A highly-regulated 'free market': Commonwealth policies on private overseas students from 1974 to 2005.

A highly-regulated 'free market': Commonwealth policies on private overseas students from 1974 to 2005. This article traces the evolution of Commonwealth policies onprivate overseas students from the 1970s to the present, emphasising theCommonwealth government's role in the creation of an internationaleducation market. It will be argued that while neoliberal ne��o��lib��er��al��ism?n.A political movement beginning in the 1960s that blends traditional liberal concerns for social justice with an emphasis on economic growth.ne 'marketforces' rhetoric has been a key feature of its internationaleducation policies since the 1980s, the Commonwealth has shown by itsactions that it fears the consequences of a truly free market ininternational education services. ********** In just eighteen years, the Years, Thethe seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109]See : Time total number of private overseasstudents enrolled for onshore study in Australian educationalinstitutions rose from 22,487 in 1986 to roughly 320,000 in 2004(Australian Education International, 2005; Department of Education,1987). This increase was largely the result of Commonwealth policieswhich created and facilitated an international education market. Thisarticle traces the development of Commonwealth policies towards privateoverseas students from the 1970s to the present day. It will be arguedthat while neoliberal notions of untrammelled free market forces,competition and small government have driven much of the Commonwealthgovernment's international education agenda, the government has hadto increasingly play an interventionist role to protect the legitimacyof its 'free market' reforms. The paper examines and discussesthe major political interventions in international education--marketing,consumer protection and immigration immigration,entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. control--stressing the importance ofcrises in determining the nature of government intervention in theinternational education market over the last two decades. International student policy prior to the 'free market' After World War II, international students--predominantly fromAsia--began arriving in Australia in unprecedented numbers. By the midto late 1960s, there were approximately 10,000 private overseas studentsenrolled in Australian educational institutions at any given time(Department of Education, 1985, 1986, 1987; Department of Education,Training and Youth Affairs, 2000; Department of Employment, Educationand Training [DEET], 1992, 1995; Department of Employment, Education,Training and Youth Affairs [DEETYA], 1998, 1999; National Archives ofAustralia The National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. It is an Executive Agency of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and reports to the Minister for , n.d.). The Commonwealth government assumed that privateinternational students, like overseas students sponsored by thegovernment, were studying to improve the economic and social developmentof their homelands (Back, 1994; Lakshmana Rao, 1979). Like domesticprivate students, private international students in the 1950s and 1960spaid tuition fees that covered ten to fifteen per cent of the total costof a higher education higher educationStudy beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. degree, the rest of the cost being paid by theCommonwealth and the states (Jolley, 1997). This subsidisation Noun 1. subsidisation - money (or other benefits) obtained as a subsidysubsidizationmoney - the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender; "we tried to collect the money he owed us"2. ofprivate overseas students was mainly seen by the Commonwealth as part ofits wider effort to secure good diplomatic relationships with countriesin the Asia-Pacific region (Goldring, 1984). Between 1972 and 1975 the Whitlam Labor government introducedchanges to Commonwealth education policy which affected private overseasstudents in Australia. First, in 1974 Whitlam abolished tuition fees for both local andinternational students studying at tertiary level (Williams, 1989b).This meant that private overseas students were having their educationfully subsidised Adj. 1. subsidised - having partial financial support from public funds; "lived in subsidized public housing"subsidizedsupported - sustained or maintained by aid (as distinct from physical support); "a club entirely supported by membership dues"; by the Commonwealth. Next, the Commonwealth took over all financial responsibility foruniversities and Colleges of Advanced Education. Prior to 1974, thestates and territories had played a major role in funding the highereducation sector with increasing Commonwealth assistance; after 1974, asan unintended consequence For the 1996 novel by John Ross, see .Unintended consequences are situations where an action results in an outcome that is not (or not only) what is intended. The unintended results may be foreseen or unforeseen, but they should be the logical or likely results of the of the Commonwealth becoming the sole fundingbody A funding body is an organisation that provides funds in the form of research grants or scholarships. Research CouncilsResearch Councils are funding bodies that are government-funded agencies engaged in the support of research in different disciplines and , the tertiary sector became a key target for federal cutbacksthroughout the rest of the 1970s (Smart, 1986). Nevertheless, theexpense to the Commonwealth of subsidising international students was anissue that was overshadowed for a time by concerns about overseasstudents migrating to Australia. During Malcolm Fraser's time as Liberal Prime Minister, from1975 to 1983, the chief overseas student policy issue was the problem ofbackdoor See trapdoor. migration. Approximately seventy-five per cent of privateoverseas students were granted permanent residence in Australia duringthe 1970s, despite the fact that the official program was designed tocater only for bona fide [Latin, In good faith.] Honest; genuine; actual; authentic; acting without