Plan approved for international students to return to Australia

A new plan to allow 160 international students per fortnight to return to South Australia has been approved by SA Health and the federal government. Stakeholders anticipate a similar plan in New South Wales to bring 250 international students every fortnight to be approved shortly. This is good news for international students, who have been unable to travel to Australia since borders were shut last year. This brings much needed relief to the education sector that has seen significant overall declines in enrolments.
International education is a significant part of South Australia’s economy, contributing over $2 billion in 2019, boosting not only education providers, but also sectors retail, hospitality and tourism. Cumulative government figures in the year to March 2021 have shown that international student commencements fell by 31%, while the number of enrolments have fallen by 17%. Overall Australia saw 207,773 fewer international enrolments this year across all sectors.