The Coordinating Council for International Education, chaired by Minister for Education and Training Christopher Pyne, was part of the Draft National Strategy for International Education released in March and includes both ministers and international education stakeholders.

“The roundtables will be a platform to get everyone working together to make Australian international education the best in the world”

Universities Australia will be represented on the panel by CEO Belinda Robinson and the IEAA by CEO Phil Honeywood, alongside Kate Carnell, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO; Sue Blundell, English Australia executive director; Bill Spurr, Education Adelaide chair; and Malcolm White, TAFE Directors Australia acting CEO.

Two roundtable discussions will convene between the council and ministers on June 18 and August 13 to finalise the strategy.

“The roundtables will be a platform for consulting with the international education community, and to get everyone working together to make Australian international education the best in the world,” Pyne announced.

Peak bodies such as Universities Australia have been calling for the implementation of the council since the draft strategy was announced.

“By bringing all relevant government ministers together and sitting the experts around the table, we now have the firepower needed to strengthen and expand the sector as well as deepening international collaboration,” commented UA’s deputy chief executive, Anne-Marie Lansdown.

“This whole-of-government and whole-of-sector approach is essential to ensure the continued success of our international education services and the ongoing internationalisation of our education and research agenda,” she added.

Honeywood also said that a biannual ministerial roundtable “should be a prerequisite” for the strategy that aims to grow international education, then country’s third largest export.

Blundell added that “there is important work to be done in ensuring we deliver a strategy that reflects a coordinated and consistent approach across all levels of government and is developed in partnership with education providers, industry and the wider community”.