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The bleak picture for universities could worsen after the 2021 Budget suggested international borders won t reopen until mid-2022.
Before the pandemic, international education was Australia’s third-largest export industry, worth about A$40 billion a year to the wider economy.
“Governments across all jurisdictions need to come together with universities to develop a robust plan for the safe return of international students,” Universities Australia’s Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said in a press release.
“The plan would mean the careful quarantine of students from low-risk countries.”
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Along with the challenges of the border remaining closed, the higher education sector is again facing significant cuts into the future.
Thousands of foreign backpackers and students in Australia will be allowed to undertake more work under changes announced in the federal Budget to offset the impact of the nation s border closure that is set to extend into mid-2022.
Student visa holders will be temporarily allowed to work more hours in the tourism and hospitality sectors, as the government seeks to ramp up support for both industries hit hard by a lack of foreign workers entering the country.
The government has scrapped the 40 hour per fortnight limit for foreign students in both industries which have historically relied on temporary visa holders.
Australia s international borders could remain closed for more than a year if health experts deem it too dangerous to open up.
The federal budget assumes the borders, which have been closed since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, will open in mid-2022.
But Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said this could be brought forward or pushed back depending on the advice of health experts.
The federal budget assumes the borders, which have been closed since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, will open in mid-2022. Pictured: Sydney s Coogee Beach in November We will open the international borders when it s safe to do so. And that means basing our decisions on the medical advice, he told the National Press Club on Wednesday.