Statement from ANU Vice-Chancellor to Senate Education and Legislation Committee

Thank you, Senators, for the opportunity to make an opening statement. I am pleased to be here representing The Australian National University. Changing the way we think about our future students is an important policy decision which will impact the entire higher education sector, and all of our voices matter in the conversation.

Indeed universities matter to Australia – we educate the next generation, we provide pathways for students from across Australia, and we conduct research to tackle critical problems. On our best days, we help build the future for our nation, the region and the world. 

This means at the ANU our graduates are employed all over the world. This means at the ANU we undertake far ranging research from how to harness lithium in the green energy transition, to building public trust and policy for the use of artificial intelligence, and closing the gap in the health outcomes between First Nations Australians and the broader population, to name just a few. And I know my counterparts will have dozens of similar examples.

However, as the Final Report of the Australian Universities Accord noted, funding from government for teaching domestic students and conducting the research that informs that teaching often does not cover our costs. The current reality is that universities also need the revenue from international student fees simply to be universities. 

Like many other universities, ANU has yet to recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020 we have run cumulative deficits of almost $400 million.  It is a situation that cannot be sustained indefinitely, and we had a plan to get out of deficits – by controlling our costs and seeking modest growth in student enrolments.

At the moment, we do not know what the international student caps for ANU will be. We share the concerns of other Universities about how we will enact these caps in such a short period of time, how we will maintain strong connections with potential international student populations and how we will retain a world class workforce in the face of this uncertainty.

We do know that educating international students helps our nation engage meaningfully in the world, particularly with our Indo-Pacific neighbours and with countries where we have strategic interests. 

At ANU we teach hundreds of students directly related to Australia’s diplomatic agenda, including Australia Awards scholars and others sponsored by governments under formal partnership programs. We count not just Australian Prime Ministers and federal politicians among our alumni, but also leaders from across the world who have spent time at our national university and have a unique viewpoint – and fondness – of Australia as an outcome.

And we do know that our students aren’t squeezing Canberrans out of housing.  At ANU we have spent the past decade investing in student accommodation.  We have 6,490 beds which means 25 per cent of our students make their home on our campus amongst them many of our international students. We know going to university is not just about the classroom, but also about the shared experiences and shared perspectives shaped by people from all over the world

There remains much detail in this Bill to be resolved, and there is still time for the legislation to go in a direction that better balances policy objectives and the impact of change.  Again, I’m grateful for the time to make this opening statement.  I am looking forward to your questions. 

Opening statement made to the Inquiry hearing on Education Services for the Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024.