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Latest News
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CEO Report March 2024
March has seen the continuation of challenges and poor outcomes in terms of Australia’s student visa regime. Extensive and widespread delays have continued to cause uncertainty and have seen many students miss their first-semester course intakes. At the same time, student visa applications have continued to see inconsistent decision-making with very high refusal rates in certain key markets and generic explanations for these refusals.
These challenges have been exacerbated by the rushed early announcement from Minister Clare O’Neil that the new English language proficiency levels would come into effect with only two days’ notice and with many details of these changes yet to be finalised by the department.
Further announcements of changes in the visa regime have included:
· the implementation of the shift from the GTE to the ‘Genuine Student’ requirement,
· references to increasing the application of the ‘no further stay’ condition,
· the Minister’s intention to make use of the powers granted under section 97 of the ESOS Act to suspend providers from CRICOS.
This month I have travelled to attend each of the State and Territory branch meetings around the country, visited many member colleges, attended the QLD PD Fest, met with TEQSA and ASQA, attended an EVCC meeting and an Industry Peak Body Roundtable, voiced member concerns with a number of media outlets, and had many conversations with members to better understand the impact of visa refusals and delays and the issues with transparency and clarity in some of the changes.
English Australia has also been busy preparing our 2024 Annual Conference and running PD Fests in five states, publishing the Full Calendar Year Market Analysis for 2023, and much more.
Read on for the full update.
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March 2024 PD Update
The latest Professional Development events and news from English Australia.
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CEO Report February 2024
My first month as CEO of English Australia has been a busy one! I jumped straight in on day one with the Department of Education's Integrity Stakeholder Forum’. This was a consultation with key stakeholders on a number of proposed changes to the statutory framework of international education. That set the scene and I’ve been working daily on advocating for optimising these reforms for English Australia member colleges and their students since. As I’m sure you’re all very aware, visa processing and grant rates have been front and centre once again.
I’ve also been reaching out to member colleges to arrange meetings and campus visits as part of the ‘Meet the English Australia CEO’ initiative. Please see below for more details.
Meanwhile, English Australia has also been busy gathering data for the Annual ELICOS survey, registering colleges to participate in the ELT Barometer, coordinating nationwide PD Fests, holding a board meeting, electing a new English Australia Board member, and much, much more!
Upcoming Events
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Supporting neurodiverse students in the ELICOS classroom
We invite you to join us for an online panel discussion on supporting neurodiverse students in the ELICOS classroom. This discussion will be run in two parts on Wednesday 17 April at 3.00-3.45pm (AEST) and on Wednesday 24 April at 3.00-3.45pm (AEST).
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VIC PD Fest 2024
Join us for this mini-conference presented by the VIC Branch of English Australia.
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PD West 2024
Join us for this mini-conference in Perth presented by the WA Branch of English Australia.
Member colleges are the heart of what we do
English Australia represents over 120 member colleges throughout Australia. These colleges provide quality English language programs to students and professionals from around the world.
Membership info