Universities Australia boss Luke Sheehy has a blunt message for Canberra: without international students, Australia’s economy would have tanked — and blaming them for the housing crisis is pure political spin.
“In 2023, Australia would’ve been in a recession if we didn’t have international education,” said Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy in speaking with Craig Reucassel on ABC Sydney Breakfast this morning. “It’s worth $52 billion a year, drives 20 per cent of Victoria’s GDP, 10 per cent of New South Wales’, and funds the teaching, learning and research Australians rely on.”
After an election year marked by heated rhetoric and failed legislation aimed at slashing student numbers, the Albanese Government has now pledged growth in the sector. But it still wants to control how many students universities can take — and tie increases to more student housing and a focus on Southeast Asia.
Sheehy called out the politics behind the housing debate. “International students are not the cause of Australia’s housing crisis. They only make up four per cent of the private rental market, and vacancy rates near metropolitan universities are double those elsewhere. So, we’ve called it a furphy.”
The real issue? Decades of underinvestment in housing construction. “We need housing for international students, but we also need it for Australian families. This is a Team Australia effort,” Sheehy said.
The sector is ready to work with government on housing and growth, but after “billions of dollars” have been stripped from universities, it will take serious reinvestment to deliver. In the meantime, the message is sharp: international students aren’t just welcome — they’re essential to keeping Australia’s economy, skills pipeline, and global connections alive.
The transcript of the interview is as follows:
ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast with Craig Reucassel
CRAIG REUCASSEL: CEO of Universities Australia Luke Sheehy joins us now. Morning, Luke.
LUKE SHEEHY: Good morning, Craig.
CRAIG REUCASSEL: So, what’s behind this change in international student numbers?
LUKE SHEEHY: For the last 12 months during the election year, we were making the case to both sides of politics that we needed a strong and growing and sustainable international education system for Australia. Not only does it help the Australian economy, but it helps universities fund essential teaching and learning for Australians and research and development. After the election, the government now has announced that there will be growth in the system. That is something we’ve been calling for. It is the really important part of how we fund Australia’s world class university system. So, we welcome it, and we look forward to working with the government on further details.
CRAIG REUCASSEL: Now, what’s surprising you about this is I guess we’ve just seen an election where there was a lot of focus on this and there was a lot of talk about trying to reduce international student numbers. We saw before the election the government tried to pass legislation that would’ve reduced international student numbers that weren’t backed by the Coalition. Is this just the case that the election’s over so everybody goes back to normal?
LUKE SHEEHY: I don’t think it’s back to normal. Certainly, what the government is intending is still to dictate how many international students our universities and other education providers can have. But I think the growth that the government has committed to is welcome and I think it is a sign that the Labor government recognises just how important international education is to this country. Craig, in 2023, Australia would’ve been in a recession if we didn’t have international education.
CRAIG REUCASSEL: It is a huge part of our economy. It’s a massive part of economy.
LUKE SHEEHY: $52 billion. It is one of the biggest services economies in this country. It serves states like Victoria by more than 20 per cent of their GDP and New South Wales to the tune of around 10 per cent. It creates jobs, it creates opportunities, but importantly, it creates a bridge to the outside world and it creates friends in our region, and this region is the fastest growing region in the world with millions of students looking for education.
CRAIG REUCASSEL: There are clearly an enormous amounts of positives. The reason it became a bit of a political plaything though is I guess it got caught up in the debate about the housing crisis and I know universities pushed back against this a lot. There were some suggestions last year that we’d have a system whereby universities would have to provide more accommodation or kind of prove that they’re providing more accommodation to justify higher numbers. Is there any link like that there?
LUKE SHEEHY: The government has flagged that some of the growth in the system will be linked to investment in housing by our universities and also a commitment to growing numbers from our region, particularly from Southeast Asia. We look forward to working with the government on that. On housing, we have said repeatedly that international students are not the cause of Australia’s housing crisis. We have a construction problem in housing, and we know it was a big issue in the election campaign. We need housing for international students, but we need housing for Australian families as well. It’s a team Australia effort. If we’re going to get more housing for all Australians, universities are looking forward to working with the government on ensuring that there’s more housing available for Australian students and, of course, the international students that come from over 140 countries. But I think it is important to remember, and the Reserve Bank has reminded us of this only in the last month, that international students aren’t the cause of the housing crisis. They only make up four per cent of the private rental market and in areas around metropolitan universities, vacancy rates for rental properties are double that for other parts of the country. So, we’ve called it a furphy and we’re looking forward to working with the government. It is important that universities have investment in housing, but we’ve had billions of dollars stripped out of the university system and we need more funding and more capital to build that housing for students.
CRAIG REUCASSEL: Absolutely. Thanks for speaking to us this morning, Luke. I appreciate it.
LUKE SHEEHY: Great to be with you.
ENDS
