Over the last four years, Australia has made various adjustments to its immigration policies in response to labor shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to manage the subsequent surge in immigration. These changes have had a significant impact on the student population within Australia.
In the 2022-23 period, Australia issued nearly 500,000 student visas to primary applicants, marking a 40 percent increase from the levels recorded in 2018-19 and almost double the figure from ten years ago. However, due to a gradual tightening of policies, the number of student visas granted dropped to 332,000 in 2023-24, with further declines anticipated as new restrictions take effect.
Students from the Pacific region and Timor-Leste have also felt the effects of these changes. Historically, scholarships provided by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Department of Defence have been vital in attracting Pacific students to Australia, which helped grow the Pacific student diaspora prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic, relaxed working hour limits offered substantial economic incentives for Pacific students studying in vocational education and training (VET). However, this incentive was removed in July 2023, and while its effects lingered for a short time, visa numbers are again falling as new financial and other barriers emerge.
Despite the overall decline, Fiji has significantly benefited from these changes, seizing opportunities during the pandemic. The number of visas approved for Fijian primary applicants surged more than five-fold from 2018-19 to 2022-23, with numbers remaining relatively high in 2023-24. This surge was particularly notable in the VET sector, and there was also a more than two-fold increase in higher education student admissions, which is a positive trend.
Conversely, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific nations, along with Timor-Leste, saw lower increases during the immigration boom. The proportion of student visas awarded to PNG compared to the total dropped from an average of 0.36 percent in the decade preceding the pandemic to 0.23 percent in 2022-23. A similar decline was observed for other Pacific countries and Timor-Leste, where the share fell from 0.25 percent to 0.18 percent. The increased visa volume was short-lived; by 2023-24, the number of student visas granted to PNG fell below the levels of 2018-19 and was significantly lower than in 2014-15.
Other Pacific nations and Timor-Leste are heavily dependent on Australian government support. When excluding visas funded by DFAT and the Defence Department, the number of student visas granted in 2023-24 was less than in 2018-19. For many individuals from the Pacific and Timor-Leste, studying in Australia remains an economic challenge, leading to struggles in capitalizing on favorable student policies during the pandemic and the subsequent pressures from tightened immigration regulations.
While Australian government scholarships have served as a crucial source of educational opportunities for students from Pacific nations, and the newly introduced Pacific Engagement Visa allows recipients to access Australian student loans and domestic tuition rates, these opportunities are limited and conditional. Consequently, an increasing number of Pacific individuals are considering alternative study destinations influenced primarily by economic factors.
Promoting educational exchange is vital for building connections between communities and fostering soft power. Australia must consider how its student policy changes impact neighboring countries and take steps to mitigate any further negative effects on regions that are already underrepresented and in need of more educational opportunities.