Global Horizons - The Australian International Education Podcast

It's late October in Moscow, Russia and darkness has fallen. Yara Vasina sits in front of her computer in her work offices at KPMG, her cursor hovering over the "submit" button. She's feeling hopeful, but also that resigned feeling that the chance of this working out is close to zero. 
What the heck - she pushes "submit", closes the window, and gets back to work... forg...

For decades, Australia's leading thinker on Higher Education policy has been Professor Andrew Norton from the ANU. A prolific author and commentator, Andrew has produced a vast and insightful body of work on almost every imaginable aspect of higher ed. But not only does Andrew analyse, he explains in clean, coherent terms. Today, Andrew joins us on Global Horizons for his perspective on a rang...

As international educators went about their work creating positive change in the world, far away in Canberra a Senate committee was sitting down to hear from sector experts. At stake: the short-term future of Australian international education, as the Government works towards making major changes to the way international education works in Australia. As Alec Webb remarked in his opening comments:...

This week is a little different on Global Horizons - we're putting out a double episode! In this episode, you're getting the best of The Koala's international education news, plus a VERY special guest. Joining us this week we're privileged to have Rohit Sharma , the Senior Vice President at ETS, on the podcast. Rohit has been in Australia for PIE Live and stakeholder meetings and w...

I've been waiting for this conversation for awhile. Why? Because Eleanor Mitchell (Director, Global Engagement at Charles Sturt University) is one of the superwomen of Australian international ed. Director role? Tick. Completed an MBA? Tick. Oh! And raising three kids at the same time? Tick! But Eleanor's story goes way deeper than her current achievements, and this episode is loaded full...

With the Federal Parliament in its Winter Recess, things feel deceptively calm. It's been two weeks and Australian international educators haven't been loaded up by overnight visa changes or loaded up with short timeframes on major consultations. Maybe we can finally get back to work being the 4th largest contributor to GDP, and one of the largest contributors to cultural diversity across...

A bit over a decade ago, my mobile phone rang. It was an unknown number, but I answered anyway. “G’day Rob” said an unknown voice, “My name is Brad Dorahy… I just wanted to reach out and say hi and to see if there might be ways in which we can collaborate”. I was floored, because it was the last thing I was expecting from the guy who had just become my company’s leading competitor! But over the ye...

As Australians woke up on July 1st, eager to check their pay packets for their newly minted tax cuts, a general sense of calm settled over the country that the beast of inflation had finally been tamed. But only hours later, while the masses sipped on extra shots in their lattes in celebration, a shock announcement stunned the small, dedicated group of people who run Australia's 4th largest ex...

20 years ago, when I was just starting my careers, my boss announced that a special visitor was coming to our office to present a report. "There are three top consultants for international education in Australia" he told me, "There's Melissa Bank, Alan Olsen and..." ...and then there's today's guest, Rob Lawrence. Rob has worked on countless projects across a wide r...

There are moments when suddenly everything goes quiet, and a sense of calm descends. It feels like we're on the precipice of one such moment right now. Submissions for one major Government consultation has closed and another closes on Monday. After months of uncertainty, surprise announcements and hustling to write submissions, international educators might finally have a chance to breathe and...

Michelle Kofod is one of Australia's most experienced learning abroad specialists. Each year, she and her team help thousands of UNSW students to have global learning experiences. Having known her for over a decade, what has always set Michelle apart in our eyes is her ability to get S...tuff done incredibly effectively! Seriously, there can't be many people in international ed who have su...

By the time you listen to this podcast, it's highly likely that submissions will have closed for submissions on Australia’s International Education and Skills Strategic Framework. This micro consultation comes against a backdrop of legislation that has already been drafted... call us cynical, but it feels just a touch tokenistic.  And perhaps the worrying thing is that the canary is already in...

