s the subjectivity that The Koala is hearing most about. It continues to be miffed that one twin sister can obtain a visa, while the other can’t… and this is at the heart of the frustration being felt in the sector.
It’s all about the election stupid!
With the window towards the next federal election coming towards us, it would appear that migration and international students will be front and centre, and the government is keen to let the Australian electorate know it is cleaning up a mess… that many believe does not exist.
