International students will be welcomed back to New South Wales at the beginning of July, as part of a pilot quarantine plan announced by the state government.
The government introduced the plan on Thursday, which would initially see 250 students quarantined in specially designated student housing every two weeks.
The government said that the number of students will climb to 500 every fortnight by the end of the year and that it would not interfere with the present hotel quarantine procedures. Most importantly, as a consequence of this plan, not a single returning Australian will get a seat on a plane.
This will operate concurrently with the 3,000 returning Australians who enter our hotel quarantine system each week. Prior to the epidemic, around 250,000 overseas students studied in New South Wales, the state’s second biggest export.
Around 50,000 international students were actively attempting to get admission to NSW. The government said that it would give job security for the sector’s 100,000 employees. This is a significant win for the New South Wales economy.
We estimate that the cost to our economy since the pandemic started, especially in relation to international students, has been roughly $5 billion, and that if we do nothing, the cost will rise to $11 billion by the end of next year. This is critical because there is evidence that countries such as Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom are deliberately targeting the sector on which NSW is so dependent.
The NSW government has not disclosed the location of the student quarantine facility, but indicated that discussions with the provider were nearing completion. The pilot program has been accepted by NSW Health and Police. The government also said that the request to the federal government had received “strong support” and will be approved in the coming days.
The student quarantine system, which includes travel expenses, accommodations, and security, would be funded by the university sector, whether students pay for flights is up to individual colleges.
Students from across the world will come to NSW on chartered aircraft in the next six to eight weeks, before transitioning to commercial aircraft.