As we start to unpack the Australian Universities Accord Final Report at The Koala News, this author has been struck by the number of perennial issues addressed in the recommendations. This has led to a deeper dive into one of the perennial issues, diversification in international education.
Recommendation 22c of the Accord states:
22. That to plan for a strong future for the international education system and recognise the contribution international students make to Australia, the Australian Government and the Australian Tertiary Education Commission:
c. work with tertiary education providers to explore opportunities and review visa requirements to support diversification of international student markets within a national strategic framework, including through using innovative transnational education delivery modes. This engagement should particularly focus on medium term opportunities in South Asia, consistent with Australia’s Education Strategy for India, and Southeast Asia, consistent with the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040
Engaging the World through Education
The issue of diversification is not a new one for the sector. Twenty-one years ago, in October 2003, the Ministerial statement on the internationalisation of Australian education and training, Engaging the World through Education, first addressed the issue of diversification for the sector. (For those who have not been around as long as this author, it is worth noting that this is the only ministerial statement to ever be released relating to international education, and was by The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, Minister for Education, Science and Training.)
The Australian Government sees the need to advance Australia’s international education engagement to a broader stage through a strategy for diversification that has four main elements: widening the mix of overseas students in Australia by recruiting more intensely from Europe and the Americas while continuing growth in Asia; extending the participation of international students in fields other than business and information technology; attracting more students to schooling and to postgraduate coursework and research degree programs; and increasing Australia’s delivery of education and training services in overseas settings and through online arrangements, including through partnerships.
The Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 and the SARS outbreak in 2002 had highlighted vulnerabilities for the international education sector with the reliance on South-East and East Asia as source markets.
The key to the success of the initiatives in the Ministerial Statement was the allocation of real funding, with an allocation of $113m over four years commencing from the 2003/04 budget. The statement also promised “significant ongoing funding into the future”, which failed to eventuate following a change of government in 2007.
Government initiatives
Two of the initiatives that addressed diversification were an increase in government-to-government work and promotion in emerging overseas markets, and the launch of the Endeavour Program of scholarships and fellowships. The former initiative led to Education Counsellors and offices being established in Latin America (Chile and Mexico) and Europe (Brussels).
Outcomes
The establishment of offices in Latin America kicked off years of activity in the region, by governments and by the sector. Brazil entered the top ten source nationalities for Australia in 2006, and other markets saw significant growth from 2002 to 2007 (albeit off lower bases): Chile 43.4%, Colombia 82.3%, Mexico 16.5%, Peru 91.5%.
The Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships Program was launched in 2003 as an internationally competitive, merit-based scholarship program providing opportunities for citizens of Australia, the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe and the Americas. As an example of the reach of the Endeavour Awards, in 2007 almost 350 award recipients came from 45 different countries. Sadly, the Endeavour Awards was de-funded in 2019 after years of dilution and uncertainty.
Australian Strategy for International Education 2021-2030
The number one priority identified in the 2021 Australian Strategy for International Education 2021-2030 was diversification. The action to be taken to diversify student cohorts and source countries was:
A. The Australian Government will drive better diversity of international students to improve sector resilience and student experience, with a particular focus on Australia’s public universities.
To the best of The Koala’s knowledge, none of the four action items that the government stated it will do relating to diversification have been finalised, with no real funding allocated to support the actions and a new government elected in 2022.
The Australian Universities Accord Final Report
The other aspect of the Accord’s recommendation about diversification that stands out in the current environment, other than funding, is the phrase to “review visa requirements to support diversification”, going on to say that “engagement should particularly focus on medium term opportunities in South Asia”.
There has been a lot of media coverage in recent weeks about the recent spike in visa rejection rates, with as many as 1 in 5 international students having their visa applications rejected in the last two quarters of 2023. The current rejection rates for South Asian markets, such as India, Pakistan and Nepal are even higher. The Migration Strategy released at the end of 2023, and a lack of transparency about the new rules, have been identified as the cause of this spike.
Africa has also been identified as providing potential to diversity Australia’s international student market. However, like South Asia, one of the challenges is the high visa rejection rate for applications from these countries.
Real and ongoing funding and alignment of government policies will be at the centre of achieving Recommendation 22c.
Transnational education and online education have also been suggested as ways of diversifying the international education sector. These have not been addressed in this article, due to length constraints. The Koala News will aim to tackle this angle in a future article, it’s a complex one.
Tracy Harris joined the Department of Education, Science and Training in 2004 on the Latin America desk at Australian Education International, and subsequently ran the Endeavour Awards scholarship program. She was also the Executive Director, Global Development and Performance at RMIT, leading the transnational education portfolio.
