Higher education own goal needs urgent correction

The higher education sector is a cornerstone of Australia’s society and economy. Yet, once again, we find ourselves exploited as a political football, burdened by reactive policy decisions.

This week brought yet more upheaval for the sector. International students have been thrust into the centre of a chaotic political storm, leaving the higher education system in limbo. With the federal government’s Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) legislation defeated before it could even be put to a vote, the punitive Ministerial Direction 107 (MD107) is now set to act as a “default cap” on international student enrolments. This will not be addressed until April next year.

This situation has further fractured a sector already in flux. The October freeze on visa adjustments, initially introduced as a temporary stopgap, deepened inequities across the sector.

Evidence Levels are now used to decide the speed of international student visa approvals, based on visa cancellations for fraud and other non-compliance.

On Tuesday, the government announced updates in which education providers who have improved were allowed to move up in their Evidence Level. But when it comes to penalising those who have worsened and should drop down in their Evidence Level, there are a large number of exceptions remaining, leaving higher education, schools, and public vocational education and training sectors trapped in a deeply unfair landscape.

Let us be clear: this current situation lacks both fairness and actively undermines Australia’s global standing as a premier education provider. If universities are locked into Evidence Levels that are “evidence” in name only, MD107 ceases to operate fairly.

International students are not some mythical group of people. They are individuals with dreams, ambitions, and a desire to contribute to our national project. These students come to Australia, receive an excellent education and often stay to build careers, lives, and communities here.

Now, imagine you are an international student looking at Australia. You see frozen policies, knee-jerk decision-making and a higher education sector stuck in limbo. Why would you not choose another country?

This is not just a hypothetical concern, it is one specialised universities are feeling acutely. Australia is grappling with a national crisis in the pipeline of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills. We simply do not have enough domestic students to fill the gaps for the emerging artificial intelligence, energy transition and space industries, and we expect this challenge to remain.

For a university like Swinburne, where we are laser focused on bringing people and technology together to build a better world, the impact of MD107 is stark. It directly hampers our ability to recruit international students into critical STEM courses such as engineering, advanced manufacturing and IT.

There is plenty of talent in our region, but we have slammed the door in their faces. A spectacular own goal, with irreparable damage to our economy and future prosperity that now threatens our ability to meet the workforce needs of the federal government’s own Future Made in Australia plan.

By the time adjustments are promised in April, the damage will be irreversible well into 2025 and 2026. The reputational damage beyond this? That is a gamble we should not be willing to take.

In recent years, there was a moment of hope when the Universities Accord was announced. It was billed as a once-in-a-generation reform, a chance to unify the sector and rebuild trust.

Instead, we have been left with capricious decisions, opaque processes, and an environment that fosters division and delay, when what we need is to be working collaboratively to advance national priorities.

The government’s decision to delay substantive adjustments to visa policies until April is simply the shirking of responsibility. With 2025 intakes looming, the uncertainty is already casting a long shadow over enrolments, threatening financial and reputational stability across the board.

This is why I am calling on the federal government to act now. My counterparts and I at universities around the country want the federal government to urgently review new Evidence Level changes.

Waiting until April will only deepen the fractures. It is time to restore fairness to this broken system, to move beyond the blunt instrument of MD107 and implement policies that foster innovation, reward excellence and rebuild trust.

Higher education is not just about universities, it is about Australia’s future. Restoring equity in this sector is essential for building a future made in Australia.