The national peak body for health and medical research and innovation, Research Australia, today notes the Australian Government’s announcement that it intends to introduce a National Planning Level for new international student commencements from 2025.
It is widely known that the revenue universities receive from international student enrolments is reinvested back into universities, especially in the funding of research. More than half of all R&D funded within the higher education sector comes from the universities themselves, with health and medical research accounting for 35% of all R&D expenditure in universities.
Research Australia acknowledges that some universities, especially in regional centres may not have their international student numbers reduced under the caps. However, overall Research Australia is concerned that these caps will see a reduction in the amount of lifesaving health and medical research being undertaken, as well as severely reducing some universities’ capacity to cover the full costs of research.
“International students add immensely to Australia’s tertiary education landscape. Research is inherently a collaborative and international endeavour. The diverse perspectives brought by international students foster innovation, drive research forward, and lead to more comprehensive nationally and globally relevant outcomes”, CEO & Managing Director of Research Australia, Nadia Levin said.
“Research Australia urges policymakers to carefully consider solutions that do not jeopardise the future of Australia’s health and medical research capabilities”.
Research Australia will be working closely with our members over the coming weeks to understand the impact of what has been proposed today and will continue to advocate for a strong and sustainable health and medical research landscape and workforce.
