International students in Australia: reflections, contemporary trends, and future directions

Globally, Australia is known for rapidly reaching a high level of internationalisation in higher education. During Covid-19, the number of international students dropped considerably, leading to catastrophic losses to Australian universities and society. Combined with the crisis management issues and geopolitical conflicts, Australian higher education is at a crossroads. This study acknowledges the need to reflect, re- examine, and re-direct international education development. Using longitudinal data, it identifies changes and depicts contemporary trends in international students in Australia. It highlights the mismatch between higher education development and the demand of the labour market in developing countries that leads to investment in Australian education products. As traditional international students’ source countries develop, the demand for Australian education will change accordingly. Additionally, it is critical to foster customer entities from emerging economic countries, who might become the major source countries for Australia’s international education in the foreseeable future.