Media Releases

The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) welcomes today’s announcement by the Ministers for Immigration and Education of a review of Australia’s student visa program by the Honourable Michael Knight AO, and is pleased to see overdue cooperation between the education and immigration portfolios.

The MIA is the peak body for migration advice professionals and represents both Registered Migration Agents (RMAs) and Education Agents, and has long been concerned about a range of issues impacting upon international students.

Australia is falling behind competitors in the international student market and is now facing rising skills shortages and plummeting overseas enrolments, as evidenced by the Curtin Institute of Technology report Higher Education Student Visa Systems.

It is, however, unreasonable to suggest the problems facing the overseas student market can be attributed simply to a rising Australian dollar, increased competition or the global financial crisis without recognising the effect of significant policy changes made to the Migration Program during the past year.

“For years, Australia promoted study as a legitimate pathway to Permanent Residency,” MIA CEO Maurene Horder explained. “In deciding that program was oversubscribed, the government made long overdue corrections that have negatively impacted both enrolment and reputation.”

Overseas students’ effect on the economy is clearly of great value, but for Australia to return to prominence in the marketplace, it must both offer quality education and value the students themselves.

“The MIA welcomes any measures to improve the integrity of the student visa system, remove cumbersome imposts and end discriminatory practices,” continued Horder. “It is also important that this review’s terms of reference include a solution to the backlog of former overseas students currently in the migration pipeline and current students for whom a study to residency pathway was offered.”