ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT - Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Joint Committee - Report

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I present the committee's report 'Are we there yet?':from recovery to resilience—opportunities and challenges for Australia's tourism sector, the final report for the inquiry into Australia's tourism and international education sectors.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

Mr McCORMACK: by leave—On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and as deputy chair of the Trade Subcommittee, I previously presented the interim report of this inquiry entitled 'Quality and integrity—the quest for sustainable growth': interim report into international education. With 29 recommendations, the report explored the future of Australia's international education sector post COVID—and I appreciate that we're not out of the COVID situation yet. People are still dying, and we mourn their loss, but hopefully the worst of this terrible global pandemic is past us. This report looked at the options for sustainable growth in the sectors I mentioned. While that interim report focused on the international education aspect of the inquiry, it laid the foundation for the broader consideration and discussion of the significant intersection that exists between international education and tourism in modern Australia.

In 2019, international students contributed $40.3 billion to the Australian economy, including through education related travel, tuition fees and living expenses. The pandemic saw this number almost halve to $22.5 billion in 2021. Since international borders reopened in December 2021, there have been gradual signs of recovery towards prepandemic levels of enrolments and commencements.

Beyond its contribution to the Australian economy, international education is an important soft-power initiative. Our educational alumni who return home are our greatest ambassadors and ideas brokers in both official and unofficial capacities. In this way the international education market provides Australia with an invaluable opportunity to educate the future leaders of our many neighbouring countries and contribute to the development of an informed and critical mindset.

The study experience of international students has a substantial impact upon Australia's overall reputation, including its position as a high-quality higher education provider. In order to remain competitive with other countries, Australia must deliver a world-class education accompanied by a positive student experience. The relatively high cost of living and the availability of affordable housing were some of the factors raised as negatively affecting the experience of international students studying here in Australia. To address the issues raised, the committee has recommended that the government encourage the expansion of domestic investment into purpose built student accommodation and that it work with local and state government authorities in developing appropriate local accommodation models, including homestay. Further clarification of the roles and responsibilities across the Commonwealth, state and local governments may further enhance the oversight of areas impacting upon international student experiences.

The first half of this inquiry demonstrated that international students make significant contributions to the communities in which they stay, and as a regional member I can guarantee that. This is particularly the case, as I say, in regional Australia, where the committee heard that international students play an important role in supporting industries such as tourism as consumers and can help to fill critical skills shortages in sectors including, importantly, health. Noting that only four per cent of all international students are in regional Australia, the committee believes that the government should consider additional incentives to support the promotion of non-metropolitan areas as study destinations.

In relation to marketing Australia's higher education system abroad, the committee believes that the international education sector would be well served by adopting a 'team Australia' approach to marketing and branding. The committee hopes that this recommended initiative will not only build and maintain a national platform for the promotion of the quality education offered in our country but also address the issues of fragmentation, duplication and divisive competition that currently exist in the marketing of Australian education to the world. Keeping in mind the current issues that the sector faces around the high concentration of students from a handful of source markets, the committee believes the 'team Australia' approach, as proposed, should take the lead in prioritising the development of a diversification plan.

The committee heard concerning reports of fraud and criminal activity in the international education sector, including the misuse of the visa system. It cannot be denied that a minority of providers, particularly at the bottom end of the private VET sector, have systematically exploited Australia's education system and broken migration law to funnel vulnerable and unwilling international students into sophisticated operations that in almost all cases lead to labour exploitation and, in the worst circumstances, indentured slave labour and sex trafficking.

Noting the recent announcement of reforms to curb the exploitations of the international education system, this report has put forward a number of measures to further assist the Australian government in stamping out unscrupulous providers and non-genuine students. These measures include reviewing the settings and frameworks for the international education regulatory bodies to ensure that they empower proactive risk analysis and on-the-ground quality assurance practices. The committee understand that, in addition to the fragmentation of regulatory arrangements, the lack of coherent information sharing and analysis hampers the ability of Commonwealth agencies to detect and respond to fraud and criminal activities. It is the committee's opinion that the government should look to implement a more substantial information- and data-sharing platform that has the capability of identifying potential trends and supports forward planning across agency risk mitigation.

Finally, given that the Department of Education and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations together have policy oversight of the higher education system, it is the committee's view that both departments should be empowered to take the lead role in advising the Minister for Education and the Minister for Skills and Training, respectively, on whether policy objectives are being achieved in full, including those dependent on actions in other Commonwealth portfolios and agencies. Both departments should ensure that appropriate and holistic measures are included in its annual performance statement.

On behalf of the committee, I extend my thanks to the many stakeholders and submitters, right across the country, who contributed their time and experience to the inquiry. In particular, I thank the international students who engaged with the committee for this inquiry. I also thank the chair, Senator Deborah O'Neill, and all the committee members for their collegiate approach. I thank the secretariat, in particular, for its support throughout the inquiry. I commend this report to the House and move: