Council of International Students Australia also believes an increased burden on healthcare costs may directly impact price of education
International students are worried the Coalition Government’s Budget could further increase the high cost of studying in Australia, according to Thomson Ch’ng, President of the Council of International Students Australia (CISA).
“While international students are not recipients of many of the student and youth programs now slashed from the budget, an increased burden on health care costs may directly impact the total price of an Australian international education,” said Mr Ch’ng, who is also a student at Curtin University in Sydney.
Mr Ch’ng said international students had to pay for Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) as a visa requirement. “However, that insurance only covers what Medicare covers, and added burden on those utilising Medicare may also mean an added burden on international students,” he said.
The government announced massive changes to higher education in the May Federal Budget, including allowing universities to set fees, increasing the interest rate on student loans and reducing the Commonwealth contribution to university degrees by an average 20 per cent.
Students have protested the proposed moves, fearing the cost of courses could spiral after universities are able to set their own prices for degrees starting from January 2016.
David Scott, Media Manager at The University of Melbourne, explained that the changes were aimed at local and not international students, saying, “We are not anticipating increases in international student fees as a result of these changes.”
“The Federal Government’s Budget includes a proposed cut to the government contribution to the university fees of Australian students. They also propose to introduce legislation that will allow Australian universities to compensate for this by charging fees from 2016.
“This does not impact international student fees as they do not receive Australian government support,” he said.
He added that students and staff across the board were worried about the Budget cuts, as universities were important “to the nation” and need adequate public funding.
“Many students have voiced their concerns about the overall cuts to the higher education sector; for many, this is the second round of cuts to public funding to universities in the past two budgets,” he said.
While international students will escape the biggest impact from cuts to higher education if the legislation is passed in Parliament, Mr Ch’ng said they are still vulnerable to ripple effects that may touch the wider economy. He said the biggest concern for international students was increasing living costs.
“Last year Australia was voted as the most expensive country to study in by the HSBC report… I am an international student myself and I know how costly it is to study in Australia, no doubt about it—especially in metro areas like Sydney and Melbourne,” Mr Ch’ng said.
“If you invest so much into studying abroad, what people want to get is value. What kind of value on the return of investment is there? If I can get a similar value out of this investment in another country that is a major competitor to Australia, such as the UK and US, of course I’ll consider going there, if I can pay less, yet I receive the same quality of education,” he added.
Mr Ch’ng said safety was another key concern for international students, with violent incidents discouraging prospective students from coming to Australia.
“The Indian students attack back in 2009, you can see how it has impacted Australia. We saw a drop of numbers, but it’s starting to go up again,” he said.
“Then recently we had four international students being murdered in Brisbane over a period of five months. That again generated another big media burst (of negative news). Not just in Australian media but foreign media as well,” he added.
Who is CISA?
CISA is the first national Australian student organisation voicing the concerns and fighting for the rights of international students. Despite being little more than three years old, it has had some major successes lobbying government—helping push through the post-study work visa and concessions for public transport.
“We adopt a very modern advocacy approach. We have very strong connections with federal and state government, as well as the peak bodies and international education groups, as well as the wider community. We put in a lot of submissions (to government)… and that’s how we’ve seen progress on a lot of things, including concessions,” said Mr Ch’ng.
CISA holds an annual national conference in July, which is attended by the government and opposition and addresses concerns and issues affecting international students.
“It is an important contribution that international students have made to the economy as well as the society, which is why I think it’s very important their voices are heard,” Mr Ch’ng said.
Published in The Indian Sun (Indian Magazine in Australia)
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