Australia is seeing strong growth in Indian student inflows

The demand for education abroad, which was pent up after the Corona crisis, still seems to be holding up for Australia. The number of Indian students visiting Australia for higher education has surpassed pre-Corona levels this year.

“The Home Office (Australia) issued 382,000 student visas between July 2022 and February 2023. That’s an increase of 41.3 percent compared to the same period in 2019-2020,” said Monica Kennedy, Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), Australian Government.

She addressed a press conference on Wednesday to announce the Study Australia Roadshow, which is due to take place in the city on September 12.

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She said the number of outstanding Indian students in Australia rose to 95,791 in January-April 2023, compared to 75,109 students in the same period in 2022. “In January-May 2023 alone, Australia welcomed 47,759 Indian students.”

Kennedy said the surge in student inflow was due to the growing aspirations of Indian students for international degrees, Australia’s student- and migrant-friendly policies, world-class universities and post-graduation job opportunities.

She added that in July the Australian government published a list of courses majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Health, areas where Australia has a skills deficit. She said students who choose to take these courses are allowed to stay for two more years to work after graduation. Under the program, a bachelor’s degree can remain for up to four years (including two years after graduation), five years in the master’s program and six years in the doctoral program.

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Kennedy said the government was also taking a range of other measures, including a review of Australia’s migration law and changes to post-graduation work policies.

Relations between India and Australia

Kennedy said the signing of a mechanism for mutual recognition of qualifications between Australia and India in March and the approval of an Australian university to set up an overseas campus in India was a testament to the strong India-Australia ties.

Earlier this year, the Indian government allowed Australia’s Deakin University and the University of Wollongong to set up campuses in GIFT City, Gujarat. “It’s a really big deal. It’s a recognition that Australia and India respect each other’s systems and want to improve cross-border student mobility,” she added.