the intention of defrauding.A bona fide purchaser is one who purchases property for a valuable consideration that is inducement for entering into a contract and without suspicion of being students, not potential migrants (Goldring,1984). In 1979, the Commonwealth solved the problem of backdoor migrationby compelling private overseas students to return home for two yearsbefore being eligible to apply for immigration to Australia Immigration to Australia began at least 40,000 years ago, when the ancestors of Australian Aborigines arrived on the continent via the islands of the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea. . Thispractice resulted in a huge drop in private students being grantedpermanent residence, from seventy-five per cent in the 1970s to roughlyten per cent in 1983. The government also announced that an OverseasStudent Charge (OSC O.S.C.n. short for Order to Show Cause. (See: Order to Show Cause) ) representing approximately a quarter of the averagecosts of an Australian university degree would be imposed on all privateoverseas students from 1980 onwards. The OSC charge was initially $1,500to $2,500 depending on the type of course. Students were compelled topay the OSC before they were issued visas. From August 1981, privatestudents from Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea(păp`ə, –y and the South Pacific had their OSCs paidfor out of the aid budget, highlighting the persistent Commonwealthattachment to notions of diplomatic goodwill regarding the privateoverseas student program (Andressen, 1997; Goldring, 1984;Williams,1989a, 1989b). The introduction of the Overseas Student Charge in 1980 wasdesigned to act as a migration deterrent, with revenue-raising concernscoming a poor second. The projected savings of $6 million per annum Per annumYearly. oninternational student costs were hardly a bonanza at a time when theFraser government was spending close to $500 million on the overseas aidbudget (de Silva, 2000; Goldring, 1984). As the 1980s progressed,however, Australia's economic climate became harsher: thedesirability of subsidising private overseas student education began tobe seriously questioned by an economically-minded government. International students and the impact of neoliberalism ne��o��lib��er��al��ism?n.A political movement beginning in the 1960s that blends traditional liberal concerns for social justice with an emphasis on economic growth.ne under Hawke In March 1983, the Hawke Labor government came into office, and itheld power until 1991. Like its approach to many other public policyissues, the Australian Labor Party's administration'sattitudes towards overseas students proved to be increasingly influencedby neoliberal economic and social ideals imported by treasury officialsfrom the United Kingdom's Thatcher Thatch��er? , Margaret Hilda. Baroness. Born 1925.British Conservative politician who served as prime minister (1979-1990). Her administration was marked by anti-inflationary measures, a brief war in the Falkland Islands (1982), and the passage of a government and the UnitedStates' Reagan government of the early 1980s. Neoliberals drewtheir inspiration from the post-war theories of Austrian theorist the��o��rist?n.One who theorizes; a theoretician.theorista person who forms theories or who specializes in the theory of a particular subject.See also: Ideas, LearningNoun 1. Friedrich A Hayek and US economist Milton Friedman Noun 1. Milton Friedman - United States economist noted as a proponent of monetarism and for his opposition to government intervention in the economy (born in 1912)Friedman , who argued thatindividual competition was the way in which humanity progressed as aspecies. Consequently, all impediments IMPEDIMENTS, contracts. Legal objections to the making of a contract. Impediments which relate to the person are those of minority, want of reason, coverture, and the like; they are sometimes called disabilities. Vide Incapacity. 2. to free market competition, suchas government regulation and public enterprise, should be removed, andthe individual would decide which 'product', includingeducation, for example, was best for him or her to consume. The properrole of a neoliberal government was to facilitate the creation of a freeworld market and to allow collective human progress and values to workthemselves out by individual choice rather than through governmentintervention (Connell, 2004; Marginson, 2004; Stilwell, 2000). The Hawke government's adoption of neoliberal ideals was apragmatic response to declining economic conditions in Australia. Duringthe mid 1980s, manufacturing and primary sector exports declinedsharply, affecting the balance of trade. Imports outweighed exportsduring this period, which had serious implications for the futureAustralian standard of living (Smart, 1986). According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. AustralianResearch on International Education Services, if a nation relies tooheavily on imports, 'this translates to higher prices forgroceries, petrol and household goods, as well as limited access to newtechnology and information through lack of money' (AustralianResearch on International Education Services, 2001, p. 18). Theneoliberal philosophy, with its emphasis on free market forces ratherthan government spending Government spending or government expenditure consists of government purchases, which can be financed by seigniorage, taxes, or government borrowing. It is considered to be one of the major components of gross domestic product. , was thus very appealing to a cash-strappedgovernment. International education was seen by the Hawke government as apotential export market which would help improve the balance of paymentfigures. It also conformed to the neoliberal ideal of 'smallgovernment': treating education as a commodity was a potentialmeans of funding the tertiary sector without requiring increasedgovernment spending. Ironically, however, this example of 'smallgovernment' ideology in action was partly inspired by theconsequences of Labor's 'big government' spending onschools and vocational training. Having committed itself in 1984 to a fifty per cent rise inCommonwealth funding