“An additional consideration for the minister for education when setting limits will be the supply of purpose-built student accommodation available to both domestic and international students.”

Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said aspects of the bill were “contrary to risk-based and proportionate regulation and could work against the shared goals of universities and the government”.

“The government has committed to a co-design process with the sector and we expect it to act in good faith,” Sheehy said. The government is consulting the sector on how caps would apply to providers and courses.

International Education Association of Australia head Phil Honeywood said that,in addition to Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s existing ability to suspend the registration of substandard providers,Clare’s proposed powers “make for very interventionist government oversight of our beleaguered international education sector”.

“These are unprecedented powers for any education minister,” Honeywood said.

The legislation also bans education agents from receiving commissions for onshore student transfers to prevent study being used as a backdoor to low-paid work,and strengthens cross-ownership regulation to prevent collusion between providers and agents.

Since late last year,Labor has announced several measures to drive down the numbers of foreign students entering the country as the primary lever to dampen temporary migration,with net overseas arrivals forecast to reach 395,000 this financial year – 20,000 more than forecast in December.

The budget forecasts net overseas migration will halve from 528,000 in 2022-23 to 260,000 next year,reducing further to 235,000 in 2026-27.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton pledged to drive net overseas migration down to 160,000,which Honeywood said revealed “just how anti-international students the alternative government intends to be”.

“If elected,they would destroy hundreds of quality education providers and eliminate thousands of associated jobs,” Honeywood said.

In question time,Coalition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan questioned the credibility of the forecasts given its 2022-23 forecast was significantly exceeded,prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to accuse the former government of inaction.

In Tuesday’s budget speech,Treasurer Jim Chalmers said a blowout in international student enrolments had put pressure on housing and rents,especially in cities.

With migration set to become a key battleground in next federal election,Dutton seized on a combined projection of 1.67 million people arriving over a five-year period from 2022-23 to 2026-27,linking it to a “housing emergency” under Labor.

In its budget papers,the government has revealed its aim to plan its permanent migration program over a four-year period,instead of setting a figure every year,after announcing it would reduce the number of permanent places to 185,000 in 2024-25.

Former immigration official Abul Rizvi said while it would be little more than “colour and movement” from a government under pressure to show it’s acting on migration,if Labor committed to a more structured net migration plan “that would be a big deal” which could impact the administration of major institutions such as schools,hospitals and other infrastructure.

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