Universities and businesses are lobbying against controversial legislation to cap international student numbers from next year. They say the legislation is “rushed policy” and “a political smokescreen”.
But the government says changes are necessary to prevent people using student visas as a back-door to Australia.Warnings against a putting a limit on international student places say the changes could put thousands of jobs at risk and seriously stifle university research efforts.
"There is evidence of exploitation of overseas students and of actors in the sector who seek to subvert Australia's migration and education systems to enable the entry of people into Australia for purposes other than study. This exploitation can range from providing poor-quality education products, to high student fees and false promises of pathways to permanent migration.
Since 2023, the government has introduced nine major migration policy changes affecting future and former international students. "So I came here one year back, so it was like quite difficult to get some accommodation. But after few months, i got to know where to get and so on. But few of the new students, they could not able to get so far. I know few of my friends were struggling to get so they have to make it easier. So a little bit because of house crisis, we know, it's like limited to us here. There is a lot of students in coming, so it's like little bit hard to get your accommodation.
The legislation would allow universities to exceed the cap if they build additional student housing to free up pressure on the rental market.The group says the cap will undermine Australia’s most successful and largest services export industry."This rushed and poorly-framed legislation is a classic example of retro-fitting policy to suit dubious politics.
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