Rob is in Basque country in the southwest of France, Dirk is back in western Sydney, and there is a lot to unpack in this episode of Global Horizons.

It has been a massive fortnight for Australian international education, with major updates on student visa fees, national planning levels, ATEC, student housing and sector awards.

First up, Rob and Dirk discuss the latest increase to student visa fees, with the main student visa rising from $2,000 to $2,500. They unpack why the sector reacted so strongly, the lack of consultation, and why this matters for students, providers and Australia’s competitiveness as a study destination.

They also look at the newly announced 2027 National Planning Level, which remains at 295,000 new overseas student commencements, and what that might mean for institutions trying to plan ahead.

The conversation then moves to the Universities Accord Bill and the proposed role of ATEC in allocating international student places. Rob and Dirk explore concerns about how much power may sit with the minister, how allocations could be changed, and what this means for the future shape of the sector.

In this episode, we cover:

• The latest student visa fee increases
• The sector’s united response to the changes
• The 2027 National Planning Level remaining at 295,000
• ATEC’s proposed role in international student allocations
• Victoria’s proposed rental reforms and student accommodation
• The 2026 Keystone Awards

The episode finishes on a more positive note, with the announcement of the 2026 Keystone Awards winners, a shout-out to Rishin Shekhar’s new role at ANU, and congratulations to Dirk and The Koala News for reaching 10,000 LinkedIn followers.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Robert Parsonson has been part of Australia’s international education story for a very long time.

His first AIEC, back when it was still the IDP conference, was in Sydney in 1994. He had just returned from four years in Japan, stood up in front of a room full of people, and gave a presentation on how to work with agents and build relationships in Japan.

That presentation became a launchpad.

In this episode of Global Horizons, Rob Malicki sits down with Robert Parsonson on Ngunnawal country in Canberra to trace a career that has moved through Japan, ELICOS, VET, recruitment, agent networks, industry advocacy and the long, complicated evolution of Australian international education.

Robert’s story starts with Japan in the 1980s, when it felt like the place to be. He went for a year, stayed for four, and came back with a deep understanding of relationship-building, humility, patience and how to work across cultures. As he explains, you do not walk into a market with all the answers. You listen. You learn. You build trust.

That theme runs through the whole conversation.

Because this is also a conversation about education agents, and the gap between the lazy public stereotype of the “dodgy agent” and the reality of an industry where most agents are doing the hard, human work of helping students and families navigate complex decisions, visa systems and life-changing study choices.

Rob and Robert dig into the origins of SYMPLED, the creation of ISEA, the push for industry-led agent accreditation, and why accountability, transparency and student-centred practice matter so much if the sector wants to protect its social licence.

They also take a wider look at Australia’s international education industry, from fax machines and the early 1990s boom years to today’s policy turbulence, visa refusals, public mistrust and the worrying rise of “mass migration” rhetoric.

In this episode, we cover:

• Robert’s early years in Japan and what they taught him about trust, humility and cross-cultural relationships
• The early days of Australian international education, from fax machines to rapid industry growth
• Why the “dodgy agent” stereotype misses the reality of what most education agents do
• The origins of SYMPLED and ISEA, and the push for industry-led agent accreditation
• Why Australia needs to tell a stronger, more positive story about international education
• The danger of negative migration narratives, and why Australia still has the chance to be a beacon in the region

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There is a lot of history in this conversation, but it never feels like nostalgia.

Instead, it feels like a reminder.

A reminder that international education was built by people willing to travel, listen, adapt, advocate and build trust across cultures. A reminder that agents, providers, governments and industry bodies all have responsibilities. And a reminder that if Australia wants to remain globally connected, respected and open, we cannot be passive about the story being told on our behalf.

We have to tell it ourselves.

And, as Robert puts it, we need to be the beacon.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Rob is in Paris, Dirk is in Sydney, and this episode of Global Horizons covers UNSW overtaking Melbourne as Australia’s top-ranked university in QS, the latest net overseas migration figures, and what the OECD is saying about the future of international student growth.

They also discuss why students are only one part of the migration story, why universities need to share more positive stories, and the opening of major awards including the Shaping Australia Awards and Northern Territory International Student Awards.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao.

Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host.

The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia’s unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets.

Global Horizons is the official podcast of the Australian International Education Conference. Registrations are open now: https://aiec.idp.com

Nicola Bate’s story begins, in a way, with a woman loading bags at Heathrow.

Her mum, a single mother in West London, took a job with British Airways because it paid a little more, came with staff travel, and gave her the chance to show her young daughter the world. So while other kids came back from school holidays with stories from around the corner, Nicola came back with stories from Australia, Canada, China, Dubai and beyond.

Which is probably one of the more extraordinary origin stories we’ve had on Global Horizons.

