The Pandemic Has Exposed Australia’s Mistreatment of International Students
After years of being exploited by universities and employers, Australia’s international students are now locked out of the country with no plan for their return. It’s time to end the multibillion-dollar rip-off and build a public education system that works for all students.
The Chemistry building at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. (Flickr)
It’s been an especially grim few weeks for international students enrolled in Australian universities, even by the standards of our time. Those stranded abroad have already been stuck in limbo for months. Now, education minister Alan Tudge has extended their wait indefinitely by refusing to set out a timetable for them to return.
For too long, Australian universities and politicians have treated international students in a cavalier and mercenary fashion. University heads are only paying attention to their plight now because a precipitous drop in the number of people studying in Australia will have drastic implications for the whole structure.
As one university association head put it: “the holes in this imperfect system have turned into chasms.”
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