Key Points
- Universities Australia chair David Lloyd will make a speech at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
- Lloyd will criticise caps on international enrolments, saying international students have been made a "scapegoat".
- He will also argue not enough government money is being spent on Australia's "under-funded" teaching industry.
Funding to universities isn't enough and international students are being used "as scapegoats to blame the housing crisis on".
These are some of the arguments the chair of Universities Australia, professor David Lloyd, will make during a speech at the National Press Club of Australia later on Wednesday.
Calling for bipartisan support for "underfunded university teaching and research", Lloyd will say that the university sector — now in the midst of an "'issues rich' time" — has often been at the centre of political debate rather than policy-making.
"Make universities a policy priority instead of a political pawn," he will say.
Lloyd will emphasise that "universities matter" — not only to the staff employed at these institutions or the students enrolled in them but to the wider Australian community.
Financial issues currently faced by universities will be highlighted in Lloyd's speech, including the loss of almost $4 billion due to the closure of the Education Investment Fund; a $2.5 billion annual deficit in grant research, equity support and compliance; and around $800 million decrease per year in domestic funding under the Job-ready Graduates Package.
Another significant issue affecting universities Lloyd will be touching on is the cap set to be placed on international students.
In 2025, the government will be capping international student enrolments at 270,000 in an attempt to make the system "fairer" and limit net migration levels.
Announcing the changes in August, Education Minister Jason Clare said the change is needed to put the sector on "more sustainable footing going forward".
Lloyd, however, will say that 61 per cent of Australians consider international students "an important driver of our economic growth" and that the cap will weaken the Australian economy.
"Wilfully having fewer students here will only worsen an already widening funding gap at a time universities need greater support, to conduct their operations and to support the nation’s ambition through the delivery of national priorities," he will say.
Lloyd will argue the issue of housing availability in Australia is being falsely pinned on international students.
"The chair of the government's own National Housing Supply and Affordability Council even says so, admitting last week that capping international student numbers would have little impact on Australia's housing woes.
"Let’s be honest here: supply-side issues, not international students, are the real cause of the housing crisis."
Lloyd also notes that a fall in education and tourism exports wiped 1.5 per cent off Australia's gross domestic product in the first half of 2020 after former prime minister Scott Morrison told international students to "go home".
"The long-term damage in Anthony Albanese now telling Australia's international students to 'stay home' remains to be seen ... Chances are, it won't be pretty," he will say.
