February 27, 2020
The Group of Eight (Go8), Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, supports and understands the medical advice behind the Government’s decision today to continue its travel ban.
The Go8 has always held the strong position that it is not its place to request any lifting or partial lifting of this ban, and has not attempted to do so. We know the Government is at all times acting on the latest and best possible medical advice.
Clearly the Go8, which continues to have more than 60,000 of its Chinese students unable to commence their 2020 study here in Australia, feels extremely concerned for those students, many of whom we know feel vulnerable and upset. The Go8 universities are in constant contact with those students and are working round the clock to ensure delivery of interim tailored study solutions for them until this health situation is resolved.
Where they can, our universities are also each dealing in varying ways to assist with students’ third country 14-day self-isolation plans.
The Go8 sees this as a student welfare issue first and foremost and that is already driving forward logistics and planning to how we can have our students into their on-shore study as quickly as possible when the ban is lifted.