Public investment in higher education would pay off for the whole nation

As the key education, knowledge and research drivers of nations, universities are well aware of these developments and recognise the imperative to operate internationally in a number of ways:

• they conduct more of their research in international consortia,
• staff are recruited from all countries;
• staff and student exchanges are promoted internationally;
• curricula are offered that reflect the international economic, social and cultural conditions;
• study opportunities for foreign students, both onshore and, increasingly, offshore are made available;
• foreign-language education is promoted;
• and bilateral co-operative links promoting student and staff exchanges and research with overseas universities are being created.

Through this range of activity, Australian universities produce significant export dollars as well as political capital. Both are critical.

It is important to note that education was the only major service export industry in Australia which grew in the last financial year on the recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.

• The figures show that in 2001/2002, education as an export industry for Australia was worth more than $4 billion – an increase of 2.9 per cent on the previous financial year. It is now 9th largest and rising in the list.
• The numbers of students choosing to undertake their university studies in Australia are growing – at a time when other industry sectors are at best stagnating or indeed declining.
• Statistics from the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training indicate that international student numbers at Australian universities grew to just over 112,000 in 2001, an increase of some 24 per cent on the previous year and the figure is expected to increase to 160,000 in 2005.

That is encouraging, as it ought to be. But in continuing to grow, we must have a sector which can accommodate not just our international students but also all those who wish to access higher education. Australian students should have access to international experiences in their education, while Australia should provide high levels of access for students from other countries.

This will offer students learning and research opportunities to interact with students from across the globe and equip themselves, and therefore Australia, to engage with the global labour market and global economy.

International education has the potential to bridge gaps in knowledge of other cultures and to build international understanding among students and academics who will be prominent in the future development of their countries. The nation already benefits from its Asian alumni, in particular.

The AVCC’s position

It is the AVCC’s basic fundamental position that what is needed is a framework within which the key elements to achieving the goals for the internationalisation of Australia’s universities can be accommodated – a framework which reflects the diversity of our university sector.

Fundamental to the reform must be:

• a coordinated approach to international education, science and technology involving government at the highest level;
• effective government support for international activities to match what it provides to other major export industries such as tourism;
• achieving a level of 20 per cent of Australian students in study abroad and exchange programs; a revised approach to student visas, that removes the charges imposed on education visas and has sensible assessment criteria; and
• raising community understanding of the importance of internationalisation.

On that last point, universities and government need to address concerns in the Australian community that international students may be reducing access for Australian students or otherwise using up resources to the detriment of Australian students.