In recent weeks international students have been thrown as a political football into the discussion on housing. Labor has already made it harder to get student visas, and now the Coalition has announced even tighter caps, along with significantly higher visa fees.

Housing should be the major focus this election, but blaming international students won’t fix the issue. 

The reality is that Australia’s housing crisis has been years in the making. For too long we haven’t built enough homes to keep up demand, which combined with favourable tax treatment for housing investments and a lowering of interest rates has resulted in eye watering prices. International students are not to blame for these issues. 

But… Do international students contribute to demand? Yes, but oversimplified and ham-fisted policies will be more harmful than helpful. 

First off, we need to distinguish between short term international students and permanent migrants. Temporary students who are here only for a few years have some impact in the short term, but it’s pretty limited. On top of being temporary, many students live in university provided or specialised accommodation, or stay with family or in shared housing.

They also have a very positive impact on our economy. They pay us a lot of money through fees, accommodations, and general living expenses that add jobs and contribute to our economy. They also take a lot of jobs that many Australians would not want to, such as working in the gig economy. 

Those who go on to acquire permanent residency, which we have encouraged for many years are a different calculation. On one hand, these migrants are very positive for Australia. We gain young and skilled people in key industries at a very cheap price. This is undeniably beneficial. On the other hand, it is undeniable that these migrants contribute to housing demand. 

Given the severity of the housing shortage, we think it’s reasonable to look at migration settings in the short term. We support a strong migration program in the long term, but we think there may need to temporarily reduce permanent migration until housing supply catches up. 

It’s important that any changes in this area are thoughtful and it’s important that international students keep coming to Australia. Our universities are a valuable industry and blanket caps and steep fees risk undermining this industry. It would hurt universities, local businesses, and the towns these are in. 

So let’s not scapegoat international students. Tinkering with migration may be necessary in the short term, but ultimately we need to start fixing the real problem by building more houses.