In this wide-ranging and deeply human conversation, Rob Malicki sits down with Nicola Bate to trace a life shaped by travel, curiosity, relationships and the strange, wonderful, interconnected world of international education.

From her early years growing up near Heathrow, to an unexpected first international education role that sent her to Delhi with little more than a passport and a willingness to learn, Nicola’s journey is full of the kind of sliding-door moments that make you realise careers rarely move in straight lines.

But this conversation is also much more than a career story.

Rob and Nicola dig into what universities often miss when trying to differentiate themselves, why communication and trust matter just as much as product, and why the people standing in front of students, parents and agents hold more influence than they sometimes realise.

Nicola shares, with enormous honesty, her experience of being diagnosed with a brain tumour, undergoing surgery, recovering, and quietly returning to work before most of the sector knew what had happened.

In this episode, we cover:

• Nicola’s childhood near Heathrow and how her mum’s job at British Airways opened up the world
• The letter-writing adventure that first brought Nicola and her mum to Nowra and Jervis Bay
• A teenage trip to China that shifted Nicola’s understanding of travel, privilege and culture
• How Nicola fell into international education after being asked one simple question: “Do you have a passport?”
• Why agents, students and parents are often looking for trust, reliability and confidence, not just a glossy product
• Whether Australian universities are doing enough to differentiate themselves
• Why sales in education should not feel like manipulation, but like influence in service of the other person
• Practical lessons in communication, storytelling, persuasion and asking better questions
• Nicola’s tuk-tuk adventure around Sri Lanka, including the terrifying, stressful and magical bits
• Her brain tumour diagnosis, surgery, recovery and what it taught her about resilience, vulnerability and carrying hard things quietly
• Why everyone is carrying something, even when we cannot see it
• What Nicola might do next, from Federation University to future humanitarian work, travel support, or possibly even a return to airport life

There are moments in this conversation that are funny, strange and beautifully unexpected.

There are also moments that stop you in your tracks.

Because underneath all the stories about planes, agents, Sri Lanka, sales training, Nowra, Macquarie, Federation and international education, this is really a conversation about people. The people who open doors for us. The people who teach us how to move through the world. The people who help us when life suddenly tilts sideways. And the people we become because of it all.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website. This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Perhaps it’s time we chose them.

That line sits near the heart of this episode of Global Horizons, and it lands with a bit of a thud — in the best possible way.

In this news episode, Rob Malicki and Dirk Mulder are both on the road: Rob in a rainy Brisbane on Turrbal and Yuggera land, and Dirk in a very warm, very sunny Darwin on Larrakia country. Which, naturally, leads to a brief weather comparison, a petrol price timestamp, and a reminder that life on the road can make you feel more than a little geographically and temporally confused.

But once they get into the news, this episode quickly becomes a bigger conversation about the story Australia tells about international education — and whether that story is good enough.

First up, Rob and Dirk look north to Cairns, where Study Cairns has been building stronger connections with Indonesia and developing its student ambassador program. And what stands out is not just the strategy, but the reminder that international education is not only a Sydney-and-Melbourne story. It reaches deeply into regional cities and local communities, from Cairns to Darwin and beyond.

Then the conversation turns to student accommodation, and some pretty substantial numbers. With tens of thousands of purpose-built student accommodation beds in the pipeline, Rob and Dirk unpack why the housing narrative around international students is far more complicated than some of the political rhetoric suggests.

And then, as awards season begins, they look at the IEAA Excellence Awards and the Victorian International Education Awards — both important reminders that there are extraordinary people, students and stories across this sector that deserve to be recognised.

The episode finishes with a powerful opinion piece from Adrian De Luca of We Are Australia, focused on the trust that families place in this country when they send their children here to study. It is a reminder that behind every international student is a parent at an airport, a family making sacrifices, and a human story that can too easily get lost in policy debates, housing arguments and migration headlines.

In this episode, we cover:

• Study Cairns’ work in Indonesia and its growing student ambassador program
• Why international education matters in cities beyond Sydney and Melbourne
• The growing pipeline of purpose-built student accommodation across Australia
• The IEAA and Victorian international education awards now open for nominations
• Why authentic student stories matter more than generic marketing messages
• Adrian De Luca’s reminder that Australia should actively choose international students

There is a lovely thread running through this episode about stories.

Not polished corporate stories. Not rankings slapped onto a brochure. Not another generic photo of smiling students who could be anywhere in the world.

Real stories.

The kind that help students see themselves in Australia. The kind that remind communities why international education matters. The kind that push back against lazy assumptions at barbecues, coffee catch-ups and in the media. The kind that say, clearly and without apology: we want international students in Australia.

Because when families around the world place their trust in us, that should mean something.

