As May concludes, we have seen some positive news with South Australia’s Chief Public Health Officer approving a plan to bring back Adelaide’s international students. While the plan still needs Federal Government approval, momentum is growing for returning students, captured well by a spokesperson for SA’s Chief Public Health Officer:
‘International students add so much to South Australia’s multicultural fabric, along with the clear economic benefits for our CBD and our state overall, with every three students leading to the creation of one job.’
I am sure this item will be high on the agenda of South Australia’s Ministerial Advisory Committee – International Education, which I will attend in a couple of weeks. We continue to work closely with each state and territory government on the best approach to their needs and to be kept updated on local plans. English Australia continues to advocate for state and federal governments to adopt our ‘Safe Travels’ pilot program to build scale for international student arrivals. We are working to have updates presented to each of our branches at the upcoming meetings.
It is good to see support from the business community via the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) referencing international students in their Reopening Australia plan.
The plan also backs the use of GoPassort, who English Australia has been working with and promoting for the past year. ACCI’s report notes,
‘encourage the adoption of internationally recognised tracing apps such as the GoPassport to shift much of the risk offshore.’
Federal budget allocations
The $9.4m allocated to the Innovation Grants in the 2021-22 Federal budget were a direct result of our advocacy. The regulatory fee waivers were also a measure that we pursued. We have been actively liaising with DESE to obtain further information on the Innovation Grant eligibility criteria and application process. We will share that information with members as soon as possible.
The Federal government announced two student visa measures as part of its budget that were not anticipated. The expansion of the temporary relaxation of working hours for student visa holders who work in hospitality and tourism and the expansion of access to the Temporary Activity Visa (subclass 408) – Australian Government endorsed events (COVID-19 Pandemic event) – to include hospitality and tourism.
English Australia along with the heads of other international education peak bodies convened a videoconference on Monday 10 May and were joined by Minister Hawke, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. A list of concerns were collated for the Department of Home Affairs to clarify how these new measures will be implemented. I anticipate a response at the upcoming EVCC meeting next week.
Engaging with members at our Annual member forums
I’m looking forward to the upcoming branch meetings and our Annual National Roadshow. At this year’s forums, we will present the data from our Annual ELICOS Market Survey for 2020 and explore the key findings from our ‘Future of ELICOS’ survey.
The ‘Future of ELICOS’ survey forms part of our consultation process to understand how the sector can best move forward in the years to come and how English Australia can best support this movement. We had almost 250 responses to this survey and are keen to share its results, remembering that we will then hold further forums with DESE, ASQA and TEQSA to explore the findings and members views.
Shaping the direction of international education in Australia
The ‘Future of ELICOS’ consultations were timely given we will see the creation of a new International Education Strategy this year. Consultation on this strategy has begun and submissions on the proposed outline of the Australian Strategy closed on May 12. Our submission focussed on elevating English language teaching in the Strategy and was shaped by member input from the ‘Future of ELICOS’ consultations. I would like to thank members who participated in these consultations. To support the process further, I represented these views at the National Strategy 2021-30 workshop undertaken by the Council for International Education in Sydney last week.
English Australia played a leading role in the planning for the second roundtable for International Education held at Parliament House, Sydney on 27th May. The roundtable agenda covered the return of international students and plans being led by States and Territories, as well as the role industry can play. The voice of the student was a critical component represented by CISA, and Minister Hawke also joined the forum.
TEQSA Fees and charges
TEQSA is currently consulting on their fees and charges schedules due to commence 1 January 2022. English Australia is preparing our submission and as always, I welcome member input. The move to full cost recovery will result in significantly higher fees for providers. We are opposed to the introduction of the full-cost recovery model at this time and are urging a delayed introduction. The submission is due to TEQSA 5:00pm, Thursday 3 June 2021, so please send any comments as soon as possible.
Upcoming meetings with DESE and DHA
The Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), International Education Stakeholders Forum and Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Education Visa Consultative Committee (EVCC) will be held next week. The development of the International Education National Strategy and the return of international students will be high on the agenda for DESE, and the visa changes to s/c 408 and its immigration risks will be a key topic at the EVCC meeting.
Action across our professional development program
The second workshop for the 2021 Action Research in ELICOS Program was held at ILSC Sydney on Friday 28 May. Research participants, Professor Anne Burns and the English Australia PD Manager came together for a day of collaborative learning. Participants left feeling excited about their projects, which all address important issues in ‘New ways to assess learner progress.’
The latest edition of the English Australia Journal was published online at the beginning of this month including articles on a wide array of topics relevant to contemporary issues in ELICOS – academic integrity in the digital age, teacher professional development, class dynamics in online teaching settings and more. The Journal is freely accessible to all English Australia members.
Meeting of the Board
The English Australia Board had a full agenda for their meeting on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 May. The Board discussed English Australia’s advocacy positions and the external pressures faced by the sector. The Board considered several strategic topics and financials related to the 2021-22 budget. The member summary will be available to members shortly.