to state schools, the Hawke administration wasreluctant to increase funding to higher education. Labor's supportfor the school system helped increase the levels of students completingYear Twelve from thirty-five per cent in 1983 to more than fifty percent in 1986, an outcome the government hoped would reduce the then highlevels of youth unemployment. The greater numbers of students fully completing secondary schoolnaturally increased the demand for tertiary training. Government fundingfor higher education, however, had dropped in real terms by eight percent in the ten years since 1976-77. Labor was unwilling to reverse thetrend. This was partly a result of hostility towards the tertiarysector: the Minister for Education Senator Susan Ryan Susan Maree Ryan AO (b. October 10, 1942) is an Australian educator who served as a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) 1975-1987. Her legislative contributions to the Australian political landscape include the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the was known to referto universities as 'bastions of privilege'. In any case, thegovernment saw the school system and vocational training as thepredominant means of securing higher youth employment (Smart, Scott,Murphy, & Dudley, 1986). Labor's increasingly neoliberal attitude towards privateoverseas student policy was influenced by recommendations offered by theCommittee to Review the Australian Overseas Aid Program (1984). Headedby Gordon Jackson Gordon Jackson can refer to: Gordon Jackson (actor) (1923–1990), the Scottish actor Gordon Jackson (politician) (born 1948), the MSP for Glasgow Govan from 1999 to 2007 Gordon Jackson (businessman) (1924–1991), the Australian businessman , the committee comprised three businessmen and threeeconomists with a strong attraction to the 'belief that economicgrowth is most effectively ... achieved through the unfetteredmarket' (Stent stent(stent)1. a device or mold of a suitable material, used to hold a skin graft in place.2. a slender rodlike or threadlike device used to provide support for tubular structures that are being anastomosed, or , 1985, p. 33). The Jackson Committee The Jackson Committee was established in 1974 by the Whitlam government of Australia to advise on policies for Australia's manufacturing industry.The committee was chaired by R.G. Jackson, the then general manager and a director of CSR Ltd. emphasised the'national interest' aspect of bilateral education aid,recommending that Australia provide technical assistance to theAsia-Pacific region while simultaneously encouraging Australianeducators to market their services within developing countries(Committee to Review the Australian Overseas Aid Program, 1984). Fortified fortified (fôrt´fīd),adj containing additives more potent than the principal ingredient. by the Jackson Committee recommendations, theCommonwealth instituted a new Overseas Student Policy in 1985. The keyfeature of the new policy was the introduction of a category offull-fee-paying international students at publicly-funded highereducation institutions from 1 January, 1986. The subsidised category ofoverseas student, who paid a contribution to his or her education viathe Overseas Student Charge, was initially to continue on a strict quotaof 3,500 new students per annum, but was to be phased out. The OSC wassubstantially increased, and from 1987, subsidised private overseasstudents at high schools and Technical and Further Education (TAFE TAFE(in Australia) Technical and Further Education )colleges also had to pay the charge (Department of Education, 1987;Hudson, 1990). The new policy encouraged the creation of a competitive educationindustry based on the recruitment of overseas students. The rulesgoverning the entry of private overseas students into Australia wereaccordingly relaxed in order to facilitate market growth. Immigrationrequirements were streamlined. Unlike the subsidised private overseasstudent category, for instance, full-fee-paying students were notsubject to a quota. Further, before 1986, private overseas students hadto prove that the courses they proposed to undertake in Australia couldnot be studied in their own country; after 1986, private students couldenrol in any course and gain entry into Australia so long as they couldprove that they had been accepted in a government-accredited institutionand had paid the required fees. Initially one year's fees were tobe paid in advance, but the government backed down after industrypressure and allowed institutions to stipulate stip��u��late?1?v. stip��u��lat��ed, stip��u��lat��ing, stip��u��latesv.tr.1. a. To lay down as a condition of an agreement; require by contract.b. the prepaid pre��pay?tr.v. pre��paid, pre��pay��ing, pre��paysTo pay or pay for beforehand.pre��payment n. amount theydeemed appropriate (Back, Davis, & Olsen, 1996; Industry AssistanceCommission, 1989). All administrative responsibility administrative responsibilityAny task or duty related to managing an institution; non-Pt management-related responsibilities of physicians include chart review, participation in the tumor board or tissue committee, etc. Cf Clinical responsibility. for private overseas students wastransferred in the mid 1980s from the Department of Immigration andEthnic Affairs to the Department of Education: the government saw noneed under the new framework to compel immigration authorities immigration authoritiesnpl → servicio sg de inmigraci��nimmigration authoritiesnpl → service m de l'immigration toroutinely scrutinise Verb 1. scrutinise - to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail; "he scrutinized his likeness in the mirror"scrutinize, size up, take stock the credentials of private overseas students. In1985, the Department of Education established an Overseas Student Officeto administer the private overseas student program. A key feature of theOverseas Student Office was the marketing of Australian educationoverseas through information and publicity. The Overseas Student Officewas also charged with the responsibility of assisting with policyformulation, necessitating the creation of a rapidly computerisedinformation and statistical database on international