Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

We know that Australia has a low take-up of foreign languages—this is historical—particularly Asian languages. That is why we announced at the launch of the Asian century white paper that the Australian government would ensure more school students have access to Asian languages. Often barriers to our university students travelling to Asia are their lack of language skills and their concerns about how they would fare. Even some language training at a colloquial level would assist students to visit and study in Asia. We know many Asian universities now offer courses in English. What we have to do is make it easier and more attractive for students and support them. The $1,000 Asia-bound language grants are our contribution to that improved OS-HELP Loan Scheme. We want a three-way commitment—the government, the universities and the students—to support some language training which will encourage that sort of mobility to study in Asia. (Time expired)