Australia¡¯s government has added a year to overseas master¡¯s graduates¡¯ post-study work rights, in an effort to help the struggling international education industry ¡°roar back¡± as borders reopen.

Taught master¡¯s students will now be able to stay and work in Australia for three years after graduating, while vocational education and training students ¨C who have attracted no post-study work rights ¨C will now qualify for two-year temporary graduate visas.

The changes, part of a package of measures unveiled ahead of a forthcoming national strategy for international education, are likely to boost Australia¡¯s allure to employment-focused students and hand it a competitive advantage over rival destinations like the UK.

Britain attracted South Asian students at Australia¡¯s expense after restoring post-study work rights in 2019. While the UK¡¯s two-year offer matched the duration then available to taught postgraduate students in Australia, British master¡¯s courses typically take half as long.

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Australia¡¯s new three-year visa addresses?concerns?that the two-year limit was inadequate, with newly minted foreign professionals struggling to accrue meaningful work experience within 24 months.

The government will also allow people who have obtained post-study work visas, but have been unable to use them because of border closures, to apply for ¡°replacement¡± visas of equal duration.

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And the government has extended emergency measures introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby time spent overseas studying online for Australian qualifications contributes to people¡¯s eligibility for graduate work rights.

Education minister Alan Tudge said that the extension would?address the disadvantage students had faced because they had been shut out of Australia. ¡°This will help ensure the rapid return of international students,¡± he said.

The Group of Eight said that the changes would also help Australia attract and retain skilled workers. ¡°Today¡¯s announcement is an important step in¡­ensuring the nation gains maximum benefit from our international education sector,¡± said chief executive Vicki Thomson.

¡°Facilitating short and long-term migration outcomes for high-achieving students in key disciplines is essential to ensure Australia can meet the needs of strategically important industries.¡±

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The government will also spend more than A$37 million (?20 million) on measures mainly targeting private colleges. They include a 12-month extension to emergency arrangements exempting institutions from paying regulatory fees and private college students from paying a 20 per cent loan fee.

The measures also include a A$9 million boost to the Innovation Development Fund to help English language colleges ¡°diversify¡± their education offerings into online and offshore delivery.

Brett Blacker, chief executive of representative body English Australia, said that the fund had proven a ¡°lifeline¡± in a sector where visa applications had crashed to about 8 per cent of their pre-pandemic levels. He said that the sector¡¯s ¡°purely face-to-face¡± model had been transformed, with most students now taking lessons remotely from overseas ¨C a change likely to outlive the pandemic.

¡°These courses are enabling students to start their programmes, join classes and get familiar with institutions, which will support the future pipeline [of enrolments] and offer some diversity for students who may not be able to come to Australia initially, but still need development in their English language.¡±

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Simon Finn, chief executive of Independent Higher Education Australia, said that the extension of the fee exemptions would make it ¡°much easier for providers to recover¡± while the additional work rights would help foster enrolments. ¡°We need to have the settings right to attract international students to Australia.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com