In my role as CEO of UNSW College, my work intersects with UNSW in diverse ways, notably in international recruitment and TNE delivery. We are partners striving for a common goal, however, that premise was tested when we had to stop and take stock of what exactly that goal was.
The certainty of uncertainty
Uncertainty in international education is our only certainty. The question is not whether we will face challenges, but rather how will we choose to respond to them. Will we be proactive and shape our own destiny? Or will we be reactive and let others decide our future for us?
In this article, I focus on the dangers of the latter—the risks of passivity and the lost opportunities that come with inaction. More importantly, I discuss what a proactive approach looks like—how it builds resilience, safeguards our sector and ensures that international education in Australia not only survives but thrives. My overarching challenge to you is to build a proactive approach within your organisations. I hope that my insights help you to meet this challenge.
Context: From boom to bust
First, some context. In early 2024 both UNSW College and UNSW were in the fortunate position of having emerged from COVID with a suite of new products at the College and a jump in rankings for the university. Demand for our programs was unprecedented. I mentioned to one of my Board members that I was worried about this growth; and he encouraged me to develop a sustainable growth strategy.
We were concerned about the impact of growth and high enrolments on the student experience, teaching capacity, physical space, timetabling and staff wellbeing. This growth felt like a bubble waiting to burst but it was also intoxicating. At UNSW College, I had a team who had worked extremely hard with limited resources through the pandemic—launching new products, penetrating new markets, opening new centres. Finally, we were rewarded and it felt good! And we grew, and grew, and grew.
Post-COVID, many Australian providers witnessed an extraordinary surge in demand for Australian international education. Numbers skyrocketed, institutions expanded and the sector rejoiced. But in that rush, we lost sight of sustainability. We ignored the warning signs. We chased growth at all costs. And then came the government’s intervention—caps, restrictions and a tightening of policies that sent shockwaves through our industry.
How did we let this happen? How did an industry, that began as a foreign aid initiative and grew into Australia’s third-largest export, lose its social license? The answers are clear; we allowed internal competition to replace collaboration. We turned on each other instead of standing together. And in doing so, we fractured our own foundations.
The cost of a reactive approach
The first round of caps was a wake-up call: institutions scrambled, international offices panicked. The sector was forced into reactive decision-making— cutting programs, slashing budgets and downsizing teams. And worst of all, we lost credibility in the eyes of the public, policymakers, agents and students.
If we are honest, we didn’t just face an external policy shift—we laid bare our own vulnerabilities as a sector.
We failed to demonstrate our social licence. We allowed the narrative to be written for us—that we were part of the problem, not part of the solution. We became easy targets for concerns about housing, infrastructure and migration.
This is what happens when we are reactive instead of proactive, when we don’t prioritise long-term strategy. When we place volume over value, we cede control and become subject to external forces rather than driving our own future.
And, inside our institutions? The caps didn’t just challenge our recruitment models; they challenged our very structures. Universities and Faculties scrambled for a slice of shrinking international student revenue. Instead of presenting a united front, we competed internally as if this would solve the bigger problem. Even our various university networks weren’t cohesive in their messaging to the public and their lobbying of government.
Pathway providers — institutions that are long-term partners in delivering high-quality students — became threats instead of enablers. They were undervalued, sidelined and in some cases replaced. We seemed to forget their place as a common first step in a student’s journey to success.
The case for a proactive approach
There is another way, a better option, a proactive, forward-thinking approach that draws on our tremendous strengths in collaboration and innovation. I envisage this as follows:
- Rebuilding our social license: Australians need to see international education for what it truly is—not an economic powerhouse but a force for good. We transform lives. We shape futures. We build global citizens who contribute to Australia’s prosperity. If we forget that, we lose everything. We need to be at the forefront of the national conversation, proving that international students strengthen, not strain, our communities. We must demand policies that incentivise investment in housing, infrastructure and student wellbeing—not just policies that limit growth.
- Investing in people: Our strength has always been in our educators, our administrators and our leaders. We must invest in their resilience, adaptability, innovation and capacity to lead in uncertain times.
- Ending the warfare within our institutions: Internal rivalries weaken us, and we need whole-of-institution approaches. We need governance structures that prioritise long-term strategy over short-term survival. And we need to stop treating pathway colleges as competitors—they are part of our ecosystem that delivers high-quality international education to students and their families. Indeed, we even need to look at our internal funding models: is now the time to rethink resource allocation across institutions? Instead of competing for pieces of the pie, we must grow the pie together and remember that strength lies in our diversity.
- Aligning international education with both Australia’s future and the wider world: The world is shifting. Other nations—Canada, the UK, the US—are recalibrating their international student strategies. If Australia’s model is to be one of ’sustainable growth’, we must ensure that this growth is targeted, strategic and aligned with workforce and economic priorities. That means focusing on areas of real need—healthcare, engineering, technology.And ensuring that the international students who we educate have pathways to contribute meaningfully to Australia and the nations that we engage with and support, in turn strengthening Australia’s soft power and international relationships. We need to be part of national workforce strategies and the innovation agenda. We need to be part of the solution to skills shortages. If we don’t become part of the broader national interest, we will always be on the defensive.
- Rethink recruitment: The era of volume-driven models is over. Quality must be our focus. We need sustainable, long-term student pipelines and not quick-fix enrolments. We must cultivate partnerships, expand scholarship programs and offer pathways that ensure international students contribute meaningfully to Australia. If caps restrict onshore numbers, let’s expand offshore through partnerships, branch campuses and blended learning. In doing so we’ll make valuable contributions to international communities that are building their own education and skills capacities.
And pathway providers must also act. We must demonstrate our value more effectively by leveraging data, collaborating with one another and working closely with allies such as English Australia to showcase our impact.
The transformative power of education
International education is more than an industry—it is a transformative force. Over the decades, Australian international education has changed lives, built civil societies and driven economic and technological progress across our region and the world. The students who come here return home as leaders, innovators and agents of change. This is our legacy. And this is why we must fight to protect and strengthen our sector.
Conclusion: Our choice, our future
We cannot afford to wait for the next policy shift, the next cap, the next crisis. The time for action is now. The only path forward is a proactive one—one that is collaborative, purpose-driven and built on a shared commitment to transforming lives. If we embrace this approach, we won’t just survive. We will emerge stronger, more united and ready to lead the next era of international education in Australia.
The choice is ours. Let’s make the right one.