The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has expressed significant concern over the federal government’s announcement of planned international student caps, emphasising the need for more detailed information.

The caps or National Planning Level, which has been set at 270,000 for 2025, includes international students commencing at both public and private providers across higher education and VET.

The public university sector will be capped at 145,000, with private higher education providers capped at 30,000 and VET capped at 95,000.

This returns the tertiary sector to lower than 2017 figures. It will halve the international student numbers in the VET sector compared to 2023.

However, despite the impact on VET and private providers, only publicly funded universities have currently been given the details on how this will affect them as individual providers.

ACCI chief executive officer Andrew McKellar said the caps are ‘draconian’.

“The proposed amendments to cap international students won’t promote a stronger economy or help build a sustainable skills pipeline.

“If this legislation is passed, it will be a serious body blow to one of Australia’s most critical export industries,” said Mr McKellar.

He also underlined the importance of clarity from the government on how the proposed caps would be managed.

“Providers need to see a comprehensive plan that outlines how this legislation would be implemented in a way that supports all of the players in the sector.

“VET and private providers play a crucial role in addressing our skills shortages, and their contribution must be safeguarded.

“The Government has made clear that they will be penalising VET providers with a higher ratio of international students but have left that entire sector hanging as to what the figures provided today will mean for them individually.

“We have little confidence that these measures will improve integrity or enhance the international student experience.

“We are very confident, however, that they will stymie competition, crush many of the small Australian businesses that offer education services to international students, and damage Australia’s reputation as a welcoming education destination.”