Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) Executive Director, Dr Ant Bagshaw, has told the Senate Inquiry examining legislation imposing international student caps that the higher education sector desperately needs stability and predictability if it is to operate effectively in the interests of Australians.
Dr Bagshaw noted in his opening statement (link) that ATN Universities could, in-principle, accept institutional-level caps on the condition that the sector receive greater certainty in its regulatory conditions.
He told the Inquiry that current visa settings need to be overhauled, urgently. “We must reverse the pernicious and unfair impacts of Ministerial Direction 107 to secure the sector’s ability to plan, to fund universities sustainably, and to attract the best and brightest students from around the world,” Dr Bagshaw said.
“ATN’s member universities have done everything asked of them by the Government and yet they have been badly hit by current policy settings.
“Adding to that, we are now only five months away from the 2025 academic year. Universities still have no idea whether they will have to withdraw offers made months ago. Students have made plans, bought plane tickets, and upended their lives in anticipation that they will be studying in Australia next year. These students, and the whole education sector, need certainty, and now.”
Media Contact (not for publication)
Frank Coletta (Deputy Executive Director) m 0468 987 295 e frank.coletta@atn.edu.au
