Federal Government Doubles International Student Fees Overnight

The Australian Government today has made the surprise announcement that application fees for student visas will be increasing from $710 to $1600, effective immediately. This is an increase of 125%. Even more egregiously, is the fact that this is just on applying for a student visa. In short, the fee is payable just for lodging the paperwork with the government, even if the application gets rejected.

The announcement was made via a press release from the Department of Home Affairs as part of their July 1 migration reforms designed to ease the cost-of-living, alongside funding for reform in the Higher Education sector.

Whilst there have been rumours circulating about a fee increase on Student Visas over the past few months, this measure was noticeably absent from the Federal Budget in May. This is despite the budget containing a number of other measures to reduce migration numbers, including capping the number of international students a university can accept, depending on several factors, including how much student accommodation they can provide.

These measures were introduced alongside a previously announced Migration Strategy, which will close loopholes around “visa-hopping”, whereby temporary visa holders, including students, are able to continuously extend their stay in Australia. This includes reducing the length of a Temporary Graduate Visa, and barring people on said visa from applying for a student visa whilst they remain in Australia.

Whilst the arguments behind these other measures are more nuanced, the fee hike is being widely criticised as yet another increased burden on international students, especially given the existence of these aforementioned measures.

Australia already had one of the highest student visa application costs in the world. For comparison fees in New Zealand are $375 (AU$343), and the United States are a mere $185 (AU$277). This is alongside ineligibility for student concession rates on public transport, and needing to pay large amounts upfront for courses, generally between $20-50k per year for undergraduate, temporary visa holders being unable to get HECS/HELP loans.

The fee hike is being implemented to fund recommendations made by the Universities Accord Report into long overdue reform into the higher education sector, including reducing the burden of HECS, paid practical placements, and providing FEE-free Uni Ready Courses. There is no mention however of how much extra funding this measure is expected to provide. 

Minister for Education, Jason Clare, has stated these changes will “strengthen integrity in the international education system”, with Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil adding it will “create a migration system which is fairer, smaller, and better able to deliver for Australia”.

However, Universities Australia chief executive, Luke Sheehy, is more critical of the government’s ongoing pressure against international education, stating that Australia’s position as a “leading provider of international education” is a large benefit to the nation, which can’t go to waste.