Western Australia’s international education industry is poised for a much-needed boost thanks to the state government’s $10 million agent incentive scheme.
The scheme, to encourage education agents to promote WA as the Australian study destination of choice, forms part of the government’s $41.2 million 2022-23 budget allocation to revitalise the state’s flagging international education industry.
The initiative provides money to international education providers to top up the commissions they pay to overseas education agents, who refer students to their institutions.
In Australia, an estimated three quarters of all international student enrolments come from education agent referrals.
Agents provide prospective students with information about programs on offer, assist them to understand application and admission processes and help apply for student visas.
In some cases, they assist in organising travel and living arrangements.
Like other countries, Australian universities, colleges and schools typically pay commissions to agents for student referrals that translate into student enrolments.
Within the university sector, commissions per student enrolment at a university can run anywhere from the equivalent of 10 per cent through to 17.5 per cent of a student’s first semester tuition fees.
Assuming an international postgraduate student enrolled in a four-semester university course will need to pay $91,000 or $22,750 per semester, an education agent could reasonably expect to receive a commission of anywhere between $2,275 (10 per cent) to $3,981 (17.5 per cent).
Commissions paid by education providers to education agents will be supplemented by the agent incentive scheme.
Courtesy of the WA government, agents will receive a commission top up of $1,000 plus GST per university enrolment and $500 (plus GST) per school, English language intensive courses for overseas students or vocational education and training enrolment.
Top ups are to be paid by the government to local education providers for disbursement to their agents.
Launching the scheme, International Education Minister David Templeman said:
“While WA education providers have long-standing formal agreements with education agents across the globe, this initiative will provide an additional incentive to agents from the state government in recognition of successful enrolments at WA education providers.”
The international education industry has long been linked to a range of economic and non-economic benefits.
Beneficiaries of the industry include not only local universities, colleges and schools but restaurants, corner stores, supermarkets and accommodation providers.
The industry is also regarded as an important catalyst for tourism, with students’ relatives often visiting WA.
The announcement of the scheme comes at a time when the state’s international education industry, like elsewhere across Australia, struggles to rebuild after the pandemic locked out most students.
While ‘brand Australia’ is focused on enticing international students to the country, a tug of war between the states over market share has been in place for as long as the industry as existed.
WA has long been challenged to increase its market share of enrolled international students, with many overseas students historically preferring to study in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
According to Commonwealth data, WA’s share of international student enrolments has fallen over the past decade from 8 per cent in 2013 to just 5.6 per cent in 2022.
International education experts are quick to point out WA’s market share should sit around 10 per cent based on WA’s population relative to the rest of Australia.
Even though there is a pressing need to take practical steps to improve WA’s market share, some education leaders have been highly critical of the state government’s efforts to incentivise international education agents.
Over the years, education agents have come under fire for unethical behaviour, a lack of transparency, dishonesty and a failure to have an adequate understanding of the Australian education system.
In addition, some education experts believe publicly attempting to “buy” students has the potential to do more harm than good to the WA brand.
Others believe commissions drive some agents to focus more on their pockets than what a prospective student needs or prefers.
Despite the criticisms, most education providers have welcomed the extra support and commended the government for funding a scheme that could well be a first in this country.
• Professor Gary Martin is chief executive officer of the Australian Institute of Management WA
