Damage done? The safety of international students and a multi-billion-dollar industry

Authors

Steve Holden, ACERFollow

Abstract

International education contributes billions of dollars in export income to the Australian economy, so there is plenty at stake in the aftermath of attacks on Indian students and subsequent protests in Melbourne in May and June 2009. International education is Victoria's biggest export earner, with 38,000 of Australia's 93,000 Indian students studying in the state and contributing $4.45 billion to the state economy in 2008. Although university administrators and vice-chancellors have responded to the violence, the ramifications could spread far wider than Victoria's borders. US and European are ramping up their activities to attract international students. As the competition for these students is hotter than ever before, the attacks in Melbourne, racist or not, put Australia's reputation as a destination for Asian students on the line. [Author abstract, ed]

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