Go8 Submission to the Development of a New Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India

August 2, 2024

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

The Group of Eight (Go8) submission to the development of A New Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India represents the views of the Go8 network, and our members may make their own, more detailed submissions.

The Go8 consents to this submission being published and does not wish any of it to be treated as confidential.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Go8 urges Austrade to work with the Go8 and its colleagues in Government to reject the most egregious elements of the proposed changes to the international education sector through the draft International Education and Skills Strategic Framework and the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 and instead collaborate on targeted and evidence-based strategies to address the genuine areas of concern.
Australia should promote and leverage the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) as a key instrument in deepening the R&D and innovation partnership to further Australia’s bilateral relationship goals, including Future Made in Australia.
That Australia look beyond just STEM fields to opportunities across a broader range of fields.

DISCUSSION

The Go8 supports the strategic intention to deepen and strengthen our bilateral relationship with India.

India is an important regional presence with a growing significance on the world stage.

It is now estimated to have overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation, with approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants and accounting for one in five people globally who are under the age of 25.^[1]

Education is Australia’s second largest export to India at a value of $8.1 billion, behind only coal.^[2] And it does not just bring economic impact – the landmark 2018 India Economic Strategy led by Peter Varghese AO and warmly received in India – identified education as the flagship sector for bilateral engagement due to its deep underpinning of all other sectors and capacity to build the long term people to people links essential to long term success with India.^[3]

The Go8 has also invested in growing strong connections over time. These include:

Delivery of nearly 10,000 (9,792) co-publications between Go8 and Indian partners in 2019-2023, at an estimated impact nearly 3.6 times world average; ^[4]
This represented over half (51 per cent) of the total co-publications produced between Australia and India during that period;
The Go8/Indian collaborations were in fields such as Clinical Medicine, Physics, Space Science, Neuroscience & Behaviour, Environment/Ecology and Engineering. At the more granular level, some members have also focused on fields specifically related to the Ten Sectors and Ten States at the core of the India Economic Strategy, including Critical Minerals, Veterinary Science, Agriculture, Green Energy and Law;
Go8 universities account for around 14 per cent of higher education enrolments from Indian nationals, with a focus on more advanced levels of study. The majority (72 per cent) of Indian enrolments at Go8 universities are at postgraduate and higher degree research (HDR) levels, and around 41 per cent of Indian HDR enrolments in Australia are at a Go8;^[5]
The Go8 have invested in longstanding collaborative projects with and in India, including:
- The Monash-IITB Research Academy, commenced in 2008, as a joint PhD venture between Monash University and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Research projects focus on identified areas of industry need, including in AI and advanced computational modelling, sustainable societies and management, and clean energy.[6]
- UQIDAR, a joint PhD collaboration between the University of Queensland and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, based on the Monash-IITB model. High quality students from Australia or India undertake joint doctoral studies that address cross-disciplinary grand challenges. The collaboration involves strong industry links, including industry supervisors.[7]
- The Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy, in which established researchers and joint PhD candidates from the University of Melbourne and a number of elite Indian universities collaborate on projects that address key issues in science and technology.[8]
- Together with Monash-IITB Research Academy; UQIDAR PhD collaboration with IIT Delhi; and the Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy, the University of Adelaide has a decade-long research partnership in the region with the International Food Policy Research Institute focused on international agricultural research in West Bengal, Nepal and Bangladesh.

This investment is critical not just to the success of Australia’s high performing international education sector, but to building our nation’s soft power, supporting our regional reputation and underpinning our foreign relations. International education was also responsible for a 0.8 percentage point increase in GDP in 2023, over half of the recorded economic growth for that year.^[9]

This is why the proposed Government changes to the international education sector – through the draft International Education and Skills Strategic Framework and Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 [Provisions], specifically parts 7 and 8 of the Bill being applied to quality providers – are so difficult to comprehend. As we state in our feedback on both proposed measures:

The proposed changes will not meet the stated intention of addressing the “shonks” in the system. Instead, it will put at risk the bedrock of Australia’s economic and soft-diplomacy future for a knee jerk and poorly considered reaction to a short-term bubble of pent-up COVID demand.
These changes run counter to the advice of ratings agency S&P Global, who outline that such a politically motivated policy to cap international student numbers in response to a temporary bubble threatens to unravel a thriving industry and curtail critical institutional autonomy.^[10]

In terms of Austrade’s intentions to “be ambitious for Australia’s interests, while contributing to India’s growth story”, and to progress the Government’s Future Made in Australia Initiative,^[11] allowing these changes to pass without significant alterations is likely to:

Undermine the Go8 and Australia’s efforts to engage by significantly damaging Australia’s reputation;
Deprive universities of the funding required to support engagement efforts and build the necessary infrastructure to deepen engagement;
Damage Australia’s capacity to attract Indian talent in areas of critical national need;
Impair our ability to build our knowledge base in disciplines currently unknown or under-developed in Australia but strong in India, e.g., biophysics;
Undermine other bilateral and multilateral engagement such as through the Quad; and
Dismiss one of Australia’s leading competitive advantages for engagement, as identified in the landmark India Economic Strategy: “there is no sector with greater promise for Australia in India than education”.^[12]

The Go8 understands that Austrade and DFAT do not have direct control over Australia’s education policy. However, it is critical for all portfolio areas to comprehend the immense and unnecessary damage that these changes will do to all areas of endeavour, including foreign relations and trade, if allowed to pass without substantial revision. For this reason, it would be a waste of effort on behalf of both the Go8 and Austrade to consider how to strengthen and progress the Australia-India relationship without consideration of this imminent and substantial threat.

