The poor treatment of foreign students in Australia has been in the news again this week. The ABC TV "Four Corners" programme explained the plight of Indian students coming to Australia and being cheated by some of the educational institutions, migration agents etc.

My only complaint with the programme was the implication that this was somehow a new issue. In fact almost as soon as the formal "export of education" got underway in 1986, there were problems. In my 1995 book "Global Agenda: Economics, The Environment and the Nation-State", I raised some concerns with this process (pp 128-134).

Australia has been "exporting" education - that is bringing foreign students to study in Australia - for a very long time. Christian theological institutions began bringing foreign students here in the 19th century. After World War II the Australian Government introduced the very successful Colombo Plan for overseas students to study here on government scholarships as part of the Australian foreign aid effort.

The turning point came in the mid-1980s when the Australian Government figured it could make money for Australian educational institutions and businesses by treating education as a "commodity" - much like, say, coal or iron - to be sold overseas.

The export of education is now - at A$15 billion - the third biggest export item. At first sight, this seems a great achievement.

But, as with most Canberra-inspired projects, little thought was given to the full implications of what was being intended. The Government saw it simply as a way of making money.

For over two decades, then, we have had a process of trial of error, as the authorities have introduced one idea, seen the errors, tried to correct them, created fresh problems, tried to correct them - and so on.

For example, adult overseas students started bringing their children with them. The adults paid for their education but their children were enrolled for free at state schools. This required a new policy change to make sure that both parents and children were being charged for their education.

Some overseas students had problems with the English language and so a fresh economic opportunity opened up with the provision of English language intensive courses for overseas students. But this industry was not well regulated and so some poor providers of education got involved - they took the money but didn't give much of an education.

A current concern is the bashing of Indian students. Australian students get travel concessions for public transport. But public transport is a state/ territory matter and local transportation authorities have been reluctant to treat overseas students like local ones. This has meant that some overseas students have been exposed to the risk of violence by walking longer distances because they can't afford public transport.

And so on. I have a great deal of sympathy, then, for overseas students. They have not always been treated as well as they should - and they have been let down by government departments and other Australian institutions.

What is particularly annoying is that this problem has rumbled on since the late 1980s. It doesn't matter who is in power in Canberra - political party labels seem irrelevant - little action has been taken.

Overseas Students deserve better treatment..

Keith Suter