The Australian government has declared that starting in 2025, it will only accept 270,000 enrolments from overseas students. The goal of this decision is to control the unprecedented levels of migration that have fuelled an increase in the cost of renting homes.

The measure is the culmination of several steps made since the conclusion of the COVID-19 era concessions for international workers and students in Australia.

While tight border restrictions prevented foreign workers from entering the country, these concessions assisted firms in hiring local labour.

According to Jason Clare, the minister of education, there are approximately 10% more foreign students studying in Australian universities than there were before the pandemic, and there are almost 50% more students enrolled in private vocational and training institutions.

According to Clare, the changes aim to improve sustainability and equity in the international student market.

Australia's largest export sector is international education, which contributed A$36.4 billion ($24.7 billion) to the country's GDP in the 2022–2023 fiscal year.

Nonetheless, surveys have revealed that voters are worried about significant inflows of foreign labourers and students placing undue strain on the housing market. Due to this, immigration may become a key issue in the approaching election, which is less than a year away.

In the year ending September 30, 2023, net immigration reached a record high of 548,800, up 60% from the 518,000 in the year ending June 2023.

Following the COVID-19 epidemic, Australia increased its yearly immigration figures in 2022 to aid companies in hiring new employees and covering staffing gaps.

This has increased the labour pool and decreased wage pressure, but it has also made the already tight housing market worse. It has also coincided with the return of international workers and students.

The government has more than quadrupled the cost of a visa for international students and promised to eliminate loopholes that allowed them to constantly extend their stay in an attempt to stem the flow of immigration.