students(Department of Education, 1985, 1987; Industry Commission, 1991). Under the new policy, tertiary institutions wanting to marketcourses to full-fee-paying students needed first to seek approval fromthe Commonwealth Tertiary Education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-stage, third level education, or higher education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, or gymnasium. Commission. The institution then hadto be registered with the Overseas Student Office. In sharp contrastwith the market-forces rhetoric it now expressed about internationaleducation, the government enforced strict guidelines for universitiesand colleges setting international student fees. Full cost recovery wasthe absolute minimum standard (Bureau of Industry Economics, 1989;Department of Education, 1986). The tertiary sector had strong incentives to comply with theCommonwealth push for education institutions to create their ownindividual markets for full-fee-paying private overseas students.Significantly, institutions were allowed under the new policy to retainmost--and, from 1988, the whole--of the fees generated by privatestudent income. At a time when the Commonwealth was not prepared tospend more money on higher education despite increased demand,international students were a relatively untapped source of revenue(Department of Education, 1986; Nicholls, 1987, p. 45;Williams, 1989b). The growth of full-fee-paying international students was dramatic.There were 2,330 international students paying full tuition costs in1986; by 1990 the number had increased to 44,000. The biggest growtharea proved to be the English Language English language,member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. Intensive Courses for OverseasStudents (ELICOS ELICOS English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students ) centres. The total number of students in the ELICOSsubsector, including partially subsidised, sponsored, andfull-fee-paying students, rose from 2,500 in 1986 to 25,000 in 1990(DEET, 1990; Denham, 1989; Nesdale, Simkin, Sang, Burke, & Fraser,1995). Deregulation DeregulationThe reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry.Notes:Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. followed by re-regulation: Internationaleducation's teething teething/teeth��ing/ (teth��ing) the entire process resulting in eruption of the teeth. teeth��ingn.The eruption or cutting of the teeth. problems As we have seen, the Commonwealth took a highly interventionistrole in encouraging tertiary institutions to be more market-driven intheir attitudes towards international students. Perhaps most crucially,in 1989 the government decided to reduce significantly its financialcontributions to higher education to encourage the sector to recruitfurther overseas students for revenue purposes (Burke, 1989; Gan, 1994).Despite having virtually created the international student market inAustralia, the Commonwealth apparently hoped to leave most of thedetails of international student policy and administration to theeducational institutions themselves. A Department of Employment,Education and Training spokesman explained the government's view: It is they [international education providers] who will be increasingly responsible for the promotion of Australian education abroad, they who will most directly undertake the recruitment of students ... and they who will play a critical part in the provision of welfare and support services needed by overseas students (Buckingham, 1989, p. 62). The advice the Commonwealth received from the Industries AssistanceCommission in 1989 was that self-regulation of the education exportindustry would work efficiently because private firms would recognisethe connection between institutional reputation and long-term financialviability (Industries Assistance Commission, 1989). As events turnedout, however, the early years of the international student market weremarked by the rapid re-assertion of Commonwealth legislative authorityover areas which it had trusted would be adequately dealt with by marketforces and industry self-regulation. In leaving large chunks ofinternational student policy to market forces, the government hadunderestimated the extent to which a widely expanded overseas studentpopulation could create diplomatic headaches. The biggest foreign affairs foreign affairspl.n.Affairs concerning international relations and national interests in foreign countries. issue of the early years of theinternational student market was the problem of overseas studentsoverstaying their visas after the completion of their courses. A largeproportion of students were using short-term English language courses asa stepping stone to obtaining permanent residence. In June 1989,forty-five per cent of ELICOS students were estimated to be in Australiaafter their visas had run out (Mazzarol & Soutar, 1999; Nesdale,Simkin, Sang, Burke, & Fraser, 1995). The highest category of students overstaying the visas were ELICOSstudents from the People's Republic People's Republicn.A political organization founded and controlled by a national Communist party. of China (PRC). The number ofPRC full-fee-paying students rose from ninety-four in 1986 to a peak of15,568 in 1990 (Mazzarol & Soutar, 1999). Chinese students wereattracted to Australia in the late 1980s because the government allowedprivate overseas students to engage in part-time work on higher wagesthan were available in China. In this way, PRC students could repaytheir heavy student loans. The political instability of China at thistime was an added incentive for many PRC students to overstay OverstayThe act of holding an investment for too long. It often occurs when traders attempt to time the market by identifying the end of a price trend and the beginning of a new one, but, due to greed and fear, tend to overstay their positions. theirvisas. By 1989, forty per cent of former PRC students were remainingillegally in Australia ('Australia: Brave New World Brave New WorldAldous Huxley’s grim picture of the future, where scientific and social developments have turned life into a tragic travesty. [Br. Lit.: Magill I, 79]See : DystopiaBrave New World of EducationalOpportunities', 1988, pp. 24-25; Gan, 1994; Nesdale, Simkin, Sang,Burke, & Fraser, 1995). The Commonwealth government was aware of the problem of non-genuineChinese students as early as 1987, but was concerned that federal actionmight lead to charges of racism and the loss of market income. In June1987, the Commonwealth began cautiously to address the illegalimmigration "Illegal alien" and "Illegal aliens" redirect here. For other uses, see Illegal aliens (disambiguation).Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. issue by compelling Chinese ELICOS students to prepay pre��pay?tr.v. pre��paid, pre��pay��ing, pre��paysTo pay or pay for beforehand.pre��payment n. allcourse fees before being issued with a visa. They saw this as a means ofpreventing non-serious student applicants. The government subsequentlyannounced in July 1988 that full-fee-paying students of allnationalities had to pay fees for short courses upfront, or to pay onefull semester's tuition for a more long-term course (IndustryCommission, 1991; McKnight, 1987; Preston, 1989). The greater prepayment Prepayment1. The payment of a debt obligation prior to its due date.2. The excess payment over a scheduled debt repayment amount.Notes:1. Examples include deferred expenses such as rent and early loan repayments.2. of fees did not act as a deterrent tooverstayers. The number of students overstaying their visas was swelledin response to the Tienanmen Square Massacre of 4 June, 1989.Subsequently, on humanitarian grounds, the Commonwealth gave fouryears' temporary residence to nearly 20,000 PRC students inAustralia. These students were subsequently allowed to apply forpermanent resident status (Gan, 1994; Nesdale, Simkin, Sang, Burke,& Fraser, 1995). In the wake of the Tienanmen massacre, the Commonwealth governmentwas keen to prevent further unplanned PRC student immigration. In August1989, the government stipulated that student applicants from countriesassessed as having a high overstay risk were to be subject to stricterprocessing by the Overseas Student Office. Students from China and otherhigh-risk countries had to have qualifications equal to Australiansenior secondary school level, could not be aged over thirty-five, andhad to apply for a course which was connected to future employmentopportunities (Industry Commission, 1991). This restrictive legislation disadvantaged 25,000 Chinese studentswho had paid $6,000 in tuition fees and living costs but could notsecure a visa because of the new regulations. Over the next few months,the Overseas Student Office processed these applicants, acceptingsixty-five per cent of the applications (the maximum allowed by thegovernment). Despite being asked not to recruit further Chinese studentsuntil the 25,000 students caught out by the legislative changes wereassessed, English colleges accepted prepayments PrepaymentsPayments made in excess of scheduled mortgage principal repayments. from a further 11,500PRC students in the latter half of 1989, of which only forty-five percent were allowed to enter Australia after government assessment. By mid1990, ninety-four per cent of PRC student applications did not proceedto the visa stage (Industry Commission, 1991; Maslen, 1990). The transition to a more restrictive legislative framework cost thegovernment millions of dollars. While the ELICOS industry committeditself to refunding PRC students unable to undertake prepaid coursesbecause of the changed legislation, several ELICOS colleges were unableto comply. Having relied so heavily on Chinese students for theirincome, the ELICOS industry experienced severe cashflow problems afterthe 1989 crackdown on overstayers. Many colleges shut down: by mid 1990,5,000 students were still owed money. Disgruntled dis��grun��tle?tr.v. dis��grun��tled, dis��grun��tling, dis��grun��tlesTo make discontented.[dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see students protestedviolently at Australian embassies in Asia, and perhaps desiring to endthe poor international publicity, Australia supplied course refundstotalling $70 million (Ellingsen, 1989; Gan, 1994; Industry Commission,1991). The PRC student saga heralded the end of the Commonwealthgovernment's innocent, neoliberal faith in a relatively unregulated Adj. 1. unregulated - not regulated; not subject to rule or discipline; "unregulated off-shore fishing"regulated - controlled or governed according to rule or principle or law; "well regulated industries"; "houses with regulated temperature"2. international student market. In its over-eagerness to leaveinternational education to the market, the Commonwealth had Failed tomonitor adequately the risks which came with aggressive studentrecruitment in developing countries like China where scholars had strongincentives to migrate overseas. This led directly to Australiandiplomatic embarrassment and bad publicity (Millet millet,common name for several species of grasses cultivated mainly for cereals in the Eastern Hemisphere and for forage and hay in North America. The principal varieties are the foxtail, pearl, and barnyard millets and the proso millet, called also broomcorn millet , 1991; Preston,1991). Subsequent Commonwealth initiatives throughout the 1990sacknowledged, sometimes with reluctance, that the state had a legitimaterole in ensuring that the international reputation of Australianeducation remained positive. Higher education policy and the international education marketsince the 1990s Both the Labor government from 1983 to 1996 and the Liberalgovernment from 1996 onwards remained very attached to the neoliberalnotion that education was a private benefit which secured increasedincome and social mobility for individuals: it was not considered anactivity that benefited the nation as a whole (Brennan, 2005).Consequently, the Commonwealth had few qualms about slashing slash��ing?adj.1. Bitingly critical or satiric: slashing wit.2. Dashing; pelting: a slashing hailstorm.3. highereducation spending. By 1997, only fifty-four per cent of highereducation funding was contributed by the federal government, compared toeighty-five per cent in 1987 (Marginson & Considine, 2000). Tertiaryinstitutions