Thanks to recent attacks on Indian students, Australian Universities are finding themselves in serious worry mode. International student enrolment figures report a sharp fall as Indian students ditch their plans to study in Australia and turn to safer campuses.

Australian higher education institutions have reported that there has been a further fall of 8.7% in international enrolments in the first quarter of the year as compared to the same period last year. Indian students are heading to safer shores for their studies, and as a result, their enrollment figures have decreased by over 30%.

India was the second largest source of international students for Australia but with the continuation of the downward trend triggered by reports of violence against youth from the South Asian country, Indian students continue to be a serious reason for the downturn in the Australian international education export industry.

Nepal (down 19%) and Sri Lanka (down 17%), have also followed India in the downward spiral.

Many Australian experts blame the decline in South Asian student numbers on the hardened immigration laws.