Indian student enrolment in Australia to drop 80-95 per cent for 2011

Melbourne: A deeply negative perception of Australia in India may now be evident with a startling admission by a top Australian academic that the number of Indian students enrolling at Australian universities for the 2011 academic year may plunge by anything between 80-95 per cent.

Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis said that higher education across Australia, including Victoria, is taking a big hit after a spate of racially motivated attacks against students from the Indian sub-continent.

This drastic fall in applications may hit where it hurts the most as higher education across the country, including Victoria where it is the state's biggest export earner, may be impacted as institutions shed jobs and fees for local students rise.

"You have to work very hard with the community at home to make it clear that there are consequences, really disturbing consequences. Most people think about universities in terms of the local students who go. In this state higher education is the largest export so this is the single biggest industry in Victoria and it's taking a very sharp dive," said Davis.

He told reporters here, "According to our best sources ... the fall in applications from India into Australian tertiary education ... are predicting at around 80 per cent, some institutions are reporting up to 90."

"We did have a system where everything was growing. It's no longer true, so we are going to have to go back and look again."