were thus forced to become extremely entrepreneurial inorder to maintain their financial and educational viability.Universities were receiving $1.8 billion from international student feesby 2000, a remarkable increase from $200 million in 1992 (AustralianBureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the Australian government agency that collects and publishes statistical information about Australia and its people. Population and HousingThe agency undertakes the Australian Census of Population and Housing. , 2003; Maslen & Slattery, 1994). The last decade of the twentieth century saw a massive growth inoverseas students studying in Australia: from 61,967 in 1990 to 153,372in 2000. Almost all of these students were full-fee-paying. By 2000, the$3.7 billion return from education exports was roughly level with wheatexports and had overtaken wool in overseas revenue generation.The highereducation sector was now especially reliant on the income provided byprivate international students. Towards the end of the decade,Australia's overseas student enrolments stood at 12.6 per cent--afar higher proportion than, in comparison, the US' 3.2 per cent(Australian Education International--International Education Network,2005; Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, 2000; Welch,2002). Despite its decreasing contribution to higher education funding,the Commonwealth has carved out an increasingly interventionist role foritself in the economic and consumerist aspects of the internationaleducation programmes of universities and other educational institutionswhich attract overseas students. The Commonwealth felt compelled tointerfere with market forces when crises and other events threatened todestabilise Verb 1. destabilise - become unstable; "The economy destabilized rapidly"destabilizechange - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night" international education in Australia Education in Australia is primarily regulated by the individual state governments. Generally education in Australia follows the three-tier model which includes Primary education (Primary Schools), followed by Secondary education (Secondary Schools / High Schools) and Tertiary . Marketing, consumerprotection and immigration have all been important internationaleducation concerns affected by Commonwealth policy over the last twodecades. The Commonwealth as a market creator and facilitator The growth in international student numbers and income during the1990s was greatly enhanced by the Commonwealth's increasingassistance with identifying and creating markets. In 1992, for example,the Commonwealth created a new captive international student market:from March 1992, school-going dependents of overseas students becameclassified as full-fee-paying international students. Previously allschool-aged dependents could be educated in Australia in state schoolswithout charge. In consultation with the states and territories, theCommonwealth imposed a nationally agreed international student fee ratefor primary and secondary state schools (starting at $3,500 at primarylevel). Being able to cover financially the school fees of dependentsconsequently became a condition of entry for adult internationalstudents. Children of diplomats and refugees on temporary residencevisas could continue to receive free state schooling, but were nowrequired to pay full fees if they wished to access TAFE or highereducation. The government further expanded the international studentmarket in June 1992 by allowing holders of visitor visas to enrol incourses while in Australia, whereas previously, such internationalvisitors had to arrange study in Australia before their visit (DEET,1992; DEET International Students Branch, 1992). Despite creating and expanding the international student market inAustralia during the 1980s and early 1990s, the Commonwealth governmentwas at first reluctant to commit itself financially to the internationalpromotion of Australian educational services. In 1989, the InternationalDevelopment Program of Australian Universities and Colleges (IDP) won acontract from the Commonwealth government to establish and runAustralian Education Centres (AEC AECUS Atomic Energy CommissionNoun 1. AEC - a former executive agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United StatesAtomic Energy Commission ) in the Asia-Pacific region. The AECsprovided counselling and information for prospective students onAustralian educational opportunities, and were empowered to providevisas and collect charges on the Commonwealth's behalf. Thegovernment insisted, how-ever, that the AECs be run without federalfunding; operations were to be financed by subscriptions paid byAustralian international educational providers (Lazenby & Blight blight,general term for any sudden and severe plant disease or for the agent that causes it. The term is now applied chiefly to diseases caused by bacteria (e.g., bean blights and fire blight of fruit trees), viruses (e.g., soybean bud blight), fungi (e.g. ,1999). By the mid 1990s, government awareness that the internationaleducation market was increasingly multifaceted mul��ti��fac��et��ed?adj.Having many facets or aspects. See Synonyms at versatile.Adj. 1. multifaceted - having many aspects; "a many-sided subject"; "a multifaceted undertaking"; "multifarious interests"; "the multifarious and competitive forced arethink of its 'armslength' approach to promotion andrecruitment. Malaysia, Hong Kong Hong Kong(hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. and Singapore were greatly expandingtheir educational facilities and were encouraging domestic students tostudy locally rather than overseas. Many Australian educationalinstitutions consequently established overseas branches to capitalise onthe push towards home-based study: by the year 2000, nineteen per centof overseas students enrolled in Australian institutions were based inoffshore locations (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003; Mazzarol& Soutar, 1999). Noting the increasing complexity of the 1990s internationaleducation scene, the government was increasingly convinced that it had arole to play in protecting and fostering the international