Yesterday, the government increased the student living cost threshold for international students seeking to come to Australia, and today, well, it’s reverted to the previous amounts.
When students apply for a visa, they must demonstrate they have a certain amount of money to support themselves while studying. Two days ago, this amount was AU$24,505. Six months ago, it was AU$21,041. Yesterday, it went up to AU$29,505. The Koala calculates this as a 40.2 per cent increase in 12 months, possibly a little higher than CPI.
Today, it’s back to AU$24,505.
Many in the sector have contacted The Koala, asking, “What the heck is going on?”
The Koala is stumped too.
The Student perspective (and the most important one)
Students seeking to study in Australia are required to apply for a visa after gaining entry to an education institution. This has become more complex in recent times, with Ministerial Direction 107 directing Home Affairs in December to assess visas according to the institution and where they sit in a visa assessment risk ladder. This is confusing for students and bad, very bad for institutions. This means that if a student applies to institution X, they may have a visa turned around quickly, let’s say 10 days. However, if a student applies to institution Y, they may be forced to wait 3 months or more, with no guarantee of a positive outcome.
This has institutions changing admissions policies and regional universities crying foul, as they have been lumped in with their city colleagues but face little of the challenges the government seeks to address. Scott Bowman, Vice Chancellor of CDU articulates this well (TKN 17/4/24).
This increase in student costs and its subsequent reversal adds to the confusion for students.
Students pay approximately AU$700 for a visa, and with no lead time or phase-in notified by the department for this latest increase in financial evidence, those who have submitted applications under the previous threshold could technically be rejected if they do not meet the new one—if it is, in fact, the new one now that it has been withdrawn.
With visa application fees speculated to go up significantly in the May budget, this flip-flop poses a risk that students may decide is not worth taking. Imagine losing $700 or $1500 to $2500 dollars through no fault of your own. Add to it the potential of having to record in future visa applications to other countries that you have had a visa rejected from Australia.
It’s not an attractive proposition.
Government out of control
“What the heck is going on?” is the line that the Koala keeps hearing. From the aforementioned Ministerial Direction 107, inconsistent visa assessments and an increase in rejections on the back of it, visa fees are set to go up and now this balls up. Many in the sector are wondering if the Minister actually knows what she is doing.
There has been very little consultation with the sector, policy mandates released without notice and little to no lead time to prepare any adjustments that need to take place. The Government may continue with the line that “it is getting on with business”, but it leaves a wake of devastation in its rearview mirror.
The rationale for decreasing net overseas migration via the student stream is twofold.
One, the pressure on housing supply and affordability rationale was debunked last week by the release of the Property Council of Australia Report (TKN 27/4/24), which demonstrates international students only occupy 4 per cent of the rental market. And the subsequent release of a research paper by the Go8 university consortium (TKN 1/5/24) outlining supply side problems are responsible for the crisis, not international students.
Two, that these migration changes will target dodgy colleges. Remember Minister O’Connor’s reference at the National Press Club? (TKN 3/10/23) “Probably more than a dozen, but under one hundred”. There has been little-to-no evidence of dodgy colleges being ousted or prosecution for illegal activity such as human trafficking, which was alleged in various reports presented to the government last year. Both of which were welcomed by the sector.
Surely the government can’t throw the 4th largest export sector completely under the bus?
Maybe they can. The release of a poll by pollsters Red Bridge as articulated by the Daily Telegraph “support for immigration is collapsing in the face of the housing crisis, with almost half the country now saying they would be more likely to vote for a party committed to reducing the annual migrant intake”. If only Jo public knew that only 16 per cent go on to become permanent migrants this view may change.
While this continues to be the case, perhaps the government will press on regardless of the damage to the economy and its longer-term consequences.
