Wednesday, 14 August 2024

International tertiary education

Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh) (19:17): (780) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Treasurer, and the action that I seek from the Treasurer is that he considers the findings and recommendations of my parliamentary intern’s report titled International Tertiary Education in Victoria: Immigration Policy Impacts on Post-Pandemic Recovery. I am a former parliamentary intern. I completed my internship back in 2007, and I am in good company because former Premier Daniel Andrews was also a parliamentary intern. There have been a handful of us that have gone on to become members of Parliament. But I reckon an even better intern than I was is my current intern Mr Corey Child, a student at Monash University. Corey is in the gallery tonight, and he will not mind me pointing out to the house that Corey Child is the grandson of Joan Child, the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives. And let me tell you that Corey has produced a ripper report on the international student market here in Victoria.

Melbourne is consistently ranked as the best student city in Australia, and it is currently fifth best in the world. I think one of the main reasons for that is not just that we have two universities in the top 50 in the world but also because we are one of the most multicultural places on earth. When our international students choose Melbourne and choose Victoria for a place to study, they know that they will be welcomed by a vibrant diaspora, and that is why we have many Indian and Chinese students here studying at our institutions.

This report, I have to say, has really highlighted some of the issues that we need to focus on when it comes to preserving our international education market. This report points out that from the 1980s there has been significant funding that has funded research from our international education students ‍– from full-fee-paying international students. Up until the 1980s, 80 per cent of operating budgets of universities were government funded. That has since fallen to half that amount. We do rely significantly on our international students for the cutting-edge research of our institutions, not just in Victoria but right across the country. The report also raises concern about policy changes at a federal level that have the potential to undermine this important work. I ask that the Treasurer consider the findings and recommendations of the report.