ATN warmly welcomes today’s announcement by NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet that a detailed and considered plan to create a safe pathway for international students to return to on-campus learning has been approved by the NSW Government and submitted for Federal Government approval. This sends a clear signal from Australia’s biggest state, that international education has a strong future in Australia.

All ATN universities look forward to welcoming back international students to our campuses. This announcement gives many thousands of students a strong message that Australia is a great option to live, work and study.

We congratulate the Berejiklian Liberal Government for their work on developing this plan in close consultation with NSW universities.

ATN continues to call for a strategic, coordinated national plan for the restart of international education post COVID-19, to ensure the long-term sustainability of this integral sector.

Quotes attributable to ATN Executive Director, Mr Luke Sheehy:

“The NSW Government have demonstrated strong leadership and support for Australia’s highly successful international education sector.

“International students are valuable members of the ATN community, enrich our campuses and improve the learning experience for Australian students.

“Today’s announcement means we are closer to welcoming back international students to our universities and we will continue to work with governments across Australia to ensure it happens.”