The numbers of international students studying at Australian universities has boomed over the last few decades. But opinion shown by the 2019 ANUpoll is split over whether there should be the same levels or fewer. Almost no respondents - 1% - want more.
The current lived experience of foreign students does have an impact on views with current university students the least supportive of a cut to the numbers of international students.
A slim majority of those surveyed in the 2019 ANUpoll thought the mix between foreign and domestic students is about right.
Just over a quarter of current students think the number of international students should be reduced.
Females (48%) are slightly likely to support having fewer foreign students than males (44%).
Resistance to international students may be driven in part by fears of increases in cultural diversity with 58% of those wanting fewer foreign students agreeing in a previous ANU Poll that ‘We have too much cultural diversity already’.
The numbers of respondents to the ANU Poll who believe there should be the same or fewer foreign students in Australia is fairly evenly split with 53 per cent thinking the mix of domestic and international students is about right, and 46 per cent saying there should be fewer international students. This does indicate a fair degree of concern within the general community about the current level of international students attending Australian universities.
Those who are most familiar with foreign students, current university students, are the least supportive of a cut in international student numbers. 26 per cent of current students support a reduction. 51 per cent of those who have never been to university and 44 per cent of those who have attended but are not currently attending a university want reductions in foreign student numbers.
Females are likely to support having fewer foreign students than males 48 per cent to 44 per cent while older people are also more supportive. More than half (54 per cent) of respondents aged 55 years and over want fewer international students and half of those aged 35-54 agree. For those aged under 35 the figures falls to just 32 per cent.
There was no statistically significant difference between those born in Australia and those born either in another English speaking country or in a non-English speaking country. There are also no differences between capital cities and other areas.
Not surprisingly there is a strong relationship between views on foreign students and broader population issues. Questions on whether Australia needs more people were asked the previous ANU Poll and the responses of nearly two thousand individuals were linked to their responses on the matter of foreign students.
For the most part, if people were in support of reducing foreign students, they were less likely to support the reasons for population growth asked about in November 2018 and more likely to support the reasons against.
Policies towards foreign students who may only want to study in Australia and then return to their home country may get caught up in broader concerns about the nature of Australian society.