Tighter Aussie visa rules for students unlikely to affect those from S'pore

Measures aimed at cutting number of applicants, ensuring they’re not intending to work

- Jonathan Pearlman

Australia has tightened rules for international students to reduce numbers and improve quality, amid concerns that students particularly from South Asia - have primarily been coming to work rather than study.

The measures, introduced on Dec. 11, are unlikely to affect Singapore students, who mainly attend highranking universities that have strict application procedures and are not viewed as being at risk of attracting non-genuine students.

The government's moves to rein in the lucrative international education sector follow concerns it has grown out of control since the end of Covid-19 border closures.

There are more than 860,000 people in Australia on student visas or post-study work visas now, making up over 3 per cent of the nation's population of 26.9 million.

Of the 746,080 foreign students in Australia in 2023, 159,485 came from China, 122,391 from India and 60,258 from Nepal. There were 6,515 students from Singapore.

But the surge in arrivals - international student numbers are up 31 per cent in 2023 - has prompted concerns that large numbers of students are primarily coming to work.

The concerns have reportedly centred on those from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan attending vocational colleges that offer courses in fields such as business and management.

To address workforce shortages during the pandemic, the government removed caps on the number of hours that foreign students can work - a move that led to the use of student visas as a pathway to work.

In July, a limit of 48 hours of work a fortnight was imposed on foreign students, effectively stemming the influx of non-genuine students.