Xenophobic policies are not a solution to the issues in Australia.

As Australia moves towards the next federal election, both major parties are utilising attacks on international students as political capital. These policies are more than just racist, they will have lasting impacts upon the structure of Australian universities and Australia as a whole. International students, and immigration more broadly, are an irreplaceable part of Australia’s contemporary identity, but more than that, it is the backbone of our tertiary education system and our national economy.

Australia is a country built upon racist foundations, we are a country whose greatest modern virtue is its contemporary diversity. Governments need to acknowledge this fact and take action on issues such as the housing crisis, wealth inequality and cost of living pressures with genuine reforms, not cheap attacks on targets that are unable to fight back at the ballot box.

Both major parties are using international students as a means of diverting blame for a failure in policy to address the issues impacting those that reside in Australia. The Coalition has announced a policy that, if elected in May, they will reduce international student numbers coming to Australia by 25%. The policy targets Group of Eight Universities such as Unimelb and singles out students wishing to enrol at Unimelb from overseas by requiring them to pay twice the visa fee that other international students must pay. However, we must also recognise that Labor sought to introduce international student caps that would have had drastic impacts upon Australia’s universities and the student body.

Limitations imposed upon international students is a form of discriminatory and racist policy, scapegoating international students for a housing crisis they have not caused and weaponising international education for political gain. The Australian Human Rights Commission has established that international students already face significant and sustained racism, and this policy only serves to reinforce and entrench this discrimination.

Yes, Australia is a leading destination for international students globally, and this is for good reason. International students want to study in Australia because of the quality of the education system here, and because the experience of international study is a profoundly enriching experience, and a huge part of operating in the global economy. Similarly, the benefits to Australia are manifold, international students a critical to filling Australia’s significant skills shortages.

It is also massively hypocritical – for more than four decades, the growth of the international education sector has been a focus of successive federal governments from both political stripes. Now they are blaming those students they courted and convinced to come to Australia for a crisis which is none of their making. There is a distinct lack of action by both parties to consider larger issues with genuine impacts on the affordability of housing, such as negative gearing, but both the Coalition and Labor are quick to place the blame on international students.

A Policy Built on a Lie

International students are not taking Australia's housing. Recent research using data from Australian Bureau of Statistics and government departments between 2017 and 2024 has shown that international students make up just 6% of renters nationally and of that proportion, almost 40% are in dedicated student housing. That translates to less than one property in every 15 being occupied by international students.

For those students who are trying to compete with locals in the private rental market, they face significant disadvantage. Temporary migrants are twice as likely than long-term residents to be underpaid, and can show little or no documented income for lease applications. International students have no rental history in Australia and coupled with difficulty proving sufficient income and being underpaid, few landlords will prefer them over local renters. On the other hand, these unfairly maligned students are busy contributing over $50 billion to the economy here.

International student caps are terrible policy for students and the tertiary education sector – whichever side of politics float it. It is racist policy based on misinformation and misrepresentation. It insults international students by pushing the lie that people wishing to study in Australia are dishonest and cheating the system by masquerading as students when they are really seeking to immigrate and blames them for a crisis which is not their fault.

It’s Just Racist

Both major parties, implicitly or expressly, claim their policy will make more homes available for Australians, because immigrants are coming to Australia and taking accommodation from Australians. This kind of racist scapegoating has its roots in far-right populist politics and has no place in Australia. Dutton himself recently referred to international students as “modern day boat arrivals” implying the same racist dog whistle that anyone coming to our shores is doing so illegally, trying to rip Australia off, cheat “real Australians” and rort the system.

We do know that there are unscrupulous education providers, ripping off international students and rorting the system, but these are private sector vocational education businesses–not Australia’s public universities. Yes, we do know that there is a problem with exploitation of international students as a revenue stream for universities, a situation in part caused by poor public funding of higher education and research. However, international education in Australia provides so much more than money for universities.

Real Solutions

Forget the populist lies. Our public universities need more public funding to support research and local students. We need a sustainable funding model that doesn't rely so heavily on international student fees, while still keeping Australia a top spot for global talent. Isn't that the essence of the Australian Universities Accord Final Report?

To fix the housing crisis – Australia needs a fully legislated national housing strategy, complete with targets on social and affordable housing construction to get everyone into secure housing that adequate and affordable for people’s needs. To stop driving up house prices the government also needs to overhaul the conditions which create such a favourable climate for housing investors. It’s not international students out-bidding first-time home buyers – it’s investors! 

Finally, if federal governments are serious about improving housing affordability, maybe they should have a look at drastically reducing student debt. Students protested on campus at UniMelb about that when HECS was first discussed by the federal government of the day - look where ignoring that has got us. Borrowing capacity is seriously compromised by the debt-sentence of HECS with its astronomical indexation. International students can’t be blamed for that either.