International education should be a bipartisan issue. Overwhelmingly it has been good for our nation.
Australian International Education Conference (AIEC) 2025
Canberra - 15 October, 2025
This gathering is now a big deal. Interesting factoid: AIEC has grown from 95 attendees in 1987 to 1,902 last year!
The first AIEC I attended was back in 2013, the last time it was held in Canberra, here at the National Convention Centre.
As someone brand new to the sector, a public servant in Victoria looking after Study Melbourne, it was invaluable to listen and learn from others.
So a special shoutout to everyone here for the first time.
I hope you, and everyone, relish the experience. Filling yourself up with context for your day-to-day work, sharing ideas and dilemmas, connecting with peers and leaving inspired.
While I'm here today on behalf of the Australian Government, I maintain my firm belief that International education should be a bipartisan issue. Overwhelmingly it has been good for our nation.
When I was appointed as Assistant Minister I received a lovely, warm note from a former Liberal Minister I worked under in Victoria.
In that spirit, I congratulate my friend Julian Leeser MP who was appointed two days ago as the Shadow Minister for Education.
A few years ago Julian and I spoke together on a panel here at the AIEC and we agreed on far more than we differed.
I was also pleased to see Zoe McKenzie reappointed as the Shadow Assistant Minister. Zoe and I co-chaired the Parliamentary Friendship Group for International Education last term.
There's no point being coy of course – it's hasn't been all roses. It'd be a generous descriptor to characterise their international education offering at the last election as a policy. It was bizarre. It was more like a sort of a culture war wrapped up in a donor strategy.
Their genius idea was to take places off public universities, that fund our global research, build our kids' classrooms and create national wealth. And give those places to the private vocational training market – the bottom end of which is where most of the integrity rorts are.
There are also serious concerns about the forces within the Coalition seeking a race to the bottom on race and migration.
But Jason Clare, as the Minister for Education, and I will always seek to cooperate with our counterparts in the national interest and genuinely wish them well.
Now I don't need to convince anyone in this room of the inherent value of international education.
A $51bn sector that has educated millions of people over decades.
As Australia's fourth largest export sector, supporting over 250,000 Australian jobs, international students contribute enormously to our economy. Including by their work in a tight labour market while studying.
And while most students will never be able to stay long term, those who do are some of the most valuable skilled migrants we gain.
For alumni who return home, they take that piece of Australia with them. Studying in Australia fosters 'soft power' – friendships, professional links and a connection to our country and its people. Enduring benefits as alumni go onto become influential leaders.
Yet despite Australia's enormous success over decades as a premium destination, the global market is turbulent, and our future success is not guaranteed.
Continued success must be earnt, through good policy and a ruthless focus on quality, integrity and a great student experience.
Turbulent period
As the Conference theme today suggests, this has been a disruptive period, in the global market and with necessary changes in domestic policy settings.
I think it was the 2023 AIEC in Adelaide when I said a few times that I was concerned we may need to 'prune the tree to save the tree'. That was as popular as a sackful of the proverbial of course.
But it was accurate.
While most were excited that headline growth was rebounding strongly, when you dug into the numbers there were worrying signs that the pace and pattern of growth was unsustainable. In particular there was a spike in the less reputable parts of the private VET sector, reminiscent of the bubble in the late 2000's.
Some of this was driven by the worst single policy decision for this sector by the previous overnment, to uncap student work hours.
This led to the ridiculous situation where in May 2022 Australia had more applications for students from Nepal than from China!
The visa system was flooded with non-genuine students seeking work rights, not a premium Australian education. Turning our high-quality student visa into a low rent guest worker visa scam.
Coupled with the giant, industrial scale rort of the concurrent Certificate of Enrolment' loophole, growth was unsustainable.
These things have been fixed, but the legacy of bad policy by the former government will haunt the nation for years, as non-genuine students now work their way through the onshore appeals system.
Worries about unsustainable growth were compounded by revelations of shocking abuse of the student visa system in the Nixon review. Trafficking, migration and work scams by criminal syndicates including a few bad actors amongst education agents, migration agents and providers.
Completely unacceptable behaviour that harmed the sector's reputation in the community's eyes.
So amid that context, tough decisions were necessary to tighten visa integrity settings and sensibly manage the size and shape of the onshore student cohort.
While there is legitimate debate about the best mechanisms to manage growth, the fundamental need to do so is inescapable, and I think now broadly accepted. In any event, the government will not back off from this.
Amidst the global market turbulence there are risks, but also enormous opportunities for Australia to seek the highest quality students at the hyper-competitive top end. Many source countries seek to transition to destination countries, while many traditional competitors exhibit policy turmoil and tighten settings.
Taking stock of all of this, a key priority for the Government now is greater policy stability, and certainty for prospective students and providers.
The good news is that growth has moderated with student visa lodgements down by over 26% last year, and commencements down on last year by 16%. This has allowed the 9% increase to the National Planning Level, which remains well below the post-COVID peak.
Work is now ongoing to improve the composition, distribution and integrity within the overall student cohort.
Private higher education providers were advised of growth allocations when the NPL was announced and yesterday we announced the 2026 International Student Profiles for public universities.
Five universities did not apply for any growth, while 32 sought some increase. Allocations have been driven by each institution's demonstrated delivery against government priorities of new housing, south-east Asian engagement and market diversification.
Regional universities have secured strong growth, consistent with the Government's policies to share the benefits of international education. Charles Sturt, Federation, Newcastle and Charles Darwin universities have secured the largest proportional growth in their allocations.
