The government’s cap on international students will demolish construction teaching jobs and close independent training colleges, education industry experts have warned.
Last week, the federal government announced it will cap international students at 270,000 from 2025 as it seeks ways to curb high net migration to pre-pandemic levels.
Overseas migration in Australia saw a massive spike post covid, with a net inflow of 528,000 people in 2022–23 alone.
The government has identified the demand for international study as one of the core reasons behind the increase, with the housing demands of international students copping some of the blame for the nation’s ongoing housing crisis.
Industry and independent RTOs have been forecast to play a crucial role in the education and training of the nation’s next generation of construction workers, including plumbing, electrical, carpentry, welding and brick-laying trades.
Student cap could close hundreds of RTOs
However, Independent RTO peak industry body, The Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA), says the new plan is an “attack” on the international education sector and will ensure many of these training centres will soon cease to exist.
They warn that reducing students will decimate the independent education sector, with up to 300 independently run colleges and TAFEs facing a potential death sentence.
“College closures are now inevitable, and ITECA members lay the blame squarely at the feet of Australian Government politicians responsible for international education policy,” ITECA Chief Executive Troy Williams said.
“The impact of these cuts on the number of international students able to come to Australia is staggering, with up to 300 independent colleges expected to close. Their employees will lose their jobs, as will other employees in colleges that will have to scale down to survive.”
The new migration policy proposal will allow for 145,000 enrolments at public universities, just 95,000 foreign student places in the vocational education and training (VET) sector, and 30,000 places at other universities and providers.
The government believes that reducing international student intake will reduce some of the demand on the oversaturated rental market, which, according to the latest SQM Research data, rental vacancy rates across Australia’s eight capital cities reached an average of 1.3 per cent last month.
Education facilities have also been encouraged to build more student accommodation to help alleviate pressures on the private sector, with the government proposing those that could be eligible for a more significant allocation of international students.
International worker reliant industries at risk
But it is not just teaching jobs that ITECA say will be heavily impacted by the legislated cap, with a disastrous domino effect threatening to create a worker shortage in other vital industries such as aviation, aged care and healthcare, which rely on graduated international students to fill roles.
“There is a widespread and chilling belief within the ITECA membership that Australian Government politicians simply do not care about the livelihoods they are destroying,” Mr Williams said.
“ITECA is working collaboratively with departmental staff to mitigate the worst impacts on RTOs that deliver quality student outcomes. However, there is only so much that can be done while Australian Government politicians issue directives and say how international students are pushing up housing costs, a widely debunked false narrative,” Mr Williams said.
The education body has now called for a delay to the introduction of the cap and the release of evidence demonstrating that the policy would prove effective.
“The most sensible thing to do, given the proximity to the 2025 academic year, would be to delay the commencement of the caps for at least six months. This allows the Australian Government to be transparent in its methodology and develop a sustainable approach that supports quality RTOs and the people they employ”, Mr Williams said.
However, Education Minister Jason Clare says the proposal, which would form Australia’s first legislated student caps, will put the sector on a “more sustainable footing going forward”.
“Now students are back. There are about 10 per cent more international students in our universities today than before the pandemic and about 50 per cent more in our private vocational and training providers,” he said.
“Next year, there will be about the same number of international students starting a course here as there were before the pandemic (if the bill passes).”