Recommendation 1: The Go8 therefore urges Austrade to work with the Go8 and its colleagues in Government to reject the most egregious elements of these proposed changes and collaborate instead on targeted and evidence-based strategies to address the genuine areas of concern in the sector.

ACHIEVING STRATEGIC GOALS

The Roadmap discussion paper identifies the following goals for the next phase of the Australia-India relationship:

Explore new areas of bilateral partnership and collaboration opportunities;
Support efforts to drive closer economic cooperation; and
Progress Australia’s strategic direction to become a renewable energy superpower, in line with the Future Made in Australia policy.

As noted in the India Economic Strategy:

“A partnership with India in science and innovation can also help drive domestic productivity and create Australian jobs in sectors we are yet to imagine”

“Science and innovation cuts across the whole [Indian] economy, including to advance productivity and maintain economic growth”

“Pairing Australia’s R&D base with India’s scale and frugal innovation could be a productive partnership”

Through the Go8 universities, Australia punches well above its weight in terms of research quality and impact:

In the latest QS World University Rankings (2025), the Go8 has three members in the global top 20; six members in the top 50; and all members well within the top 100.
The Go8’s research activity alone contributes $24.5 billion to the economy each year.
Go8 universities are responsible for 70 per cent of research conducted by Australian universities, investing $7.7 billion into research annually. This represents 20 per cent of the total national investment in R&D by business, governments and the higher education sector combined.
Go8 universities invest $3.5 billion annually in applied R&D – in fact, one Go8 member, the University of Queensland, reported more commercialisation income in one year than the whole of CSIRO.
Go8 universities receive research funding from industry and other sources that is twice that of the rest of the sector combined.
Independent economic analysts London Economics has estimated that every one dollar of Go8 research income delivers ten dollars of benefits into the community.

However, Australia’s considerable R&D capacity is not balanced by similar scale in research-facing industry, making it difficult to fully realise our potential. Working with India provides obvious complementarities and opportunities to increase collaborations and partnerships in new areas of academic endeavour, thereby generating new areas of potential economic growth.

In a world where economic competitiveness and success will increasingly be driven by emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, quantum computing and associated cyber capabilities – all of which are research-reliant in terms of capacity to understand, use and progress this technology in a meaningful way – this presents Australia and India with significant opportunity.

India’s National Research Foundation (NRF) – a key initiative of the National Education Policy 2020 – has now been established with significant funding over the next five years, and a mandate to drive research collaborations.

All of the above combine to make it an opportune moment to work with India on bilateral research projects in areas of mutual priority, while providing assistance and guidance to India in terms of building research capacity across their system.

This includes supporting the Future Made in Australia policy. Transitioning Australia into a renewable energy superpower will rest partly on R&D capacity. The 2020 Australia Economic Strategy – India’s companion report to the India Economic Strategy – identifies the power and renewable energy sector as a focus for deeper engagement, partly due to our investments in “research programs on hydrogen-based transportation and hydrogen as an alternative fuel”.^[13]

However, in order to capitalise on this opportunity Australia will have to demonstrate willingness to put skin in the game. The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) – created in 2006 and representing Australia’s largest bilateral science cooperation fund – is an important signal establishing Australia’s credibility as a strategic research partner. Indeed, one recommendation of the Australia Economic Strategy is to increase AISRF funding to US$20 million by each country over a five year period.

Recommendation 2: Australia should promote and leverage the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund as a key instrument in deepening the R&D and innovation partnership to further Australia’s bilateral relationship goals.

EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES

The Australia-India bilateral relationship has tended to focus strongly on STEM, and certainly STEM engagement is central to achieving strategic goals in an increasingly technologically-driven world. But this doesn’t mean that STEM areas offer the only worthwhile opportunities.

“Focus areas” for potential engagement – as identified by India in its Australia Economic Strategy – include:

Healthcare: collaborating with Australia to facilitate development of healthcare education and training programs in India; partnering for medical devices, whereby Australian medical technologies can be produced at relatively low cost using Indian manufacturing solutions; and promoting bilateral medical technology related collaborations.
Sports: the nascent Indian sports industry could benefit from Australian knowledge and expertise in sports infrastructure, administration, marketing, medicine and education.
Education: including curriculum development; boosting the AISRF through increased contributions to funding over a five year period; establishing bilateral research funds to support collaborations in non-STEM fields such as arts, economics, music and humanities.
Agribusiness: increasing knowledge transfer initiatives between India and Australia on agri-technologies; and encouraging research partnerships with Australia to develop India’s biofuel potential.

This demonstrates that, not only are there opportunities beyond STEM, but that India is seeking engagement from Australia across a broad range of areas. Applying too narrow a lens to the bilateral relationship risks overlooking areas ripe for development.

Recommendation 3: That Australia look beyond just STEM fields to opportunities across a broader range of fields.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/02/09/key-facts-as-india-surpasses-china-as-the-worlds-most-populous-country/

[2] https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/inia-cef.pdf

[3] https://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/trade-and-investment/india-economic-strategy/ies/index.html

[4] InCites, extracted 12 July 2024

[5] AEI data supplied by the Dept of Education, figures are for YTD December 2023.

[6] https://www.iitbmonash.org/

[7] https://uqidar.org/

[8] https://research.unimelb.edu.au/strengths/initiatives/international-training-groups/melbourne-india-postgraduate-academy-mipa

[9] https://www.nab.com.au/content/dam/nab-email-composer/nabmarketsresearch/economics/pdf/2024-03-07%20thematic%20-%20Students.pdf

[10] S&P Global, Australian Universities: Would International Student Caps Spur a Course Correction?, https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/articles/240612-australian-universities-would-international-student-caps-spur-a-course-correction-13139717

[11] https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/india/submissions-new-roadmap-australias-economic-engagement-india