“China is a very important source of students for Western Australia”

The initiatives, some of the first to stem from the Action Plan 2019-2025, include Destination Perth, a marketing campaign for Chinese students to address brand awareness issues identified in the lead up to last year’s strategy launch.

“We had suspected for some time that awareness of Perth as a study destination could be better, and the findings from the report confirmed this suspicion: 78% of prospective international students considering study in Australia say they know nothing, or very little about Perth,” said StudyPerth chief executive Phil Payne.

“China is a very important source of students for Western Australia so we wanted to use these findings to inform a strategic approach in China to the promotion of Perth as a world class study destination, and attract increasing numbers of students from this country.”

The campaign encourages Chinese students to think “outside the box” and generated 1.5 million impressions on Chinese social media with its accompanying video.

To help StudyPerth meet the aims of its Employability Project, the agency supported the Australia India Business Council’s mentoring event for Indian students.

The event, held at the Consulate General of India, sought to help Indian students in Western Australia identify and access employment opportunities.

“We hope that by working together with AIBC to empower more of Perth’s Indian students to develop industry connections through mentorships, they will have an exceptional student experience in Perth and share their story through their networks in Perth and in India,” Payne said.

The only state to experience a decline in its international enrolments in 2018, Western Australia has been actively working towards reversing the tide and will play host to the upcoming AIEC and CISA conference.