Universities and businesses lobby against legislation capping international student numbers from next year

Warnings against putting a limit on international student places say the changes could put thousands of jobs at risk and seriously stifle university research efforts.

File photo of university graduates Credit: Chris Radburn/PA / AAP

Key Points

• A draft bill announced in May by Education Minister Jason Clare would give him the power to set a maximum number for new international student enrolments for courses and providers.
• The Group of Eight comprises Australia’s leading research-intensive universities and says the cap will undermine Australia’s most successful and largest services export industry.
• Universities say they have already been affected by high rates of student visa refusals due to Ministerial Direction 107, especially in regional Australia, where universities have seen a major decline in international student revenue since the pandemic.