Modest drop in study cash

THE city’s $1.7bn international education sector “has fared significantly well” in terms of overseas enrolments despite COVID restrictions, says Study Gold Coast chief executive Alfred Slogrove.

“We’re down just over 13 per cent year-on-year and given the proportion of short-stay students that we did have we’ve actually done really well,” he said.

“This is purely due to the hard work that the providers have put in to offering diverse opportunities for students to enrol. We’ve also managed to retain many students from the English language sector into vocational programs, with this sector growing year-on-year, from 10,413 in 2019 to 11,124 in December 2020.”

Mr Slogrove said Study Gold Coast initiatives also helped to drive onshore international enrolments. This included significant marketing campaigns, offering 10 weeks free accommodation and the delivery of its new jobs platform.

He said in 2019 the education and training sector was worth $1.9bn to the city. This fell modestly to $1.7bn in 2020.

The greatest losses in terms of country of origin were China, Brazil, Japan and Spain, but this was somewhat offset by an increase of students from the Philippines, Nepal and Vietnam.

Mr Slogrove said the higher education sector dropped from 8792 students in 2019 to 7704 in 2020. English language sector numbers went from 7865 in 2019 to 5286 last year.

The latest figures from Southern Cross University reveal 1191 enrolments, 44 of which are international students. However, the exact numbers are yet to be finalised.

The university recorded a 40 per cent rise in students studying biomedical science, a 35 per cent increase in nursing, 32.5 per cent spike in occupational therapy and 29 per cent rise in the arts and education.

Bond University Vice Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford said the university was “pleased to record a substantial increase in students from across Australia”, particularly at postgraduate level. “The university has immense enthusiasm about our fresh initiatives including an Innovation Task Force, a new Microcredentials Unit and new courses including the world’s first climate law degree.”

Griffith University Deputy Vice Chancellor Education Professor Liz Burd said 5300 new students would start at the Gold Coast campus in 2021.

TAFE Queensland general manager on the Gold Coast Karen Dickinson said the most popular study areas in 2021 so far were nursing and health, cyber security, screen and media as well as trade-related courses.

THE national jobless rate has fallen from 6.6 per cent to 6.4 per cent, with 29,000 new positions added in January.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveal the number of employed people in Victoria rose 1.3 per cent — the most of any jurisdiction.

South Australia now has the highest unemployment rate at 7.1 per cent, followed by Queensland on 7 per cent.

The ACT has the lowest jobless rate at 4.4 per cent.

Full-time employment figures also increased by 59,000 people, while part-time employment decreased almost 30,000, which experts have deemed positive.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the figures had beaten market expectations and were “good news” for Australia. He said the labour market would continue to be resilient when the JobKeeper wage subsidy ended in March.

“There are regions, there are sectors, there are many Australians who are still doing it tough,” he said. “But the overall trajectory in our labour market has been in the right direction.”

The participation rate — the number of people employed or looking for a job — increased by 0.1 per cent over the month. Unemployment numbers dropped by 34,300.

It is the first time since April 2020 that the unemployment rate sits at 6.4 per cent.

ABS head of labour statistics, Bjorn Jarvis, said the labour market continued to recover from the pandemic.

“January 2021 was the fourth consecutive monthly rise in employment, as employment in Victoria continued to recover,” he said.

While the number of hours worked fell 4.9 per cent, Mr Jarvis said it was different to declines in April and May.

“After a tough 2020, more Australians than usual took leave in the first two weeks of January, particularly full-time workers,” he said. “However, the number of employed people who worked zero hours in early January in the capital cities also reflects some ongoing effects of recent lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne.”

The youth unemployment rate remained at 13.9 per cent in January, while youth participation fell just 0.2 points. Underemployment dropped 0.4 points to 8.1 per cent.

In South Australia, Master Builders SA chief executive Will Frogley said the soar in unemployment in the state should be a wake-up call.

Mr Frogley said construction employed more Australians than any other industry and without a booming residential building sector the rate would “definitely be higher”.

“Longer term state government incentives for investors to build new homes are badly needed to not only create jobs but address the current rental property shortfall,” he said.