Australia’s ruling Labor Party has announced it will fund some of its election promises by raising visa fees for international students.

The move will mean the fee will rise from $1,600 to $2,000 if Labor is re-elected.

The Coalition has also said it would raise the student visa application charge to $5,000 for Group of Eight universities and $2,500 for all other international students.

Election costings outline how the major parties plan to fund all the policies and announcements made throughout their campaign.

In a bid to pressure the Coalition to release its costings, Labor unveiled the cost of commitments made since March’s budget on Monday. However, the parliamentary budget office doesn’t release its full list of costings until after the election.

In a joint press conference, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher revealed a further $1 billion in savings since the pre-election economic and fiscal outlook.

“We will finish this election campaign with the budget in a stronger position than at the start of the election campaign,” Chalmers told reporters.

Where has Labor found savings?

Savings will come from student visa fees, which will increase to $2,000 from 1 July 2025 and are anticipated to deliver $760 million to the budget over the forward estimates.

The change will not affect arrangements for Pacific Island and Timor-Leste applicants.

An extra $6.4 billion will come from reducing spending on consultants, contractors, and labour hire, as well as non-wage expenses such as travel, hospitality, and property.

Gallagher said unlike the Coalition’s pledge to cut 41,000 public jobs, these savings would not impact any services or programs that the Australian Public Service provides.

The cumulative budget deficit will reduce from $151.6 billion to $150.5 billion as a result of the changes.

It will help to cover Labor’s $1,000 instant tax deduction for work expenses, which is estimated to cost the budget $2.4 billion over forward estimates.

Gallagher said Labor had managed to get “rid of a lot of waste and rorts” embedded in previous budgets, which have been redirected to cost of living measures.

“We returned that money to budget, and it allowed us to … deliver through our budgets — our investments in Medicare, our investments in housing, the income tax cuts, and other measures like lowering HECS debt,” she said. (SBS News)

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The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal to increase paper marking fees for the GCE Ordinary Level Examinations and the Grade Five Scholarship Examination.

Issuing a statement, the Ministry of Education said a proposal in this regard was presented based on the recommendations of the sub-committee which included the Department of Examinations. 

The Ministry said the Cabinet of Ministers today approved the proposal presented in this regard.

The Education Ministry added that, thereby, the increased fee is to be provided for teachers engaged in paper marking. (Newswire)

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The Australian Government announced on Monday that it had more than doubled the visa fee for international students.

According to Reuters, the latest move by the government is to rein in record migration that has intensified pressure on an already tight housing market.

From July 1, the international student visa fee has risen to A$1,600 ($1,068) from A$710.

Meanwhile, visitor visa holders and students with temporary graduate visas are banned from applying onshore for a student visa.

“The changes coming into force today will help restore integrity to our international education system, and create a migration system which is fairer, smaller and better able to deliver for Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said in a statement.

Official data released in March showed net immigration rose 60% to a record 548,800 people in the year to Sept. 30, 2023.

The rise in fees makes applying for a student visa for Australia far more expensive than in competing countries like the U.S. and Canada, where they cost about $185 and C$150 ($110) respectively.

The government said it was also closing loopholes in visa rules that allowed foreign students to continuously extend their stay in Australia, after the number of students on a second or subsequent student visa spiked by over 30% to more than 150,000 in 2022–23.

The latest move follows a raft of actions since late last year to tighten the student visa rules as the lifting of COVID-19 curbs in 2022 boosted annual migration to record levels.

English language requirements were tightened in March, while the amount of savings international students need to get a visa was raised in May to A$29,710 ($19,823) from A$24,505, the second increase in about seven months. (Newswire / Reuters)

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The Government has introduced fees for several activities at zoos and parks under the National Zoological Department of Sri Lanka.

According to a Gazette notification, the fees are for activities such as feeding zoo animals, taking pictures with animals, and providing internal transportation to local and foreign visitors.

The new fees come into effect from May 02, 2023, for the Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Pinnawala Zoo, and Ridhiagama Safari Park which fall under the National Zoological Department. (NewsWire)

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The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has announced the reimbursement of the course or examination fee for Sri Lankan vocational trainees. 

Issuing a notice, the SLBFE stated that the measure has been taken with the aim of encouraging vocational trainees for foreign employment. 

Thereby, the SLBFE has announced the reimbursement of the course fee or the examination fee subject to conditions. (NewsWire)

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