And perhaps, now more than ever, it is time we said so.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website. This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

When Rob Malicki sits down with Mark Pettitt, the conversation begins in a place few people would expect: Rostov-on-Don in the mid-1990s.

What starts as a childhood fascination with Russia, sparked by reading Animal Farm, turns into a story about teaching English in a city near the Ukrainian border just a few years after Perestroika. Mark reflects on arriving in a place that felt harsh and unfamiliar on the surface, only to find extraordinary warmth and generosity once he was invited into people’s homes. It is also, as it turns out, where he met his future wife.

From there, the conversation moves through travel, family, entrepreneurship and the work of building Edified. Mark talks about the kind of life he and his wife wanted their children to experience, including a period living in Paris, and why he believes young people benefit from both roots and wings. He also reflects on his first experiments with business, the attraction of starting new things, and the challenge of scaling a company without losing the human quality that made it valuable in the first place.

There is also a thoughtful thread running through the episode about failure, resilience and what it means to keep going. Mark speaks candidly about the emotional side of entrepreneurship, the need to recover quickly when things do not work, and the importance of building ideas with clients rather than simply hoping the market will appear once something is finished.

Highlights include:

• how a childhood curiosity about Russia led Mark to teach English there in the 1990s
• what it was like living in Rostov-on-Don just after the Soviet era
• meeting his wife while teaching overseas
• the kind of travel experiences he wanted his own children to have
• why entrepreneurship suited him more than business-as-usual work
• what he has learned about failure, risk and building new ideas
• the challenge of growing Edified without losing its personal touch

It is a conversation about business, certainly, but also about place, identity, family and the experiences that quietly shape a person over time.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Canada, we have a problem.

And, if we’re being honest, Australia might have a very similar one.

In this episode of Global Horizons, Rob Malicki and Dirk Mulder unpack a week in international education that starts with Canada’s positioning problem and quickly turns into a much bigger conversation about policy clarity, political trust, skilled migration, international students, VET, and whether governments are actually pulling the right levers.

Prompted by a sharp op-ed from Christine Wack at IDP, Rob and Dirk dig into one of the biggest questions facing countries like Canada and Australia: if we want to attract global talent, build skilled workforces and compete for bright minds, are our policy settings actually helping us do that?

Spoiler: not necessarily.

The conversation then turns to Australia’s 12-month freeze on new CRICOS applications for parts of the VET sector, with exemptions for government schools, state-owned TAFEs and public universities. Which, depending on how charitable you’re feeling, either looks like an integrity measure, a migration-management tool, or something uncomfortably anti-competitive.

Also on the agenda: the Coalition’s budget reply, the political temptation to keep blaming migration, why international education keeps getting caught up in the broader net overseas migration debate, and whether major parties are missing what voters are actually angry about.

Along the way, Rob and Dirk also find time for the important things: Sydney rain, Milo weather, NAFSA FOMO, petrol prices, and the enormous success of the Choosing Your Uni National Virtual Expo, which attracted more than 5,600 registrations and 13,000 unique visitors during expo week.

In this episode, we cover:

• Canada’s international education positioning problem, and why Australia should pay attention
• Why prospective students are increasingly looking for employability, quality, safety and policy clarity
• The Australian Government’s 12-month freeze on new CRICOS applications in parts of the VET sector
• What the VET freeze could mean for private providers, ELICOS, TAFEs and workforce shortages
• The Coalition’s migration rhetoric and what it might mean for international education
• Why the net overseas migration debate keeps dragging international students into the political spotlight
• IDP’s new IELTS centre in Chengdu and why it matters for the company’s China strategy
• The Tertiary Scholarship Fund’s 2026 Awards for Excellence, and a lovely Melbourne story of generosity through education
• A tribute to Neale Daniher, his remarkable public fight against motor neurone disease, and the power of not walking past the chance to do a little bit of good

There are some weeks where international education feels like a sector.

And then there are weeks where it feels like a mirror, reflecting back bigger questions about trust, politics, workforce planning, national identity and whether our leaders are thinking far enough ahead.

This is one of those weeks.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets.

Global Horizons is the official podcast of the ⁠AIEC conference⁠!

Registrations are already open... grab your spot early!

This week on Global Horizons, we're doing something a little different.

Last week, Rob Malicki delivered a keynote for the Choosing Your Uni National Virtual Expo. It was a huge event with thousands upon thousands of attendees. His keynote was titled "Getting Started with Choosing a University", but it was actually much broader, focusing on career directions, how to know when it's time to change, and overcoming decision inertia.

Like lots of Rob's stuff, it's full of stories, and actionable, honest tactics, so makes a perfect little side-door for Global Horizons listeners.

We hope you enjoy it!

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email ⁠podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Global Horizons is the official podcast of the AIEC conference!

Registrations are already open... grab your spot early!