When Ananya Banerjee was choosing a country to go to university, she picked Australia both for its world-class tertiary institutions and its welcoming attitude to newcomers.

“[Australia] has always shown its global image as a country with its open arms,” Ms Banerjee said.

But after this week’s announcement by the federal government that international student numbers would be reduced next year, her view has begun to shift.

“For a person who was back in India just three years ago, I was picturing Australia as a place which is desirable because we’ve been seeing a lot of migrants come here, explore opportunities, and now I think it would affect the global reputation as well.”

The 21-year-old Australian National University (ANU) student said the ever-changing approach to international students feels a bit demeaning to her and her peers.

“Just after the pandemic, when all the universities in Australia had incurred lots of losses, they immediately invited more international students,” Ms Banerjee said.

“Immediately after, when they felt that they cannot handle it financially, economically, they immediately want to put a cap.

“So I think it’s interesting to see how international students are invited to fill in that economic issue, and then there’s another policy that immediately affects them in a negative sense.”

‘Sick of being punching bags’

Last Tuesday, the federal government announced that from next year, the number of international students able to start at Australian universities and vocational training providers would be capped at 270,000, which is 53,000 fewer people than last year, government figures show.

The government says this is about setting up the system in a “better and fairer way”.

Before the announcement, the peak body Universities Australia had declared that up to 14,000 workers at Australian universities could lose their jobs if a cap was introduced.

But National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) ACT division secretary Dr Lachlan Clohsey said the Universities Australia claim was “overblown”.

“Universities like the ANU and others, they are under financial stress.

“At the same time, we’re calling on the federal government to make sure that there’s not job losses as a result of this announcement.”

Many universities are already in financial deficit. Earlier this year, ANU reported an operating deficit of $132 million, nearly $27 million higher than anticipated.

“Universities, over a long period of time have been forced to look for alternative revenue streams, that’s because of deficiencies in federal government funding,” Mr Clohsey said.

“So if we look at federal government funding in 1989, it’s 80 per cent of university revenue. But skip forward to 2019 and it’s only 33 per cent of university revenue.

ANU said it is still assessing the potential financial impact of the federal government’s cap.

“The further detail provided by the minister on new international student caps is a significant announcement for the ANU community,” the university said in a statement.

“It will mean a reduction in our commencing international student numbers from next year, as will be the case for many Australian universities.”

ANU said it has already sent out offers to some students for 2025 and doesn’t expect to have to rescind any of those.

Longevity into the future

National Union of Students president Ngaire Bogemann said the government’s announcement is stressing out international students already in the country.

“What we do know now is the cap will be a cap on total new enrolments for 2025, so that shouldn’t affect students who are currently here and enrolled,” Ms Bogemann said.

“But it does raise question marks for students who are already here and want to transition to a postgraduate degree, or want to transition to a degree at another institution.

“This is where we’re going to start having those question marks raised.”

Ms Bogemann is concerned about the impact the cap will have on universities and the potential for further job losses in the sector.

“When you cut staff, that means less available teachers to run courses, to teach subjects, and that means both domestic and international students are going to receive a lower quality of education, which is a really massive concern, not just for the future but for right now,” she said.

“I think if the government is serious about building a higher education sector that is top notch, and if they are genuinely committed to making sure that every student that studies here can have a positive and enriching experience, they need to rethink these caps.