Australia’s latest political stoush

International students intending to study in Australia have endured eighteen months of rapid policy changes and the never-ending saga of “chaos, confusion and contradictions”. They have been scapegoated for Australia’s cost-of-living crisis, the lack of affordable housing nationwide (whether in the vicinity of international students or not) and openly referred to as “cash-cows” by politicians of various allegiances. 

And yet, as of May 2025, many are still applying for visas to come to Australia – their resilience and interest in Australia is remarkable given the various barriers placed in their way.

As we prepare for election, the ruling Labor party has been reserved in any further statements on international education policy following the stalled ESOS Amendments Bill (which sat, abandoned, in the Senate until parliament was recalled for this election). We can only assume that the bill will be resurrected in one form or another post-election – and can only hope that the much-maligned cap calculations will be reconsidered.

The opposing “Coalition” have been far more ambitious and disruptive in their direction – with the proposals of more stringent caps for universities, limiting international students to 25% of their intake – forming a key part of their policy framework.

As the final days turn into hours, the final dies have been thrown unceremoniously onto the game board – a further increase in student visa fees. Already the highest in the world, the opposition (the “Coalition”) heralded an increase in the non-refundable visa application fee to AUD $2500 (from AUD $1600 today up from AUD $710 in early 2024) for most students – and a stupefying AUD $5000 for those applying to study at the highest ranked Australian universities.

Putting to one side the lack of current legislation to differentiate visa application fees in such a way, this positioning is for pure political gain – and not just against their obvious political opponents. This same group of highly ranked universities will, if the Coalition wins power and legislates their version of caps, also be forced reduce their numbers of new international students by many thousands of students – as the leader of the opposition sees it, [they] “have admitted excessive numbers of international students”.

I anticipate it is those in the Labor party responsible for election strategy rather than migration or fiscal policy that chose again to fight to the bottom – with an announcement to increase the student visa fee to A$2000. These are eye-watering amounts when compared to all other major study destinations.

Analysis has demonstrated major holes in the election budgets of both Labor and the Coalition – these additional visa fees are a proverbial drop in the ocean – notwithstanding that the maths supporting the contribution are (at best) questionable. Their inclusion at this stage of election exposes them plainly as weak populist policies designed to sway soft voters. 

International students intending to come to Australia are now facing yet more policy uncertainty and the grotesque scenario that the non-refundable visa application fee for a short-term English language student will cost more than their tuition fee.

As analysts play out the various post-election scenarios, I only hope that the prevailing reality is that, in the months ahead, our prospective students, their parents and agents will finally again have clarity and stability of policy – and the politicking of their futures is put to bed. They deserve better than this.

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