According to Australia’s latest three-step plan for exiting lockdown, international students may be the first category of international travelers to be exempt from the current travel ban. What this announcement means is, as long as strict quarantine rules are observed, international may once again begin to enter the country in July.
“Issues of international students, you’ll note that it does come into the third step of the [exit] plan, that is a possibility,” said PM Scott Morrison. “We are open to that, and would be working with institutions to see how that could be achieved.”
Currently, the Australian government is exploring the possible costs to maintain the quarantine set-up.
According to Morrison, “How that’s done and how those costs are met.. there’s a lot of steps to work through.”
“We’re open to everything pretty much to get the Australian economy back and firing again as much as possible. We’ve just got to step through it carefully.”
International education is worth over AU$40 billion per year to the Australian economy, and many have called for the Australian government to protect the industry.
Among these is Julian Hill MP, who called for Australia to follow in Canada’s suit: “If Canada can admit students, subject to strict quarantine and health checks, then we can too.”
Universities Australia also encouraged the move. In a recent statement, CEO Catriona Jackson said, “We welcome the inclusion of international student travel down the track, in step three [of exit plan].”
“We are keen to welcome all our students, from home and abroad, back to face-to-face teaching, but when it is safe to do so.”
Stage 1 of Australia’s exit plan allows local and regional travel, and up to 10 visitors in homes, businesses, or public places.
Stage 2 allows some interstate travel, and increases the advised visitor limit to 20 persons.
Stage 3 of the exit plan allows gatherings of up to 100 persons, and allows for inter-Tasman, Pacific Island, and international student travel.
On May 8, Morrison announced, “Today, we move ahead with reopening our economy and our society, with a clear plan, and a clear framework, that shows Australians the road ahead.” Experts and the government are set to monitor the situation and review progress every three weeks.
“There will be outbreaks, there will be more cases, there will be setbacks. Not everything will go to plan … But we cannot allow our fear of going backwards from stopping us from going forwards,” said the PM in conclusion.
