The recent political rhetoric of political parties in Australia indicates that the immigration policy towards foreign students may tighten up more. 

The Australian election was held on 31 May. The current Labour government is pushing for stricter rules on the intake of international students, and the opposition Liberals also shared hard-line policies citing the housing crisis, aspects which are a cause for concern for students wanting to study in Australia. 

“There’s definitely growing unease,” Adarsh Khandelwal, founder of study abroad platform Collegify, quoted in The Economic Times. “(Leader of opposition) Peter Dutton’s comments linking international students to the housing crisis really struck a nerve.”

He points to the recent surge in the 2025 student enrolment cap, the recent visa fee spike (from 710 Australian dollars to 1,600 Australian dollars, with another hike to 2,000 Australian dollars on the horizon), and the risk of mid-course policy reversals is causing anxiety, specially for students in STEM who are banking on permanent residency. 

According to sources, The Economic Times reported that the Labour government gave a reactionary response to the recent criticisms by capping the number at 270,000. It did so after the government received flak for allowing the international student population to nearly double under its rule.