Australian education exports achieved their biggest year ever in 2024, despite a government policy onslaught that has discouraged?many foreign enrolments.

International education earned the country a record A$51.5 billion (?24.7 billion) last year, eclipsing the A$46.9 billion?achieved in 2023 and well above the pre-pandemic peak of A$40.1 billion in 2019, according to the (ABS).

Higher education was easily the most lucrative sector, contributing A$36.5 billion. This included A$16.9 billion in tuition fees, up from A$13.6 billion in 2023, and A$19.6 billion through students¡¯ spending on goods and services.

The figures come amid warnings that visa changes could cripple the industry, after the federal government tweaked policies almost a dozen times last year to reduce the inflow of foreign students and their perceived impact on housing availability.

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Iain Watt, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney, said the figures captured enrolment decisions made before ¡°politicians from both government and opposition decided that there were votes to be gained from blaming international students for just about everything from cost of living to rental prices¡±.

The ABS numbers reflected students who had started their courses in March and August 2024, Watt said. ¡°They would have begun applying 12 months earlier, before the visa fee was raised and ¨C in most cases ¨C before a cap was even on the horizon. It does not reflect the current competitiveness of Australia.¡±

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The policy changes included slowing visa processing through ¡°ministerial direction 107¡± and a proposal to cap overseas student commencements at every institution, with both mechanisms eventually replaced with a new processing regime known as ¡°ministerial direction 111¡±. The government also presided over soaring levels of visa rejections and more than doubled visa application fees to A$1,600 ¨C a price tag it now plans to raise to A$2,000.

Watt said it was ¡°impossible to say¡± how universities¡¯ overseas enrolments would perform in the coming months, with many institutions already over 80 per cent of the notional caps formulated last year by the government, while the opposition had vowed to cut international commencements by a further 30,000 and to raise student visa application fees to at least A$2,500.

¡°From this coming spring intake, we¡¯ll start to see the impact of the visa changes and the general uncertainty about whether Australia still welcomes international students. On the other hand, I expect the spring intake to be bolstered by faster visa processing. The 51³Ô¹Ï Affairs Department¡¯s staff have done a great job over the past few months in turning visas around more quickly than I can remember, and that¡¯s made a huge difference to agents¡¯ confidence.

¡°If the department wants to, it can process visas very efficiently. It suggests that the government has used some of the revenue from the increased visa fee to improve staffing in the offshore visa processing offices. One would hope that remains the case.¡±

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The ABS figures confirm education as Australia¡¯s fourth largest export earner after iron ore, coal and natural gas. Earnings fell by about 32 per cent last year at English language colleges, but remained at roughly 2023 levels in schools and vocational education.

China was Australia¡¯s most lucrative education market, spending A$12.7 billion ¨C A$1.6 billion more than in 2023. India contributed A$9 billion, Nepal A$4 billion, Vietnam A$2.4 billion and the Philippines A$2.2 billion.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com