Ministerial Direction 107 to prioritise low-risk international students scrapped

The Albanese government will implement a new directive to limit the number of international students entering Australia after its proposed student caps were thwarted by the Coalition.

Ministerial Direction 107, which prioritised visa applications from low-risk international students, was scrapped on Wednesday and replaced with Ministerial Direction 111.

The new directive ties new international student enrolments to the quotas assigned to each university.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the new rule was the next best option following “recklessness” from the Coalition to abandon bipartisan support for the foreign student caps.

The legislated limit was meant to be a key measure to help the government curb overseas migration, which is set to reach 340,000 this financial year, 80,000 above May expectations.

“Peter Dutton wants to talk tough on migration but has voted to let it rip when it comes to international students – this is a counterbalance to his recklessness,” he said.

“The best option would have been the cap that was voted down by Peter Dutton, but this option will still allow us to use one of the biggest levers in our migration system.”

Education Minister Jason Clare said the new direction would help stem the flow of international students, and support regional universities which have bore the brunt of cuts to enrolments.

“Peter Dutton’s reckless arrogance killed the student cap and in the process he killed his credibility,” he said.

“It shouldn’t just be the big inner-city unis that benefit from international education. TAFEs, regional and suburban unis should benefit too, and this new approach will help us do that.”

The new directives, which start from Thursday, have been cautiously welcomed by the National Tertiary Education Union, however the body has called for a guarantee that there will be no job losses as a result of lowered enrolments.

“The NTEU has been crystal clear: the federal government must guarantee there will be no job losses stemming from changes to international student rules,” said NTEU national president Alison Barnes.

“We are calling for a transition fund to be put in place to ensure universities have no excuse but to protect their most precious asset – staff.

“Vice-chancellors have already shown a willingness to use changes to international student arrangements as fig leaf to cover their own failures, and unfairly threaten job cuts.”