The Morrison Government will provide a $53.6 million financial package support for international education providers that are most affected by COVID-19 border closures.

The measure will encourage providers to pivot their business model focusing on Australian students and to expand online and offshore course offerings. It will also benefit thousands of both domestic and international students as well as Australian businesses that support local jobs.

Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said without some support, many non-university providers may “close or lose serious capacity” because of the sharp revenue decline.

According to February data, international student enrolments are down by 12 percent at universities, 17 percent at non-university higher education providers (NUHEPs) and 67 percent for English language providers.

“International students will be welcomed back when conditions allow, and these measures will support providers to maintain as much capacity as possible in the meantime,” Tudge said.

The package support is targeted to English language and NUHEPs and will include four different types of supports which are:

• $26.1 million will be provided to fund an extra 5,000 short courses places in any discipline for domestic students at approximately 100 eligible NUHEPs from 2021 to 2022. Providers who are registered on the CRICOS will be prioritised and an expression of interest form is available on the Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s (DESE) website.
• The $17.7 million domestic fees collected by CRICOS, TEQSA and ASQA will be waived until 31 December 2021. These measures will apply across the tertiary and international education sector to support over 3,500 ongoing training providers registered with AQSA. The fees will automatically be waived starting from 1 July 2021, so no action is required from the providers. Revised cost recovery arrangements for registrations on the CRICOS will now commence from 1 January 2022 instead of 1 July 2021 as previously scheduled.
• A $9.4 million innovation fund will allow 182 eligible private higher education and ELICOS providers registered on CRICOS to apply for up to $150,000 to remodel their business models to grow offshore and online delivery. Currently, there are approximately 100,000 international students enrolled in these providers. The program will commence on 1 July 2021 and eligibility guidelines will be released prior to the date. Providers who intend to apply will be required to outline the effect of border closures on their business turnover, their efforts to adapt to the new operating environment and how they would benefit from the grant funding.
• A further FEE-HELP loan fee exemption will be given to approximately 30,000 existing and prospective students until 31 December 2021. This means students at private NUHEPs don’t have to pay the usual 25 percent FEE-HELP loan fee. The exemption will commence on 1 July 2021, subjected to the passage of legislation and IT system changes. If the legislation has not passed by the intended commencement date, the fees can be removed once legislation has passed.

These measures build on the Morrison government’s $47.5 million reduction in regulation costs for the education and training sector in 2020 as part of the Higher Education Relief Package.