“We’ve lost 20 years of growth”: Australian ELICOS and VET sectors hit out at visa policy

['Polly Nash', 'Polly Graduated With A Degree In History', 'English Literature The University Of Edinburgh During Which She Did A Year Abroad In Sunny Santa Barbara. She Went On To Study International Journalism At City', 'University Of London. At The Pie', 'Polly Reports On All Things International Higher Education With A Focus On The Us'] The PIE News 2026-07-29 12:01:17

“We are growing to the point of being about 20% lower than we were 20 years ago,” English Australia CEO Ian Aird said of the country’s English language teaching sector (ELICOS) at The PIE Live Asia Pacific 2026. “We have lost 20 years’ worth of investment in this sector, 20 years of effort to become a world-leading destination for English language study,” he added. The panellists laid bare the extent of the challenges facing the Australian sector, with record-high visa refusals compounded by fresh increases to Australia’s student visa application fees last month. He pointed out that this makes visa fees for ELICOS students disproportionately high. How likely are they to pay a $20,000 visa application charge?”