There is currently a great deal happening in the perpetual roller coaster ride that defines our sector.
The recent Education Roundtable was chaired by Jason Clare to coincide with PM Modi and Albanese’s Australia-India Economic Roadmap Business Reception. As an attendee and speaker at the Roundtable, it became very clear that the two Governments see our sector as increasingly pivotal to an enhanced bilateral relationship.
While it was great to hear from the nine Australian universities’ Chancellors and VCs present about their branch campuses and other Indian initiatives, I was at pains to emphasise that VET and high school engagement should not be overlooked in the rush to embrace bilateral higher education models. We too often overlook the hundreds of international high schools teaching US, Canada, UK matriculation certificates (plus the IB) which are providing a massive recruitment pipeline into those competitor countries’ higher education model systems. I cited the recent decision by ten Indian high schools to teach the WA Year 11 and 12 (WACE) certificate as an exemplar.
With TNE being the new “big thing” for the Government, we were not surprised to have a sold-out IEAA TNE Network Forum in Melbourne this year. Unusually, the speaker from the Federal Education Department stayed for the whole two days (curiously, his TNE unit actually sits within the Foreign Interference section of the Department!).
The Opening Panel on “Geopolitical Risks and TNE Strategy” included a speaker beamed in from the University of Illinois who made the observation that “the largest exporter of TNE, the USA, is now one of the most restrictive importers of students”. We can only hope that this is a lead that our policy makers are not copying too much!
Then, very late on a Friday afternoon, the 2027 National Planning Limit (NPL) was snuck onto the Department’s website with a retention of the current 295,000 overseas student commencements figure. Given that the narrative coming out of Canberra was to expect a lower NPL for next year, many of us were pleasantly surprised. However, we all know that this figure is entirely theoretical if student visas continue to be refused at the current rate!
And so it was with mixed emotions that 300 of us descended on the Gold Coast last week for The PIE Live Asia-Pacific and heard from Home Affairs Department’s Matthew Noble, and then Asst Min Julian Hill, about how good we have it! Matthew’s argument that student visa approvals were still running at an annual rate of 78% was met with disbelief (the day after this statement we officially heard that from Jan to Jun 2026 it actually fell to 71%).
Julian’s suggestion that we need to focus on high-value, quality students did not go down well either. The second day featured a great panel on “Across the Uni-verse: exploring multi-university models, branch campuses and alliances”. Legitimate concerns were expressed about the motivations behind some Australian providers’ rush into overseas ventures and whether they are choosing the right locations, right partners and appropriate price points. One speaker reminded everyone that despite a population of 1.4 billion, only 45 million Indian households earn the equivalent of AUD $100,000 pa. High levels of unemployment in graduates’ course-related jobs was also noted as a factor in the recent massive student protests in that and other countries in the region.
All of the above will make for great advocacy points when IEAA hosts our reconstituted Ministerial Briefing Day and Parliamentary Friends Group events at Parliament House in Canberra on 12th August.
At this stage we have Minister Jason Clare, Asst Min Hill and Shadow Education Minister, Julian Leeser locked in for the Briefing session. This will be followed by approximately 35 Senators and Federal MPs attending our Association’s Friends function that evening. In the current climate, the old adage “with friends like these who needs enemies” seems particularly apt!
Phil Honeywood is the CEO of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA).
