Dozens of Chinese students were reportedly detained by border force officials and had their belongings confiscated after the Morrison government instituted a travel ban in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Citing senior university sector sources, the Australian reported on Tuesday morning that a group of about 70 students was intercepted at Sydney airport, with smaller numbers also detained after arriving in Melbourne and Brisbane.
“These reports are very disturbing and have been the subject of discussions with government today. We expect swift action to remedy the situation,” the Universities Australia chief executive, Catriona Jackson, told the Australian.
The newspaper said some students had already been en route to Australia before the travel ban was announced. The department of home affairs has been contacted for comment.
It comes as some Australian universities delay their semester return while others are offering special consideration for students unable to get back to Australia amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Universities have been scrambling to put in place policies and support for students and staff dealing with the coronavirus and the travel ban put in place by the federal government on Saturday.
There has not been a coordinated response from universities, and their policies will largely depend on when each university is to begin the semester.
The Universities Australia chief executive, Catriona Jackson, said on Sunday that the focus was on the health and safety of people at university, and on minimising the disruption to their studies.
Monash University in Melbourne announced on Friday it would delay the start of semester one by one week, now due to start 9 March, along with summer exams, due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus making it difficult for students to get back to Australia, or out of isolation after arriving from China.
The University of Sydney announced on Saturday evening it would allow students to enrol up to two weeks after the start of semester (by 9 March), or let students defer their studies or have fees refunded.
For the University of New South Wales, where one student tested positive for coronavirus, students can defer their study if affected, and the university will consider late enrolment until the end of February. The university has said it will also consider allowing students to take courses online.
Queensland University of Technology has said returning students can seek a leave of absence if they cannot return by the end of week two, while new students unable to travel from China can defer their studies.
The University of Tasmania has said it will offer online courses to the estimated 1,300 students affected by the travel ban.
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and University of Adelaide among others who have said classes will continue as normal, but have encouraged affected students to contact them directly.
China represents the biggest market for Australia’s international student trade, at $12.1bn out of the $37.3bn in the 2018-19 financial year, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It is not just the travel ban and isolation period that will affect students enrolling in Australian universities from China, after the country’s national education examinations authority last week cancelled English language testing in February for students planning to study abroad.
Given the changing response to coronavirus in global attempts to contain the spread, it is still difficult to quantify the economic impact it will have on the university sector. If the disruption to studying in the wake of the coronavirus continues throughout the first half of this year, it could cost between $6bn and $8bn, according to Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia .
Last month the education minister Dan Tehan set up a global reputation taskforce chaired by Honeywood to determine the impact the bushfires would have on the international student market, and it has now had its remit expanded to cover the impact from the coronavirus.
The taskforce met for the first time on Monday and it is expected to suggest to universities a more consistent response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Honeywood said the taskforce’s immediate focus would be to get care packages sent out to support those students in Australia who have had to isolate themselves for 14 days after returning from China.
“There is a danger in all of this, and we haven’t seen it so far, in racial profiling, and for Chinese students sitting alone in a four-metre square room wondering what life’s like having to be by yourself for 14 days,” he said. “You want to know that people are thinking of you and caring for you.”
