Private colleges will find it easier to benefit from Australia's booming international student business, following changes to the student visa system announced by the federal government on Monday.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne and Assistant Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash said that the number of types of student visa would be reduced from eight to two and that the current visa risk assessment system, which favours universities and a limited number of other education providers, would be replaced.

The changes come as the number of international students is growing strongly, providing an export boost to offset the slump in the resources industry. This year the intake of new students is at its highest level ever in the March quarter, 11.5 per cent above 2014.

The new system, which will be introduced in mid-2016, is particularly welcome to private education providers, most of whom were shut out of the streamlined visa processing system established by the Gillard Labor government.

Labor's scheme, which was a response to immigration rorts by some private vocational colleges, offered easy visa processing only to students at universities. The Abbott government extended the right to some private education providers but most were required to operate in a highly-complex visa risk assessment system, which students found difficult to understand.

Rod Camm, CEO of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, which represents private colleges, welcomed the latest changes. He said that Australia's student visa system is currently so complex that colleges attending education fairs would spend half their time explaining the visa system instead of talking about quality of education.

"Australia is open for business and visa complexities make it so hard," he said.

Under the new system, to be known as the simplified student visa framework (SSVF), students applying to all education providers will be assessed for visa risk under a single framework. It will be based on the country they come from and the immigration compliance record of other students who have studied at that particular education provider.

Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia, welcomed the changes. "For too long the student visa system has been overly complex and overly expensive so the sector welcomes any simplification of this process provided it weeds out the low quality providers from the quality providers," he said.

Universities also welcomed the new system. "The new simplified student visa process will boost equity and support an environment where high quality and low risk providers can prosper," Universities Australia deputy CEO Anne-Marie Lansdown said.

by Tim Dodd from FINANCIAL REVIEW

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