This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AUSTRALIA’S international education sector is headed for a period of uncertainty as opposition leader Peter Dutton pledged “deeper cuts” to international student numbers than what the Albanese government attempted to push through Parliament, as part the Coalition’s policy to fix the housing crisis by curbing migration.
International student enrolments would be capped at 270,000 in the election year of 2025, the Albanese government announced in August, bringing the number of new international student commencements back to pre-pandemic levels. That followed a commitment to work with the higher education sector to develop regulations that would require universities to increase their supply of student accommodation.
Australia’s private rental market has been crunched by high demand and a severe lack of supply. While September may have marked the early stages of a much anticipated change in conditions, vacancies are still at harsh lows and rents are still on the up – meaning renters are yet to catch a real break.
“We are in favour of a reduction in the number of international students given the housing crisis at the moment,” Dutton told reporters in Canberra yesterday.
But this week the Coalition teamed up with the Greens to block legislation on international student caps moving through Parliament.
Dutton yesterday took the Albanese government to task on the bill and its broader migration policy.
“We believe that the number of international students is too high, we think the government has created an onshore disaster in terms of the number of people who are applying for protection.
“People are doing that, we are told, because it is a low application fee and it means that people will not have their matters resolved for about seven years.”
The Coalition has already announced 25% reduction in the migration intake and a reduction in the humanitarian program.
“There will be deeper cuts because I want housing for Australians. I’ve been very clear about that.
“We said we will reduce the permanent program by 25%.
“That’s because I want to create housing for Australians.
“At the moment you cannot afford housing.
“We’re not supporting a bad bill that bakes in a benefit to a university that can make $1.4 billion a year while Australians can’t afford to pay rent.”
While teaming up with the Coalition to block passage of the bill, Greens Leader Adam Bandt pushed back against Dutton’s comments on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
“We’re very clear, universities need support, not cuts and we’re not prepared to blame international students for problems like housing that they didn’t cause.”
Rent relief minor: report
The Albanese government’s capping of international student visas would only save the average metropolitan renter less than 1% in rent, a report released last week showed.
The Student Accommodation Council’s report, Beyond the Visa Cap: Why Restricting International Students Won’t Solve Australia’s Housing Crisis, also found the country’s 725,000 international students make up 5.4% of the rental market – and that capping their numbers will only reduce this figure by 0.6% by 2026, and have little impact on rental availability.
Weekly mean metropolitan rents would only be marginally impacted as a result of the cap – by 0.8% on average, or just $5 a week.
“This reduction will not be felt in outer-suburban areas popular with families and retirees,” it said.
