2023 News of Australian Universities Banning Indian Students From Specific Regions Shared as Recent

A claim is going viral on social media stating that Australia has banned students from Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar from pursuing studies there.

The handle Messilious wrote, “Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar Australia has banned students from these Indian states due to forgery of documents & visa fraud.” (Archived link)

Another handle stated, “Is this true? Has Australia Banned students from these Indian states?” (Archived link)

The same claim was also made by the handle Corporate Raita.

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Fact Check

In our investigation, we searched for related keywords and found that this news is from May 2023, not recent. We came across a report by Mint dated May 26, 2023, stating that some universities in Australia—such as Victoria University, Edith Cowan University, Torrens University, Southern Cross University, Federation University in Victoria, and Western Sydney University in New South Wales—had temporarily imposed a ban on students from certain Indian states due to a rise in fraudulent visa applications. This restriction specifically targeted students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Jammu & Kashmir.

According to The Week, the Department of Home Affairs identified that around one in four student visa applications were “fraudulent” or “non-genuine.” Federation University and Western Sydney University instructed education agents to stop recruiting students from certain Indian states temporarily. Federation University observed a rise in visa rejections, particularly for students from certain regions, while Western Sydney University halted recruitment from Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat due to a high dropout rate among students from those areas.

Additionally, Western Sydney University tightened its admission process by changing how applications are screened and raising fees for new students. These changes aim to address the issue of non-genuine applicants from regions with higher rates of visa fraud and dropout.

However, this ban was temporary. The Australian government stated that it does not discriminate against students from any specific region. The High Commission clarified that universities have the autonomy to make their own admissions decisions. They also made it clear that this was not a government-imposed ban, but rather a ban imposed by the universities themselves.

In conclusion, the news about halting admissions for students from certain specific regions of India in Australia is from 2023, not recent. Several well-known universities there had imposed a temporary ban on students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Jammu & Kashmir because of a rise in visa fraud and fraudulent applications.

Claim	Australia has banned Indian students from Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar from pursuing studies there.
Claimed by	Social media users
Fact Check	Several top Australian universities temporarily banned students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Jammu & Kashmir due to rising visa fraud.

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