COVID, crisis and community

Peter Hurley Victoria University

The Coronavirus pandemic has shown just how connected international students are with so many other aspects of Australian life.

Indeed, the intent of some of the work I have undertaken at the Mitchell Institute has been to highlight how the international student crisis is not just a university problem.

Over the past fifteen years, the number of international students has more than doubled. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, there were more international students in Australia than people living in Canberra.

The economic impact that comes with such a large population is often cited. At $40 billion per year, international education is indeed an important industry.

However, international students are also an important part of many communities, a fact that those of us who work in universities may understand more than other Australians.

Despite the depths of this crisis, there are green shoots of renewal emerging. Perhaps the time is also right to consider how we would like to rebuild the international education sector so that it can continue to function in everyone's interests.

Some of those exposed to the worst parts of the pandemic are people in a state of transition or impermanence.

Year 12 students transitioning to university have had their plans disrupted. Casuals and employees in insecure work have had to struggle for support such as JobKeeper.

International students are by definition 'temporary residents'. As non-citizens, they are ineligible for government support in Australia. They are often far from the support of their family. Relying on charity and relief funds was not what these students had envisaged.

One of the features of debates concerning international students is that is very difficult to break free of an economic discourse. The economic value of international students is often emphasised.

This is legitimate in the sense that everyone has an economic existence. This has also meant that there are many advocates for international students in various levels of government. However, it has also meant that the personal dimensions of the current crisis becomes elided. A loss of international students becomes akin to a failed harvest or a problem with a supply chain.

It is as if our collective ability to handle the devastation caused by the pandemic has limits, with boundaries demarcated by some notion of citizenship. The actual experience of international students can be met with a shrug, an unfortunate occurrence but little different to a broken down truck.

Those working in higher education understand how international students are intertwined with the health of our institutions.

The broader interconnectedness is clear. A health crisis (the pandemic) has caused a change to migration policy (closing the borders) which has caused a crisis in the international education sector, which has caused our higher education institutions to experience an unprecedented level of turmoil. The scale of job and budgetary losses is breathtaking.

There is also a sense that the current situation is a reckoning and that Australia has been over-reliant on international students for some time.

This may be the case, but I think it doesn't quite take into account the history of international education policy and the uniqueness of what is occurring. Australia has used international students to supplement the income we provide to our universities for almost thirty years.

Yes, the growth in international students over the past fifteen years means that the fall we are currently experiencing is from a great height. But the fall would still have been great, and would still have inflicted immense pain, if it occurred with a much smaller international education sector.

It is easy to forget how ridiculous the closing of Australia's international borders, let alone state borders, was as a proposition one year ago.

Throughout the pandemic, one question has lingered; when is it going to end?

The prospect of a vaccine tantalises a return to some form of normality. For international students, they may be able to resume interrupted studies.

For those of us working in universities, it may mean that we can continue the work that we do without the threat of wider cutbacks or redundancies. In chancelleries around the country, there may be desperate sighs of relief at the recent small increases in student visa applications, presaging a pathway back to normal.

During times of crisis, Australia turns to its university sector to make sense of the world. The extraordinary role of epidemiologists and other researchers during the pandemic are testament to this.

International students are an integral part of the policy background that has enabled universities to undertake the research, teaching and learning that makes universities so valuable in times of crisis. In my mind, such an occurrence shows that separating out the interests of international students from the rest of us is a futile task. Indeed, what is in their interests is in many other people's interests as well.

It is likely that the return to some normalcy in the international education sector is not a matter of 'if', but 'when'.

It may also be wise to add 'how' to the discussions. This will ensure that Australia rebuilds with a sustainable and equitable international education sector that is in everyone's interests, including international students themselves. •

Dr Peter Hurley is an Education Policy Fellow at the Mitchell Institute International students are an integral part of the policy background that has enabled universities to undertake the research, teaching and learning that makes universities so valuable in times of crisis.