educationmarket through coordinating promotional and research activities, oftenvia partnerships between government and industry (DEET, 1995). Thegovernment's major initiative was to establish the AustralianInternational Education Foundation (AIEF AIEF ARMA International Educational Foundation ) to take charge of the AECs andto initiate other promotional activities related to internationaleducation in Australia. The AIEF was operated by the internationaldivision at the Department of Employment, Education and Training inconjunction with officials at diplomatic missions Noun 1. diplomatic mission - a mission serving diplomatic endsdelegation, deputation, delegacy, commission, mission - a group of representatives or delegatesforeign mission, legation - a permanent diplomatic mission headed by a minister . The AIEF became knownfrom 1998 as Australian Education International (AEI AEI American Enterprise InstituteAEI Archive of European IntegrationAEI Australian Education InternationalAEI Automotive Engineering InternationalAEI Australian Education IndexAEI Albert Einstein Institute ). Unlike the AECnetwork in the early 1990s, AIE AIE Adventures in EducationAIE Associazione Italiana Editori (Italy)AIE Arts in EducationAIE Associazione Italiana di EpidemiologiaAIE Applied Information EconomicsAIE Australian Institute of Energy receives generous government subsidiesas well as funding from subscribers (any Australian educationinstitution with an international program can apply for membership). AEIfinances research on international education and since 1997 has run asuccessful database and website. Membership of AEI entitles subscribersto market research, distribution of the member's publicitymaterials to relevant markets and access to training and professionaldevelopment programmes (DEET, 1995; DEETYA, 1998; Australian Research onInternational Education Services [ARIES Aries(âr`ēz)[Lat.,=the ram], constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Taurus and Pisces; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It contains the bright star Hamal (Alpha Arietis). ], 2001; van Leest, 1998). Commonwealth initiatives to protect the market Having committed itself fully to the maintenance of internationaleducation market, the Commonwealth government during the 1990s and 2000sfelt obliged o��blige?v. o��bliged, o��blig��ing, o��blig��esv.tr.1. To constrain by physical, legal, social, or moral means.2. to safeguard the prosperity of that market. It thusintroduced legislation and regulations to enforce minimum educationstandards and protect private overseas students from being financiallydisadvantaged following the possible closure of an educationalinstitution. In this way the Commonwealth hoped to ensure that theinternational image of Australian education remained positive. From 1 January, 1990, state and territory authorities were maderesponsible for providing accreditation for institutions and coursescatering for overseas students. Prior to 1990, accreditation was theresponsibility of the federal Department of Employment, Education andTraining (Schacht, 1994). This shifting of responsibility from thefederal to the state level was a crucial aspect of the Commonwealthgovernment's Education Service for Overseas Students (Registrationof Providers and Financial Regulation) Act of 1991 (ESOS ESOS Executive Share Option SchemeESOS Energy Security Operating SystemESOS Engine Shutdown Override Switch ), whichindicated that the states and territories would be primarily responsiblefor ensuring educational standards. Under the ESOS Act, allinternational education providers had to be registered with theCommonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students(CRICOS CRICOS Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (Australia)); registration with CRICOS could only be made with the approvalof the state and territory governments. The states and territoriesassessed applications for CRICOS registration using national minimumstandards regarding student welfare, financial viability and otherrelevant criteria stipulated by the Commonwealth from time to time. From1991 onwards, the states and territories have monitored CRICOSregistered courses and have made recommendations to the Commonwealth tosuspend or cancel CRICOS registration where necessary (DEET, 1992;DEETYA, 1999). The ESOS Act also indicated that prepaid student fees wereprotected by Australian law and that educational institutions werelegally obligated ob��li��gate?tr.v. ob��li��gat��ed, ob��li��gat��ing, ob��li��gates1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force.2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to guarantee that student payments could be refundedif necessary. Subsequently, the Overseas Student Tuition Assurance Levy(OSTAL) Bill 1993 required education providers to 'maintain trustaccounts for prepaid funds, comply with limits on withdrawals ... andjoin an industry-run Tuition [Assurance] Scheme to guarantee thatinternational students receive the courses paid for if a providerdefaults' (ARIES, 2001, p. 23). Institutions receiving Commonwealthgrants were exempt from these financial regulations because thegovernment was satisfied that this category of educational providers hadalready made sufficient allowance for the protection of student fees(DEET, 1992). The ESOS Act 1991 was replaced by the ESOS Act 2000, which cameinto force on 4 June, 2001. The 2000 legislation greatly enhancedprotection of student prepaid fees. Students were further protectedunder the law by requiring educational providers not only to join anindustry-run Tuition Assurance Scheme, but also to contributefinancially to a Commonwealth-initiated ESOS Assurance Fund as anadditional means of ensuring that fees were able to be promptly refundedto students (Department of Education, Science and Training [DEST DEST DestinationDEST DestroyDEST Department of Education, Science and Training (Australia)DEST Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories (Australia)],n.d.). The Commonwealth's ESOS Act 2000 also attempted to ensure thatcourse providers were genuine and were not just a front for backdoormigration. This was done by enforcing the digitisation