Following the Australian Labor Party’s win in the 2025 federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has outlined significant policy changes set to impact international education, housing, and small business sectors.

International Education

Labor plans to reshape Australia’s international education landscape with a focus on quality, sustainability, and skilled migration alignment:

  • TAFE Investment: Increased funding to vocational education to build a future-ready workforce.
  • Visa Fee Hike: Student visa application fees to rise to $2,000 from 1 July 2025.
  • Student Cap: Annual international student intake to be aligned with a reduced net overseas migration (NOM) cap of 240,000.
  • Skilled Migration Cuts: Fewer permanent residency pathways through subclasses 189 and 190.
  • On-Campus Housing Push: Education providers will be encouraged—or potentially required—to invest in purpose-built student accommodation.

Housing

To tackle the housing crisis and affordability concerns, Labor is rolling out a mix of funding, shared equity schemes, and supply-side incentives:

  • Housing Australia Future Fund: $10 billion allocated to build 30,000 new social and affordable homes over five years.
  • Help to Buy Scheme: Eligible first-home buyers can access up to 40% government equity to lower upfront costs.
  • Social Housing Accelerator: A $2 billion boost for new social housing, with state and territory governments required to commit all funds by 30 June 2025.

Small Business

Labor has pledged to support small businesses while increasing regulatory oversight:

  • Energy Relief: Continued rebates of up to $800 for eligible businesses.
  • Asset Write-Off Reduction: The instant asset write-off threshold will drop to $1,000, affecting equipment and asset purchases.
  • Employment Reform: Stronger regulation of gig work, contracting, and labor hire practices is expected to increase compliance demands.

#Election2025 #LaborVictory #AnthonyAlbanese #AusPolicyUpdate #InternationalStudents #HousingCrisis #SmallBusinessSupport #AustraliaFuture #InternationalEducation #StudyInAustralia #Edtech #Educli