Australian universities to fight race image in Asia

Australian universities to fight race image in Asia

SYDNEY (Reuter): Australian universities will launch a marketing drive into Asia to counter negative publicity by race row politician Pauline Hanson, which they believe is threatening Australia's lucrative overseas student industry.

"The international reputation of Australia and all its universities is being harmed by ill-informed comments," eight Australian universities said in a statement yesterday.

"The group of eight universities ... plans to counter adverse publicity such as that generated by Pauline Hanson and to raise the profile and standing of Australian higher education," it said.

The universities said they would set up their own overseas marketing arm in Southeast Asia and create their own performance assessment program.

The group comprises Australia's traditional research universities -- Adelaide, the Australian National University, Monash, Melbourne, New South Wales, Queensland, Sydney and Western Australia.

"We intend to set up our own network in Southeast Asia of information officers, so that we can get on with the business of making sure there is excellent Australian higher education being demonstrated to people," University of Sydney vice chancellor Gavin Brown said.

Australia's export education industry is worth A$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) a year, but recent immigration data has shown falls in the number of student visas being issued.

In the past year the growth in overseas students declined between four to 60 percent in eight of the top 11 countries from which Australia draws most of its overseas students.

From Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan -- countries where Australia's bitter race debate has gained widespread media coverage -- student numbers have acutely fallen.