ANDREW Barr says the ACT Government will introduce free, automatic, streamlined nomination of skilled migrant visa applications for PhD graduates from Canberra institutions.

“This means that, subject to meeting Commonwealth requirements, any international student awarded a PhD by a Canberra university will automatically be nominated to live and work in Canberra,” Andrew said.

“International education is Canberra’s largest export, and the ACT Government is committed to supporting more growth in this sector.

“Canberra is the education capital of Australia with one in nine of our residents either working or studying at one of our tertiary education institutions. This is the highest level of education participation in any Australian city.”

Minister for Higher Education, Training and Research Meegan Fitzharris said that the Government understands that education is an investment in Canberra’s future.

“Skilled jobs of the future will require innovative and creative thinkers who bring diverse perspectives across a range of areas,” Meegan said.

“There are enormous opportunities for skilled graduates across a range of industries in Canberra: ICT and the digital economy; space, satellite and spatial science; health and sports science; agricultural and environmental sciences; renewable energy; defence and cyber security.”

In 2015, international education contributed $451 million or 28 per cent of services exports, up 10 per cent on 2014. The growth in international student numbers is largely responsible for the 9.1 per cent annual growth in services exports over the last five years in the ACT.

In economic terms, education and research institutions value add around $2.7 billion and support 16,000 FTE jobs. The international education strategy will support further growth in this critical industry sector.