He says there were more international students enrolled in higher education in 2019 than last year, when the debate on migration and housing began in earnest.
“Other factors, not international students, are to blame,” he will say. “The political imperative to act lies in Australia's housing crisis, a mess for which international students have become convenient scapegoats.”
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Sheehy will say universities anticipate a collective shortfall of at least $500 million this year due to visa processing changes and increased visa cancellations, which he said would “inevitably” lead to cuts to campus infrastructure, research and jobs.
“A funding shortfall of $500 million could mean up to four and a half thousand jobs across the sector. This would mean more people out of work during a cost of living crisis, increasing unemployment and increasing pressure on the government's budget results,” reads a copy of the speech.
Sheehy will say the crackdown on the $48 billion sector could have knock-on effects for 250,000 jobs nationally and hamper the tourism sector, which is helped by many visiting students.
The peak body's boss will appeal to both sides of politics to give tertiary educators the same support as the mining sector, which the Minerals Council says will generate $455 billion in export earnings in 2022-23 .
“Both major parties insisted that as long as there is international demand for exports, Australia will continue to sell its resources to the world,” he will say.
“Australia does not yet have the complexity in its economy to abandon the sectors that pay our nation. Education, right after mining, is one of those sectors.”
The total overseas student population in Australia was 634,000 in September 2019. It fell to 318,000 during the pandemic, government figures show, but has rebounded strongly, fueling community concerns about housing shortages and urban congestion.
The draft laws, tabled in parliament by Clare last month, would automatically ban universities that breach their international student caps from enrolling more students for a year.
Legislative changes to increase the integrity of the tertiary education sector while reducing its size would also prevent new providers from taking on overseas students for two years and suspend those who did not teach any overseas students in a 12-month period for eliminate the so-called “ghost schools”.
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