Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
21st Sep 2022

Western Australia introduces new incentive scheme for agents

Short on time? Here are the highlights:
  • The government of Western Australia has announced a fund that educators can use to further incentivise agents beyond their own existing arrangements
  • Agents can receive AUS$500 per student for placing students into the schools, ELICOS, and VET sectors, and AUS$1000 for each higher education enrolment

The Western Australian government is pulling out all the stops to boost the flow of international students to the state’s education institutions – and a major component of the new push is leveraging the agent channel in recruitment.

Of the AUS$41.2 million the McGowan government has reserved in its 2022/23 state budget to revitalise the international education sector, AUS$10 million in is earmarked for an “Agent Incentive Scheme.” This scheme is rare in the sense of it being a government-funded programme directed at incentivising agents. Across the major English-speaking destinations, agents’ commissions are usually paid entirely by institutions or schools.

The government will – between September 2022 and June 2023 – pay agents AUS$500 per student for placements in schools, ELICOS, or VET providers and AUS $1,000 for enrolments in universities – of which there are five in Western Australia. The scheme will end once the fund is empty due to commissions paid out to agents within that time frame.

The government-funded commissions are not a replacement for the incentives individual institutions pay agents, but rather a top-up. Agents will receive their government commission payments directly from participating education institutions in the scheme.

Additional funding to offset student expenses

In addition, AUS$6.8 million will go towards the existing International Student Accommodation Subsidy (ISAS) International Student ELICOS Bursary (ISEB). Under ISAS, up to 2,500 full-time students will receive AUS$1,500 towards their accommodation expenses in semester 2, 2022. Meanwhile, ISEB will see up to 2,000 English-language students AUS$1,500 discounts on their tuition fees.

Of the new initiatives, International Education Minister David Templeman said,

"It is vitally important that the McGowan Government incentivises international student agents, as well as students, to encourage them to consider and ultimately make the right choice to study in our State. Through the launch of each of these programs, we want to see thousands of students call Western Australia home and make the most of our world-class education institutions."

How much boosting is too much boosting?

As Australia’s governments and educators struggle to recover international enrolments lost due to two years of COVID-related border closures, there have been concerns voiced about the extent to which international students are being encouraged to choose Australia.

For example, last year Australia removed the cap on working hours for all student visa holders, including secondary students, working in any sector. This led to a surge in international student applications, a significant proportion of which were rejected having been deemed to be fraudulent (i.e., not from genuine students).

Times Higher Education reports that,

“In early September, the Department of Home Affairs blamed a proliferation of ‘false and misleading information’ for its July rejection of more than 60% of vocational training visa applications from India, and more than 90% from Nepal.”

In response to questions about whether the new agent incentives would lead to an influx of non-genuine international students, a Western Australian government spokesperson told THE that “‘a range of controls’ would ensure that agents were only paid for referring ‘genuine’ students.”

Otherwise, the government has impressed that educators themselves must ensure that applicants from “rapidly expanding” student markets such as Nepal are “carefully vetted” and that educators ensure they are working with ‘reliable agents.’

The urgency is real

The race is on for Australian educators – and Australia in general – to recover from pandemic-related losses of international students. Australia has lost market share to destinations such as Canada and the UK – which opened their borders far sooner – and is also facing new competitors that have emerged as strong and affordable alternatives over the past couple of years.

That some of funding for the Western Australian agent incentive scheme and accommodation relief is specifically earmarked for the ELICOS sector is no coincidence. Commencements in Australia’s ELICOS (English-language) sector, which is a first landing pad for many international students who come to Australia to pursue degrees, were down by 58% in December 2021 compared with the same timeframe in 2020 – and enrolments were off by 61%. Restoring enrolments in this sector is a necessary step in strengthening enrolments down the line in the VET and higher education sectors.

The slow pace of Australia’s international education recovery early in 2022 seems to have picked up speed, however. A Navitas survey of more than 700 agents in May 2022 found that close to three-quarters of agents agreed that student interest in Australia had increased in the past two months compared to interest in other destinations. This represents a massive change from sentiment in October 2021, when only 28% agreed that Australia was gaining ground against competitors.

The Western Australian government’s decision to incentivise agents should hasten recovery still more, provided educators ensure they are working with strong agents devoted to referring only the most suitable students to their programmes.

For additional background, please see:

Most Recent

  • US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 Read More
  • How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training Read More
  • Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 The Institute of International Education’s (IIE) twice-yearly snapshot surveys are always required reading for international educators. That is...
Read more
How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training This article was originally published in the ICEF Academy Knowledge Hub and is reproduced here with permission. International...
Read more
Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees In a 3 July 2025 letter to the Dutch parliament, Education Minister Eppo Bruins explained that the government...
Read more
New Zealand announces strong foreign enrolment growth along with a new international education strategy Following a post-pandemic surge in 2023, Education New Zealand (ENZ) announced this week that the country’s international student...
Read more
US issues corrected student visa data showing growth for 2024 while current trends point to an enrolment decline for 2025/26 In April 2025, we reported that foreign enrolments in the US had declined by -11% between March 2024...
Read more
Survey finds US institutions expanding agency engagement and focusing on new student markets AIRC (The Association of International Enrollment Management) and BONARD have just released a second edition of the State...
Read more
Canada’s language sector buffeted by policy changes in 2024 Amid reports of mounting job losses and programme cuts across Canadian education, the country’s language education providers are...
Read more
Language travel sector leaders call for a focus on value amid persistent discount pressure A June 2025 forum convened by ALTO (Association of Language Travel Organisations) confirmed that price discounting in language...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links