Friday 28 May 2021

The Australian Government’s Budget, released on 11 May 2021, included a number of assumptions and a timeline of mid 2022 for the reopening of Australia’s international borders. Since the budget announcements there has been considerable media coverage of these issues.

In the weeks following the budget announcements, considerable pressure has been applied to the Federal Government, as their international border controls are increasingly viewed as unnecessarily restrictive, especially as vaccines roll out. Importantly, this criticism is not just coming from journalists, but also from key medical advisers to the state and territory governments. Just recently, the former Federal Deputy Chief Medical Office, and the current Chief Health Officer in Victoria, have both advocated for the abandonment of our ‘Fortress Australia’ approach, and the need for a clear plan for reopening.

There is also a growing number of government MPs who are dissatisfied with their party’s position on this issue. Every day there is more and more media coverage about the issue, and top scientists, epidemiologists, economists, public policy analysts and businesses are starting to pressure the government.

In a media interview on Sunday 16 May, the Prime Minister spoke in detail about the Federal Government’s plans to allow international students to travel to and quarantine in Australia. Pleasingly he stated that returning international students is now one of the government’s top priorities. While we continue to wait for further details about student travel and quarantine programs, this announcement should give families and agents hope that some students will be able to return to Australia in the latter half of 2021.

This week, our Managing Director, Tracey O’Halloran, spoke with two of the nation’s largest newspapers – The Age in Melbourne and the Sydney Morning Herald – about the impact of prolonged border closures on students, schools, and supporting businesses such as AEAS and education agencies.

AEAS has been one of the strongest advocates for the school sector throughout the pandemic. We coordinated a group of 40 independent schools in Victoria to develop a detailed plan for student travel and quarantine, which was submitted to the Victorian and Australian governments for consideration.

We have also led efforts to connect schools, agents and other key stakeholders during 2020 and into 2021, by holding online events, agent training webinars and state meetings over the course of the past 12 months.

While Australia’s relatively slow vaccine roll out means there is still quite some way to go before our borders fully reopen, it seems the budget announcements have pushed our community to re-consider whether our zero COVID approach is realistic moving forward. We have our fingers crossed that there is more positive news for the international education sector just around the corner.