Queensland’s dedicated funding for regional international education study clusters has ended, with the Queensland Government confirming that the Study Queensland Regional Funding Framework (SQRFF) concluded on 30 June 2026.
The annual funding program supported five regional clusters: Study Cairns, Experience Gold Coast, Study Toowoomba, Study Townsville and Study Sunshine Coast.
The funding supported activities including international student experience and support, market development and diversification, and engagement between education providers, industry and regional communities.
The Queensland Government says the SQRFF was established as a temporary commitment under the Queensland International Education and Training Strategy 2022–2027 by the former government, with no permanent funding attached to it.
The Government also says the five clusters were advised in April 2026 that the funding would end.
However, the Koala has spoken to sources who have provided a different account of those discussions.
According to the sources, discussions with Study Queensland in April focused on uncertainty around the timing of the next funding allocation, including the possibility of a delay of around three months.
They say they did not understand those discussions to mean that the Regional Funding Framework itself would cease on 30 June.
The distinction is significant because the end of the funding has had practical consequences for the organisations operating across regional Queensland.
As the Koala understands, each affected study cluster is now reviewing its operations for financial operability and viability.
The Queensland Government, however, maintains that the end of the SQRFF does not represent an end to its support for regional international education. Study Queensland remains committed to working closely with study clusters and regional partners.
Study Queensland says it will continue to promote support services for international students, deliver employability initiatives across the state and support education and training providers to achieve international education export outcomes.
It has also pointed to the Study Queensland Adapt to Thrive Grant Program, which opened on 15 September and provides grants of up to $20,000 to eligible international education and training providers seeking to diversify and pursue new global opportunities.
The clusters acknowledge the Government’s ongoing commitment to international education, but say the new grant program is not a direct replacement for the SQRFF.
That is because the two programs serve different purposes.
The SQRFF provided operational and project funding to regional clusters, allowing them to maintain local infrastructure and coordinate activity across students, education providers, employers, local government, industry and community organisations.
The Adapt to Thrive program, by comparison, provides competitive project funding to eligible individual education and training providers.
That raises one of the questions now facing regional Queensland: how will the locally based coordination and support previously provided by the clusters be maintained under the new funding arrangements?
The role of the clusters extends beyond student recruitment.
Study Cairns, for example, has operated in the region for almost 30 years and provides international students with a range of support including orientation, employability and job-readiness assistance, connections with local employers and industry, settlement support and opportunities to connect with the wider Cairns community.
The Cairns Student Hub has also provided a physical space where international students can meet other students, access support and build local connections.
Those the Koala spoke to argue that this type of local infrastructure is difficult to replicate through individual provider grants or centrally delivered programs.
There is another question arising from the timing of the decision.
The Queensland International Education and Training Strategy 2022–2027 remains in place, and identifies support for regional study clusters to deliver targeted services for international students and other sector activities as one of its actions.
The SQRFF, however, ended a year before the strategy reaches its scheduled conclusion.
That leaves a relatively straightforward question for Queensland’s international education sector: how will the strategy’s regional objectives be delivered during the remainder of the strategy if the dedicated funding mechanism supporting the clusters has ended?
There is also the question of what happens to the regional networks that have been built over many years.
The Queensland Government itself recognises the value of the relationships, local knowledge and networks developed by the clusters, particularly around international student welcome, wellbeing, employability and community connection.
The Koala understands the regional clusters themselves are now asking how those capabilities will be maintained as some organisations reduce their operations.
None of this necessarily changes the Government’s stated position that it remains committed to regional international education.
Rather, it raises questions about how that commitment will translate into locally delivered support across regional Queensland following the end of the SQRFF.
The SQRFF has ended. The Government has introduced other programs and says it will continue working with regional partners. At the same time, the organisations that have provided much of the local coordination are adjusting to a significantly different funding environment.
For Queensland’s regions, the issue now appears less about whether international education remains a government priority and more about what the delivery model will look like.
And perhaps the most practical question is a simple one: what regional infrastructure will remain in place to deliver that work?
That is a question that is likely to become clearer as the regional clusters navigate a significantly more constrained funding environment.
