Approximately 80 per cent of Australia's population (21,471,263 million in 2008) live in urban centres around the six major coastal cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart). Immigration remains an important feature of the country and people born overseas make up almost one quarter of the total population. Attracting international students is seen as an important route for promoting skilled migration and government policies reflect this.
While Australia has been recognised as one of the world's leading 'growth economies' (with GDP averaging 3.8 per cent over the last decade and 11th highest GDP per capita in the world), the slowing world economy has seen Australia post an annualised growth rate of 2.7 per cent for the April to June 2008 period. The economy is dominated by its services sector (68 per cent of GDP), yet it is the agricultural and the booming mining sectors that account for 65 per cent of its exports.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has valued international education services as an AUD 10 billion export industry, underlining the economic importance of the industry to Australia. Australian Education International’s (AEI) international student data for 2007 show that there were 455,185 enrolments by full-fee international students in Australia on a student visa. This represents a growth of 19 per cent over the previous year.
In 2007, the higher education sector accounted for 39.1 per cent of all international student enrolments. The sector’s share of the international student market has slowly experienced a decline in the last three years, although the number of enrolments has continued to increase in absolute terms. The strong growth experienced by the VET and, to a lesser extent, the ELICOS sectors has led to this decline. This trend is likely to continue if the growth in the VET and ELICOS sectors continues at its current rate.
Australia has been among the countries most committed in recent decades to market-based privatisation strategies in higher education. Over the past 15 years, there has been a deliberate national strategy to shift from an approach that relies on public funding and government control of higher education to one in which public policies give market forces much greater leeway.
Outward student mobility has been slowly increasing, gathering support and momentum from senior levels as Government and universities in Australia are alert to the importance of Australian students gaining overseas study experience. The Australian Government has introduced a loan scheme (OS HELP) to encourage more students to study abroad. Research is to be released by the Australian University International Directors’ Forum (AUIDF) in October 2008 on short-term student mobility (two semesters or less). Early figures show that 33 per cent of Australian outbound students go to Europe (including approximately eight per cent to the UK); 31 per cent to Asia; and 24 per cent to North America (including Canada).
The Australian education system is divided into three sectors: schools; higher education; and vocational education and training (VET). Although the education system in each state has developed independently, a single nationwide system of qualifications, known as the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), brings together qualifications from all three sectors. Over 30 per cent of students in Australia attend non-Government schools. Around 40 schools also offer the International Baccalaureate and this number is increasing as schools seek to position themselves internationally.
Australia has 39 universities, two of which are private. Most Australian university students are on Government subsidised places and pay back part of the cost of their course under the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS). The former Howard Conservative government introduced reforms which enabled universities to offer full-fee places to domestic undergraduate students. The current Rudd Labor government, elected in November 2007, is reversing this policy and phasing out full-fee domestic undergraduate degrees and replacing them with 11,000 new Government funded places.
The Australian Government recently passed legislation (November 2005) to allow foreign institutions to open in Australia. The prestigious US institution Carnegie Mellon University has been the first to take advantage of this by opening its School of Public Policy and Management in Adelaide. This has caused some controversy, not least because of the AUD 17.6 million that the Australian Government has put towards the venture. University College London (UCL) and Cranfield have similarly signed agreements with the South Australian State Government to establish campuses in Adelaide and will become operational before 2010.
Traditionally, for full degrees, the main competitor to the UK has been the United States of America, who operates an advisory service in Australia's major cities. In 2006 / 2007, 2,800 students went to the USA versus 2,170 to the UK. Canada is the third most popular destination for Australian students, but the numbers are significantly smaller than the USA and UK: in 2004 / 2005 (the most recent figures available), 455 Australian students went to Canada.
The market for overseas study is concentrated at the higher education level. The UK is the second most popular destination after the USA. The number of Australian students studying in the UK higher education sector has grown steadily over the past five years to a total of 2,170 students in 2006 / 2007. This represents an eight per cent increase in the past year alone.
The fastest growth areas have been identified as the shorter study options: one -year taught Masters and study abroad / exchange, with full undergraduate degrees and research degrees growing at a slower rate. Interest is generally spread over a broad range of disciplines, although popular subject areas include business studies, law, medicine, music and design.
Attitudes to the UK and British education amongst students, parents and their advisers are extremely positive. This is in part a legacy of the strong UK / Australian academic links and generally the UK is perceived as high quality but more difficult to gain entry to. Whilst name knowledge is often limited beyond Oxbridge, parts of the University of London and major cities, the large number of family / peer connections across the whole of the UK gives potential to effectively promote all UK universities.
Australian undergraduate degrees take three years and are awarded at the ordinary level. Only a small percentage of students go on to complete the separate research-based honours year. The UK’s three-year honours degrees are therefore an attractive option. In addition, although Australian institutions have introduced a number of one-year masters programmes, there is still considerably more choice in a wider range of subject areas in the UK.
In addition to the increasing number of young Australians interested in studying overseas, the large pool of international students currently undertaking pre-university and undergraduate studies in Australia is also a viable source market for UK universities. One of the advantages of recruiting third country students from Australia is the fact that these students have already made the adjustment to life and study in a Western country and have a high proficiency of English.
Australia’s PMI2 activities are targeted at postgraduate links between UK and Australian universities. In 2008 / 2009, PMI2 funding is being directed towards the inaugural Design Researcher Award, which supports early career researchers in Australia to establish links with UK universities that may result in joint research, exhibitions, publications or projects. Applicants can be academics in any area of design including industrial and product design, fashion design, graphic design or design teaching, history and theory. The Award is in response to the emergent discipline of design research in Australia in comparison with the UK's established work in this area. Up to AUD 7,000 per Award is available, which must be matched by the researchers’ Australian institution. It is expected that five to six Awards will be made after applications close on 7 November 2008.
British Council Australia has a small office in Sydney and an Assistant Director based in Melbourne. All staff working in education, arts and science collaborate across the programmes in an integrated way. The office does not have public access, but the Internet, which is the preferred mode of communication in Australia, is utilised effectively for marketing and promotional purposes and on-line enquiries.
British Council Australia has an extensive network of key contacts at a wide range of schools and universities across Australia and can act as a facilitator between UK universities and local institutions within Australia to encourage greater collaboration via links for academic and student exchange. Active partnerships with Australian institutions are an important means of raising the profile of UK institutions within Australia.
The Australian market is culturally, linguistically and systemically compatible with the UK. To be successful in the Australian market requires a modest investment of time and resources compared to many of the traditional student source countries. While visits to Australia are advantageous, innovative long-distance marketing strategies, supported by British Council Australia's Education Team, can also be extremely effective in this sophisticated market.
| 
