Australia’s international education system a ‘Ponzi scheme’ with agents paid bonuses to lure students

Parliamentary inquiry told unregulated agents given cash ‘under the table’ to attract students with promise of full-time work

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Australia’s international education system has become a “Ponzi scheme” in which overseas agents are paid bonuses to lure foreign students with the promise of full-time work, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, Phil Honeywood, on Tuesday said universities were offering bonuses to education agents on top of commissions to funnel students to their courses.

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