Advocacy Update
With so many reviews affecting the sector right now, advocacy for member colleges is definitely the top priority for English Australia at the moment. The Department of Education, the Department of Home Affairs, the regulators, and the PRISMS team are all working to meet the timelines set by the government in its response to the release of the final reports from the Migration Review, the Nixon Review, and the interim report from the Inquiry into International Education and Tourism, not to mention the final report from the Australian Universities Accord that was released at the end of last week.
English Australia has been able to offer a range of recommendations for consideration on each of these matters and is now working with other peak bodies to coordinate, maximise our voice, and support optimal outcomes from the process. There are still no public drafts of the changes at this stage.
On this note, thank you to all the staff of member colleges who attended our Regulatory Changes Update Webinar last week. In case you missed it, all registered members would have received a link to the recording by now. As promised during the session, I will be addressing any questions that weren’t answered during the webinar shortly. The popularity of the webinar certainly shows there is a lot of concern and confusion within the sector about what the changes are, how they will affect the various stakeholders, and what actions colleges should be taking or planning. We will be working to support member colleges as we get more clarity on the coming changes.
Visa processing issues have been challenging member colleges and the international sector as a whole since the latter half of last year and these issues have certainly worsened since December last year. My analysis of the latest visa data from the Department of Home Affairs shows that grant rates have fallen across the board and the volume of applications being processed has dropped from over 90% throughout 2023 to below 50% in December. I am taking every step available to ensure the impact on member colleges and the students who dream of studying with them, as well as the impact on Australia’s reputation as a study destination, is all being made clear to the decision-makers in Canberra.
Please do get in touch if you have visa rejection cases that you feel warrant review. The more specific the information you can share, such as the actual rejection letter if the student permits this, the more able we are to help present your concerns to the department. I will also be following up soon with resources to support member colleges to make their own voices heard in Canberra.
In what we hope will be a significant step in the right direction, I expect that Ministerial Direction Number 69 will be replaced by Number 106 (yet to be released) in the coming weeks marking an end to the Genuine Temporary Entrant requirement and replacing it with the Genuine Student requirement. I will communicate more information on this as soon as it becomes available.
Hopefully, you will also have noticed that comments from English Australia have received quite a bit of coverage in The Koala News, Study Travel Magazine, and The Pie in recent weeks. The media has certainly become aware of the concerns in the sector about the current visa processing delays and high rates of refusal. English Australia has been in regular contact with senior immigration officials in the Department of Home Affairs to discuss these matters and is working to improve clarity and advocate for improvements in processing outcomes.
Welcome to our newest Board member, Cara Dinneen
I would like to personally welcome English Australia’s newest Board member, Cara Dinneen. Cara has over 20 years’ experience in ELT, teacher training and leadership in Australia, Oman and Spain, and is currently Education Manager at Macquarie University College. Cara joins the Board as a General Delegate to fill the vacancy left when Ian Aird (that’s me!) stepped down at the end of January.
National ELICOS Survey
This year’s National ELICOS Survey is in the final stage of receiving data from colleges that requested an extension. I would like to thank all the member college staff who participated in this important data collection process with our research partner, Bonard. We will be working with Bonard over the coming weeks to analyse the data and create the final report before we launch the Annual Data Insights Roadshow. More details to come!
Annual Conference
English Australia is looking forward to our upcoming annual conference, which will take place from 11-13 September 2024 in Perth, straight after the ST Alphe conference, which is on 8-10 September. The theme for this year is ‘Impact, Include, Inspire’. Read more about the conferene in our newsletter.
Australian ELT Barometer Survey
As you all know, the ELT Barometer is underway and collecting registrations. English Australia is proud to be managing this project again on behalf of the Department of Education. This survey provides your institution with invaluable marketing intelligence on the decision-making process of current students and how they feel about their studies at your college in comparison to students’ sentiments at similar colleges. Such insights are crucial for well-targeted service and product improvements and to inform marketing strategies and remain competitive. More information is available here.
Market Development
Following the success of our recent member-only market development webinars with Austrade focusing on LATAM and Southeast Asia, I invite you to join us on Wednesday 13 March for an insight into the China and Taiwan ELICOS source markets. This event is free for all members and you can register here.
February Board meeting
The English Australia Board held its first board meeting for 2024 on the 22nd and 23rd of February. At this meeting, Joanna Kelly was appointed by the Board to the office of Deputy Chair of the Board. Please join me in congratulating Joanna who joins our other Deputy Chair Lucas Chiusoli and our Chair, Kerry Sutcliffe, on the Board’s Executive. A summary of the meeting will be released soon.
Meet the English Australia CEO
As I noted above, having started as CEO on the 29th of January this year, I am very keen to get out and meet English Australia’s members and visit member college campuses. I will be attending each of the upcoming English Australia branch meetings around the country and attending a few of the PD Fests too! I do hope to meet as many of you as I can and will ensure I have a few days in each city to visit campuses and hear how things are going.
Please feel free to contact me directly with any queries or concerns you may have.
