People travelling to Australia on a visitor visa will be banned from applying for a student visa under new restrictions designed to fix loopholes in the country’s migration system. As of July 1, the federal government will move to restrict ‘visa hopping’ by banning foreigners on visitor visas from applyingContinue Reading
Australian universities and colleges could be banned from enrolling foreign students if they exceed their caps under new laws to ensure the “integrity and quality” of the $48bn education export industry. The move is also part of the Albanese government’s attempts to limit net overseas migration by reducing the intakeContinue Reading
The number of international students universities can enrol will be tied to their construction of suitable accommodation under a major immigration crackdown by the federal government. Labor is under pressure to assure voters it can halve the net overseas migration intake from a record 528,000 last year to a promisedContinue Reading
Eighty per cent of Australia’s workforce will have tertiary qualifications by 2050 under an ambitious target announced by Labor in Tuesday night’s budget, in a bid to meet the shortages of a changing economy. Treasurer Jim Chalmers used his budget to announce the government would spend $1.1bn over five yearsContinue Reading
The government has gone all-in on its strategy to solve the crippling housing crisis, upping its bet on a long-term fix over short-term relief. Tuesday’s budget includes $6.2 billion of additional spending for new measures to boost housing supply via social housing investment, infrastructure improvement, and student accommodation. It addsContinue Reading
Australia is on track to win its brutal and long-running war against inflation earlier than expected, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has predicted, paving the way for interest rate cuts. Two years after the Reserve Bank began hiking the official cash rate, slamming mortgage holders with 13 increases and adding thousands ofContinue Reading
The Albanese government will unveil an $11.3bn housing package, predominantly designed to boost the supply of social and affordable homes, as a centrepiece of its May 14 budget. In a tacit admission that its effort to alleviate Australia’s acute housing crisis had not been enough, Labor will inject billions ofContinue Reading
A major shake-up of the student loan scheme is being considered as the Albanese government finalises the next budget, after the biggest review of Australia’s higher education system in 15 years called for significant reforms. The Universities Accord review, released on Sunday, has called on the federal government to doubleContinue Reading
Fed-up renters have vented their fury online after spotting a strange requirement on one listing. A “designer micro apartment” is advertised for rent, but the listing says guests are not permitted overnight. The one-bed unit is available for $370 a week in Yeerongpilly, a southern suburb of Brisbane. “Each apartmentContinue Reading
Chinese students struggling to find rentals have complained that they were misled about Australia, saying the “shocking” rise in cost of living is causing others back home to abandon their plans. Speaking to the ABC on Friday, two students described their experiences with the rental crisis in Melbourne, seeing adsContinue Reading