The South Australia Government has launched a new international student strategy, which will aim to position Adelaide as a premier destination for international students.
Employment, Higher Education and Skills Minister Gail Gago said Destination Adelaide would target key markets in a bid to attract more international students to the state.
“Adelaide is Australia’s premier learning city and we must maximise opportunities to promote South Australia’s education capabilities and the support for international students provided by the State Government through StudyAdelaide,” explained Minister Gago.
The Minister continued: “Our three public universities, the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South Australia are particularly important in any future collaboration in growing the State’s international education footprint and have already committed an additional $1.3 million over four years for the Destination Adelaide campaign.”
The Destination Adelaide Plan has four strategic goals:
- To grow SA’s international education footprint in terms of the numbers of international students choosing to live and study in Adelaide;
- To provide a safe, vibrant and positive experience for international students by enhancing the cultural and lifestyle opportunities available to international students while living in Adelaide, to ensure they gain not just a qualification, but a set of experiences and cultural perspectives;
- To continue to promote Adelaide as Australia’s best learning city and build the profile of Adelaide as an education city in key off-shore markets through destination marketing activities and the StudyAdelaide brand;
- To support the international education sector and in particular advocate at a national level to ensure our providers are operating on an even playing field.
“In December last year, the State Government undertook targeted consultation with stakeholders in the international education sector, regarding the development of a South Australian international education strategy,” Minister Gago continued. “Responses were received from the three public universities, TAFE SA, StudyAdelaide, Adelaide City Council, the SACE Board, Business SA, Multicultural SA, private education providers, student accommodation providers, peak bodies and government agencies.
“As a result of this consultation and feedback from the sector, an additional $5.7 million over four years was committed to promote Adelaide as a destination of choice for international students.”
In 2014, South Australia hosted more than 30,000 international students from about 125 countries and international education services accounted for AUS$1.056 billion in export earnings, which was the largest service export for SA, and the sixth largest export overall.
International student activity, including education services, accommodation, retail expenditure also contributed to an estimated 8,000 full-time equivalent jobs in SA.