I'm really glad to be asked that question, because it is quite shocking that we have only such a small percentage of our students taking advantage of an international opportunity. What we consistently find from all of our surveys of employers is that they place a priority on their future employees having had hands-on experiential education opportunities and international exposure.
As with many of our sectors, education is global. This goes to a question earlier by MP Julian about equalizing across diversity, about making sure that everybody is on an equal playing field, ensuring that all university students have had an opportunity and had that international experience so that they're able to understand and be successful anywhere around the world.
Students now are travelling and need to be employable anywhere around the world. Having access to other languages, having access to those experiences.... We've also even found a relationship between that international opportunity and mental health. Students who go to different countries, who have that international exposure, often come back with a certain degree of maturity that helps them perform when they come back.
Having students going and coming back internationalizes the entire community of universities, even for those students who don't go. Anything the government can do to increase our students' opportunities to have that international experience will not only help their employability, but also help our educational base and our competitiveness worldwide.