The Australian government has decided to crack down on international student visa scams. Education Minister Jason Clare, Skills Minister Brendan O”Connor, and Home Affairs Minister Clare O”Neil announced on Monday that stringent action will be taken to boost the integrity of Australia”s international education industry in the face of detrimental scenarios.

With the new rules, the government plans to stop private colleges from giving commissions to agents to woo students across the world. The government has noticed the wrongful influence of commission agents in the country”s education system.

The government will also take measures to curb immigrants from misusing student visas. To do this, they will monitor international student attendance. The Australian Financial Review has reported that the number of student visa holders in Australia reached a record high of 660,765 at the end of June 2023, which is an increase of 203,000 from the start of the year.

According to data published by the Department of Education in September 2023, international education contributed A$26.6 billion ($17 billion) to Australia”s economy in 2022. This makes it the country”s fourth-largest export, behind coal, iron ore, and natural gas.