Labor singles out international students for attack

Federal Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced on September 17 that most international students will no longer be able to bring their partners, or children, to Australia.

Burke told the National Press Club that the ban covers new student visa applicants and people applying for the Temporary Graduate visa, which allows students to work here after completing their studies. He said the new measures will protect the “integrity” of the visa system.

Labor’s family ban is the latest in a series of measures that make it harder and more expensive for international students to come to Australia and stay after their graduate.

The Senate rejected Labor’s attempt to cap international student numbers in 2024. It then introduced other measures to reduce student numbers, including slower visa processing and higher fees.

The student visa application fee was $710 in 2023, rising to $1600 in 2024, $2000 in 2025 and $2500 in July. Applicants lose the fee if their visa application is refused. They must also show that they have at least $29,710 for a year’s living costs, on top of tuition and travel costs. 

The Temporary Graduate visa has also become more expensive. The application fee rose from $2300 at the start of the year to $4600 in March and $5750 in July. 

The road to permanent residency is also narrowing. In 2024–25, 12,637 people moved from a student visa to permanent residency. That was more than one-third fewer than the previous year. The government has also increased its scrutiny of students from some countries.

Last year, more than 45,000 visas went to family members of international students, according to research by Victoria University’s Mitchell Institute. 

Students from the Pacific and member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are exempt from the family ban. PhD candidates are also exempt. Families already in Australia can stay.

In January, Home Affairs moved India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan into the highest “risk” tier of its student visa framework, citing “emerging integrity issues”. Applicants from these countries now face tougher checking of their finances and supporting documents.

Together, international student enrolments from these four countries made up nearly one-third of total enrolments last year. Students from South Asia therefore face greater scrutiny than students from other regions; under the new rules Pacific and South-East Asian students retain the right to bring family members.

An Australian study of 200 international students found that two-thirds had experienced loneliness or isolation. Researchers identified separation from family and established social networks as factors.

Labor’s new visa rules mean family separation for many new international students.

For students from countries thousands of kilometres away, studying here can already mean spending years away from parents, partners and children.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ranks international education among Australia's largest services exports. International students also remain an important source of revenue for universities.

Neoliberalism means that as funding to universities shrunk, universities have had to rely heavily on international student fees. International education generated billions of dollars in export income in 2024–25. Universities received $12.33 billion in international student fees in 2024, accounting for 27.3% of university revenue. 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that international students contributed $24.4 billion in tuition fees in 2024.

International students cannot access domestic government assistance programs like HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP, meaning all tuition must be paid out of pocket. 

A country as wealthy as Australia should fund public universities properly. It should not rely on international students for billions of dollars while making it harder for them to study, work and build a life here.

International students work across hospitality, food production, childcare, aged care and other industries. Research from Victoria University's Mitchell Institute found that students and recent graduates hold roughly one in 10 caring and support jobs. They bake our bread, cook our meals, and care for children and older people.

The exploitation of migrant workers remains a core business model for the Australian state. 

International students are particularly vulnerable to exploitation at work. Their temporary visa status can make it harder to challenge an employer, who underpays or mistreats them. 

Widespread wage theft and other forms of workplace exploitation has been documented among international students and other temporary visas holders.

A survey of 10,000 workers on temporary visas conducted in 2024, where 80% were international students, revealed forced labor conditions such as unsafe conditions, no pay, sham-contracting, cash-in-hand or being threatened with harm, rose sharply the more the migrant worker was underpaid.

International students are being underpaid by an estimated $61 million every week, adding up to around $3.18 billion annually.

New international student enrolments were already lower this year, compared to 2025. But the government continues to blame international students and migrant workers for problems they did not create.

Even though Burke told the National Press Club that “the housing shortage we have is not caused by immigration”, the lack of affordable housing has become a central justification for restricting migration.

Labor needs needs to explain why it continues to target international students, as part of its response to housing pressure.

Research shows that international students often struggle to find affordable housing. Many live in shared accommodation, or boarding houses, because purpose-built student accommodation is either scarce or very expensive.

International students can also find themselves in housing arrangements, where there is less protection than in a standard residential tenancy. This can leave them vulnerable to exploitation and financial hardship.

International students are also trying to survive the crisis of unaffordable housing; they rarely compete directly with families buying their first home, owner-occupiers or retirees.

The housing crisis reflects a much broader failure to build enough affordable, secure housing, including public housing.

Australia, a wealthy country, should welcome international students. But, the government’s policies are geared to clawing back the vote going to One Nation and the Coalition.

Migrant communities are organising against the visa fee rises and restrictions on international students, including supporting parliamentary petitions calling for changes to the discriminatory fee rises. 

Mass protests against Hanson and the far right, along with student, migrant and community mobilisations, show the potential to build a powerful anti-racist movement.

Australian students, unions and community groups should stand with international students and migrant communities against racist scapegoating for bad government policies.

We should challenge the claim that migrants cause the housing and cost-of-living crises and fight instead for public housing, properly funded public education and secure work.

The fight for international students’ rights is part of the fight against racism. It is also a fight for equality, decent housing, public education and secure work for all.

[Maharnav Bhuyan is an international student and Chloe DS is a Socialist Alliance National Executive member and an education student.]