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The Australian government has reduced visa assessment levels for students from 38 countries, including India, whose students make up a large percentage of Australia's foreign student population.
The lower visa assessment levels went into effect on 2 April 2011. The new rules are in response to much lower student immigration levels in the last few years which has meant a huge reduction in student fee income for Australia's education sector. The Australian education sector is a multi-billion dollar industry which depends to a great extent on fee income from Indian and Chinese students.
During the 2009-10 fiscal year, 270,499 student visas were granted. There are 382,710 student visa holders in the country as of 30 June 2010. Of this number, 80,450 were Indian students, 80,010 were Chinese students and 21,720 were from South Korea.
