China is still Australia`s largest source of foreign students. (picture of Australian Financial Review)
Temporary visa statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior for the first quarter of this year show that the total number of temporary visas issued in Australia exceeded 2.3 million, the highest number ever issued in the March quarter.
The figure is 92400 more than the total number of visas counted in March last year and 635600 more than in the same period in 2012, according to Macro Business, a financial website.
Of these, the number of temporary student visas reached a record 613000, up from more than 536000 in March last year and an increase of 268000 over March 2012. Since 2012, international students have been the main driver of Australia`s surge in temporary immigration.
In addition, the number of bridge visa (Bridging Visa) and working vacation visa (Working Holiday Visa) also rose, by more than 34000 and 1019 respectively from March 2018. However, the number of visitor visas (Visitor Visa) decreased by 46727 compared with the same period last year, but it is still up 128500 from March 2012.
Australia`s Bureau of Statistics short-term entry data also reflect a sharp increase in student visas, from 367000 in March 2012 to 610000 in March 2019.
However, there are reports that the rapid increase in student visas has further exacerbated wage growth for Australians. (Australian Council of Trade Unions), the Australian trade union council, said migrant workers were widely exploited and salary buckles across Australia`s economic, and international students had been in a "extreme position".
The Australian wage crisis (The Wages Crisis in Australia), published last year, raised similar concerns about the surge in migrant workers and their negative impact on Australian pay.
In addition to concerns that a surge in foreign students could lower the quality of Australian tertiary education and increase congestion in big cities, there are also Australians worried that they will flood the Australian market with cheap, exploited labour.
However, an earlier report in the Australian newspaper pointed out that a senior Home Office official said the "lucrative six-year study boom has come to an end." Although Chinese students are still the largest source of international students, the number of visa applications has not increased. Bureau of Statistics figures also show that the number of citizen visitors to Australia, including Chinese students, has fallen for nine months in a row and is now back to mid-2017 levels.
