International research students studying in Canberra universities will have ACT public school fees waived for their children, providing savings of about $12,000 per child.
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Chief Minister Andrew Barr will announce the new fee waivers on Thursday as part of efforts to boost Canberra as a higher education destination. Other jurisdictions including New South Wales waive fees for the children of international research students in public schools.
Parents researching at the Australian National University, Canberra University and the UNSW Canberra will benefit from fee waivers, which Mr Barr said would also help attract new talent to the territory.
Currently, annual fees for each dependent child are about $12,000 in the public school system.
Mr Barr said Canberra's tertiary education sector remained one of city's biggest employers with one out of every nine Canberrans either studying in or employed by a university institution - the highest rate of study and employment anywhere in Australia.
"This measure will create new jobs and boost economic activity in the sector," Mr Barr said.
"School fees have acted as a disincentive for this group to choose Canberra as the place to study and further their research careers. Although the number of higher degree by research students studying in Canberra is relatively small, they are an important group given the research expertise and specialisation they bring to the territory and the benefits that flow from this."
Mr Barr said he would work to ensure Canberra received a significant share of the proposed increase in international student rates as forecast in the Abbott Government's international education 2025 strategy.
The strategy would more than double the number of international students in Australia within 10 years.
Mr Barr said a Deloitte Access Economics report showed international and interstate students contributed $879 million each year to the territory economy and helped create about 6000 full time equivalent jobs.
The report also found international students in Canberra contributed an average of about $20,000 a year to the local economy.
"As higher degree by research students tend to be older than undergraduate students, they are also more likely to have partners and dependants, and therefore their contribution to the economy is even larger," Mr Barr said.
The announcement has been welcomed by vice-chancellors of the three Canberra institutions.
Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Ian Young said the waiver would make the city a more attractive destination for international researchers at a critical time in their careers.
"This is a wonderful decision," Professor Young said.
"It will help ANU attract and retain some of the world's best young researchers who will live and study in Canberra and contribute to Australia's research excellence."
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker said fee waivers would follow continuing growth in enrolment of international research students.
"We are sure this initiative will help us further boost our numbers and attract some of the brightest researchers," Dr Parker said.
UNSW Vice-Chancellor Michael Frater from UNSW Canberra said fee waivers would help his institution continue to recruit the best research students from around the world.
"There is significant competition in recruiting internationally so this initiative is a critical step in promoting the ACT as a competitive destination and we welcome it," Professor Frater said.