Noun 1. digitisation - conversion of analog information into digital informationdigitizationconversion - a change in the units or form of an expression: "conversion from Fahrenheit to Centigrade" of data relatedto overseas students for use by immigration and other federalauthorities. CRICOS-registered education providers must electronicallyconfirm tentative overseas student enrolments via the ProviderRegistration and International Management System (PRISMS). This programgives immigration authorities swift access to student details needed forvisa assessment. Providers are also required to use PRISMS to providethe Commonwealth government with reports on students who fail to complywith visa conditions. Student attendance levels and addresses are nowcompulsorily detailed in electronic form by education providers. Theseelectronic records are accessible by education and immigrationauthorities, thereby reducing potential student abuses such as illegalimmigration (Baird, 2000; DEST, n.d.). Electronic tracking was intended to counter the problem of bogusstudents, exacerbated by colleges willing to turn a blind eye.Incidences of bogus students were still occurring in 2000 and were beingpublicised Adj. 1. publicised - made known; especially made widely knownpublicized in the media (Contractor, 2000). In one case, action couldnot be taken against 500 non-attending students because the collegeconcerned could not supply specific student addresses (Clennell, 2000).The ESOS Act 2000 made these abuses less likely. Targeted immigration Prior to the Howard Liberal government, the Commonwealth'simmigration policies An immigration policy is any policy of a state that affects the transit of persons across its borders, but especially those that intend to work and to remain in the country. towards overseas students concentrated onprotecting Australia from unwanted immigration; however, as a result ofthe federal government's underfunding of public places forAustralian undergraduates, and the limited domestic interest in takingup full-fee places, a skill shortage in some professions occurred. The government addressed this lack by encouraging qualifiedoverseas students to fill the gaps. In 1998, the Howard government begansoftening immigration requirements for overseas students who werestudying in areas where there was a skills shortage, such asengineering, computing and accounting. Students in several professionalareas of high Australian demand no longer had to apply for permanentresidency Permanent residency refers to a person's visa status: the person is allowed to reside indefinitely within a country despite not having citizenship. A person with such status is known as a permanent resident. offshore, and were not required to have occupationalexperience as an application prerequisite. International studentenrolments increased by fifteen per cent per year between 1997 and 2003,a dramatic increase which must have been at least partially influencedby a more favourable immigration policy towards permanent residency.Between mid 2001 and January 2004, 23,000 overseas students weresuccessful in gaining permanent residency after their study (Birrell,Edwards, Dobson, & Smith, 2005; O'Keefe, 2004). By targeting skilled private overseas student immigrants, theCommonwealth government was able to escape some of the more negativeconsequences of the neoliberal view of education as a private benefitrather than a collective good. As Australian employers had access to theskills of former private overseas students for specific short-termrequirements, the Commonwealth's low level of tertiary funding andits long-term domestic implications could remain relativelyunquestioned. As this paper has demonstrated, both Labor and Liberaladministrations have reacted to 'market failure' ininternational education by fixing short-term crises via strong federalintervention Federal intervention (Spanish: Intervenci��n federal) is an attribution of the federal government of Argentina, by which it takes control of a province in certain extreme cases. Intervention is declared by the President with the assent of the National Congress. while paradoxically maintaining total faith in the'free market' structure the Commonwealth itself has created. Conclusion Private overseas student policy since the mid 1970s has gonethrough three phases. The first phase, from the 1970s until 1983,largely stressed the importance of preventing unwanted student migrationbut also emphasised the diplomatic benefits of subsidising privateoverseas students. The second phase, from 1983 to 1990, was driven bythe desire to create a relatively unregulated international educationmarket to improve the position of the Australian economy. In the wake ofthe excesses of the relatively uncontrolled second phase, the thirdphase, from 1990 onwards, has seen the Commonwealth increasinglyintervene in the international education market to protect and enhanceAustralia's reputation as an education provider and to controlimmigration. 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Williams, B. (1989b). Trends in international student mobility. InB.Williams (Ed.), Overseas students in Australia. Canberra: IDP. Lyndon Megarrity Queensland's 150th Celebrations unit, Queensland Government Dr Lyndon Megarrity studied aspects of Queensland political historyfor his PhD from the University of New England The University of New England can refer to: University of New England, Maine, in Biddeford, Maine University of New England, Australia, in New South Wales , completed in 2002.Between 2003 and 2005 he worked as a research associate for anAustralian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. project on the history of internationaleducation in Australia from 1945 to 2000. He is currently a researchassistant for a commemorative history of Queensland The history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy indigenous presence in the state, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement. from 1859 to 2009.His historical publications include works on mining, Queenslandpolitical history and the Commonwealth's role in internationaleducation from 1945 onwards. Email lmegarrity@hotmail.com