One of the shining lights in Australia's international education and foreign policy agendas over the past decade has been the New Colombo Plan. Since 2013 the program has supported over 50,000 Australian university students to have international study experiences in the Indo-Pacific region. But the challenges across our region are changing. In this episode, Rob Malicki is joined by Liam Prince...

Before we get into the guts of today's episode, we've got some exciting news about the Global Horizons podcast: we are the official podcast of the Australian International Education Conference! AIEC is legendary. The must-attend event for Australian international educators, and we're thrilled that Global Horizons will be on deck and podcasting live from the floor of the exhibition hall...

Tracy Harris is in the back of the taxi as it ducks and weaves through the crowded streets of Jakarta, Indonesia. She grips the door handle as the car lurches one way, then another... and she's wondering what on earth she's gotten herself into. Maybe this work-travel thing isn't all it's cut out to be...? Over the past two decades, Tracy has been a positive, effervescent mainstay o...

Out of the blue, just a week or so ago, the Australian Government dropped a bombshell: a new international education strategy that raises the spectre of caps on international students. It could be argued that caps could one day have a place in Australian international education, but the industry has once again been blindsided. We've also been left confused, as Tracy Harris writing for The Koal...

Sometimes, extraordinary innovation is hiding in plain sight. It's one of the reasons I love the Australian International Education Conference (AIEC) so much - it's the opportunity to discover countless ingenius projects, initiatives and approaches... all under one roof. And today's episode features one of my favourite discoveries of the 2023 conference: the dual degree arrangement bet...

In recent months we've heard the Australian Government pinning a chunk of blame for the current housing crisis on international students. In this episode of Global Horizons, Rob Malicki (The Global Society) and Dirk Mulder (The Koala News) talk about research that just dropped that torpedoes that narrow view. And it seems this really is a "mythbusting" episode, as we get into details...

When I sat down to chat with industry legend, Dr Betty Leask, I wasn't expecting the first thing for her to say that she really shouldn't have ended up in international education at all. Wait, sorry, what? But as the conversation unfolded, it turned out to be quite true: Betty's really is a most unlikely international educator! Which seems a strange thing to say about the editor of the...

James Martin is the General Manager of Insider Guides, Australia's specialist international education content creation agency. In this episode of Global Horizons, Rob Malicki (CEO, The Global Society) sits down with James Martin to talk about travel, storytelling and trends in international education content. These are passion areas for both of us, so we really get down into some tactical, int...

In this week's International Education news, Dirk Mulder (Editor, The Koala News ) and Rob Malicki (CEO, The Global Society ) dive into all the big events from the past fortnight. The Australian Government has made significant moves to start shutting down dodgy providers, with new powers for ASQA coming into effect. There's more interesting news out of Canada (with potential impact for Aus...

If you want to hear a master storyteller in full flight, this episode of Global Horizons is for you! Jo Asquith has been a leading figure in Australian international education for decades as a director international at both Southern Cross and James Cook, a board member of IEAA, past chair of the AUIDF, and much more. Whilst we do talk about those experiences in this conversation, you'll be blo...

Major changes are touching down for higher education providers, with significant changes to the student visa regime coming into force in the days ahead. Rob Malicki (The Global Society) and Dirk Mulder (editor, The Koala News) dive into that, and all the other major stories of the past fortnight. Plus, this week, they're joined by special guest, Brett Blacker, who is a very well-known figure i...

In this week's international education news, Global Horizons is on the ground at the APAIE conference in Perth... well, half of the team is in Perth and the other half is suffering from massive FOMO sitting in the studio in Sydney! In this episode, Dirk Mulder (Editor, The Koala News) and Rob Malicki (The Global Society) dive into the ongoing saga that is the Australian Government's visa p...

It's 2002 and Rishen Shekhar is standing in a small hotel on the outskirts of Brisbane, calling his parents back home in Malaysia. And he feels like he's made a terrible mistake. What follows is an incredible international education story, and one that belongs to one of the industry's favourite people. Rishen is now best known as the Director of Global Recruitment and Engagement at Uni...