Universities in Australia Face Layoff Threats Due to International Student Quota
University staff in Australia are facing the threat of layoffs due to the federal government’s proposed international student quota. The draft bill presented to parliament last month will grant local education authorities the power to set an upper limit on new international student enrollments.
The University of Sydney stated in its remarks about the draft bill that any reduction in foreign student enrollments would lead to very harmful indirect consequences, while officials from the University of Melbourne warned that the quotas would result in devastating job losses and course cancellations next year.
La Trobe University’s newly appointed vice-chancellor Theo Farrell said the significant deficit at the university due to the international student quota had been reported to the faculties, and they had started implementing course optimization, including cuts to courses, subjects, and staff.
A spokesperson for the University of Wollongong (UoW) mentioned that the federal government’s migration reforms had brought many challenges for all Australian universities, including UoW, while the higher education spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said universities were using funding cuts and lack of government support as an excuse to lay off staff and cut courses.
Dr. Alison Barnes, president of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), a national education union commenting on the issue, expressed deep concern that university administrations were using migration policies as an excuse to threaten university staff and students. Barnes stated, “The proposals for layoffs by the vice-chancellors are not only premature but also a completely cruel treatment at a time when university staff are already dealing with extreme job insecurity.”