New student housing is a key goal. So it's terrific that over 11,000 new beds are under construction, more than 15,000 more have development approvals in place, and more than 12,000 extra are in the planning process (Urbis data).
31 of the 32 institutions that sought growth have been successful. One institution received no growth at this time pending further discussions about realistic plans for market diversification, genuine commitment to south-east Asian engagement and evidence of appropriate investment in new housing.
I have also written to a number of institutions raising concerns about aspects of their policy settings.
Please understand, the Government is serious about ensuring Australia's international education sector operates sustainably and in Australia's national interest.
With respect to visa processing, in mid-November a new Ministerial Direction will take effect which I will finalise and publish before then.
One of the logical consequences of course of managed onshore growth, is a greater incentive for providers to pursue offshore growth. This is welcome, as transnational delivery and partnerships can help to fulfil Australia's policy goals. Supporting our neighbours as well as growing national wealth and soft power.
Australian branch campuses in Southeast Asia already deliver to over 35,000 students, and last year Australia established the highest number of new branch campuses in a single year since the first was established over 3 decades ago.
Our partnerships with China continue, and there are enormous opportunities in India. Over 1 million Indians turn 18 every month.
Jason Clare, Andrew Giles and I will attend the 3rd Australia-India Education and Skills Council meeting in December. Separately we will also visit Singapore, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. All aimed at deepening our partnerships on education, training and research.
On research, Australia has so much to gain and offer in research collaboration, as a credible thought leader, advancing global knowledge and helping to solve shared challenges.
To this end, the government has recently commenced exploratory talks with the European Commission on Horizon Europe. We are considering the benefits to Australia of possible future association with Horizon Europe and invite your views.
A few words on integrity issues, then I'll note a few topics for our ongoing policy dialogue and close.
Last week, the Government introduced legislation into Parliament to strengthen integrity.
These new laws empower TEQSA to properly oversight delivery by Australian providers offshore. Growth in TNE is encouraged, but we need to manage the risks. One rogue or lax provider doing bad or dumb things can ruin things for everyone in an offshore market.
Other amendments to the ESOS Act mirror the measures that were blocked last term by the Coalition and the Green political party in the Senate but which were supported in the Committee report. They related to agents, pausing new market entrants, sweeping out dormant providers, raising standards for new providers and enhanced powers for regulators.
The Bill also introduces an updated definition of education agent, a new definition of commissions and power to directly monitor commissions. The ESOS Code will then be amended to ban payment of commissions for onshore student transfers.
Unfortunately, we have reached a situation where commissions for onshore transfers have corrupted the market and action is needed.
Agents will continue to have their place, and the Government has committed to further considering the need for agent regulation.
Appreciating that not everyone will agree with every change, I couldn't overstate the seriousness of some of the integrity issues we are seeing and those new powers are urgently needed.
Looking ahead
It's an issue rich environment!
The Government is working now to finalise legislation for the Australian Tertiary Education Commission.
University governance will remain a focus and we want Councils to adopt coherent, formal policies to govern international education as part of each institution's overall mission.
Next year, with sector input, we will complete a new International Education and Skills Strategic Framework, positioning the sector for future success onshore and offshore, in the national interest.
This includes all parts of the sector – universities, private higher education, TAFE, private vocational, ELICOS and schools.
Media and public attention is often dominated by a focus on universities, but the other parts of the sector matter greatly.
There are many excellent private providers who earn their place and contribute, and I have spoken in other forums about the importance of the ELICOS sector.
One question that many have suggested be considered in developing the Framework is the future focus of the onshore VET sector.
It's an interesting question, as Australia's never had a detailed framework for international onshore VET. For decades it's been 'make as much money as you can folks' within the visa and regulatory settings.
Jobs & Skills Australia's recent report proposes there be more clearly defined objectives for the sector, highlighting opportunities for closer alignment between VET and Australia's skills needs.
We also have a peculiar market structure. Higher education is characterised by many elephants, a few medium sized cats and dogs, and not many mice. To stretch the animal analogy, VET on the other hand comprises many mice, with only a few cats and dogs and not much else.
It's difficult to see how that market structure is ideal to efficiently meet Australia's training needs, and seize the enormous opportunities offshore. These are all things we could think about.
Part of the art of governing this vibrant sector is to continue to pay attention to the social licence that Australians extend.
Like you, the urban myths that abound drive me nuts.
No, students do NOT take our kids' places at Universities – they help fund them, along with globally ranked research!
No, not every vocational college is dodgy.
No, international students are not to blame for Australia's failure to build enough houses over decades – of course aggregate demand plays a part in any market, hence our focus on moderating growth and building new housing.
But the views of Australians DO matter and need to be respected.
Managing student numbers and ensuring a high-quality student experience for Australian domestic students matters.
Many of our leading institutions justifiably aspire to be treated like global leaders, whether Harvard, LSE or others offering an internationalised experience. Surely though a part of offering a true international experience is a genuinely diverse student cohort. This improves the experience for international and domestic students.
I want Australians to be as proud of our international education sector, as I am. To see it as a key national asset, as I do.
We've traditionally talked of the four pillars of Australian statecraft: Defence, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Aid.
International education is a key enabler of these domains. But increasingly can be seen as a pillar in its own right.
A mature contributor, core to Australia's statecraft, global positioning and brand.
Thank you for your work and care to nurture this vibrant sector.
You have shown resilience and adaptability amidst ongoing change, and we are well positioned for the future.
I look forward to working together in the months and years ahead.