Study Group welcomes announcement that international students can return to Australia from December

Study Group is pleased to join students and colleagues from across Australian higher education to welcome the announcement by the Australian Federal Government that Australian international borders will reopen on 1 December 2021.

Vaccinated student visa holders will be able to travel to Australia without applying for a travel exemption. Students will need to be double vaccinated with an Australian-approved vaccine and must have a negative PCR test result within three days of departure.

Study Group Chief Executive Officer, Emma Lancaster, welcomed the announcement:

“This is great and much anticipated news for all those students across the world who are keen to live, study and work in Australia. Recent months have been challenging for students and educators alike, but we are looking forward to welcoming students to our International Study Centres once more and thank colleagues for the enormous efforts they have made to support students through a period in which travel was not possible due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“My thanks also to Alex Chevrolle and his team in Study Group Australia for his tireless work with university partners and across the sector, advocating for the changes which have now been announced. This good news for students is welcomed by all, and we look forward to supporting the process of return as well as building on the positive lessons we have learned about supporting teaching and learning at a distance over recent months.”

Universities Australia Chief Executive, Catriona Jackson, commented: “This is great news which will give heart to more than 130,000 international students with visas waiting to return to Australia. These students are the future corporate and political leaders of our nearest trading partners. They make an enormous contribution to Australia’s influence in the world. They want nothing more than to re-join their classmates in Australia. We look forward to further detail so we can work quickly to get students back for first semester next year.”

Further information is available from the Australian government here.