Indian students going out into the world in search of knowledge has been one of the great stories of our time. Unlike the fifteenth century European explorers, these young minds are lured not by wealth, but by wisdom. Global communities have evolved out of these movements and Australia, one of the more recent destinations, is emerging with an impressive growth in the number of students seeking a broad range of skills ad technical capabilities. There are almost 100,000 Indian students currently studying in Australia.

International education, as we know of it today, follows two major streams – the traditional British education tend to focus on creating value systems and personality development, while the American model stresses skill development and management capabilities. The Australian Universities broadly follow the American pattern. If you look at the publicity literature of any Australian University, you will find an amazing range of courses right from Aviation and Architecture to Performing and Visual Arts and Tourism and Recreation. In between you will also find courses in Information Technology, Biotechnology, Medical and Health Sciences and Management and International Business.

Why is Australian education important to Indian industry? There are three major reasons why we should look at Australia’s trained professionals to manage Indian industry:-

First, the Indian industry is becoming increasingly knowledge driven and this means that there is a great emphasis on specialized knowledge and expertise in managing business. There is also a broadening of Industrial activities in the country with the emergence of new industries like Insurance. Retail Marketing, Business Process Outsourcing etc. The need for trained manpower has never been greater than it is today. In a market driven world, Australia offers the best market related education. It is also important to note that a significant shift is taking place in Indian industry – from Manufacturing to Services and it is here Australian Universities score over many others with a range of course and programmes like Financial Services, Health Care Services, Project Management, Tourism Management etc., all of which have great relevance to India. Australians are also great innovators in structuring new ideas and new industries. When the Sydney Olympics became a highly acclaimed sporting event, Australians saw the scope for combining project development with event management to form a brand new activity and market their expertise around the world. In a similar vein, after the tremendous success of Australian tourism, Australians saw the potential for film location shooting and today more Indian films are shot in Australia than Australian films themselves.

The second reason for promoting Australian education is the fact that Australia is a great country to learn a whole lot of things from. Discipline, work ethics, the Australian’s passion for cleanliness, neatness and hygiene standards, together with their great love for sport and the spirit to excel in them, have all brought the world to their feet. If Indian industry has to go up the value chain, they need to absorb some of these professional standards. A couple of years living in Australia can do a world of good to anyone’s outlook and life style.

Third, there are striking parallels between the Indo-Australian story and the Indo-American experience. The current upsurge in Indo-American business relations is entirely the result of hundreds of Indian students who went to the U.S. Universities ad eventually spread across the heartland of American business – all the way from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. Something like that is happening in Australia, may be a generation behind the U.S. experience. Every Nobel Prize an Indian has received in the past fifty years has gone to an Indo-American – Khorona, Chandrasekhar, Amarty Sen and now Venkatraman and Ramakrishna. Who knows among the hundreds of Indian students reaching out to Australian Universities, there are a few potential Nobel Laureates too!

Universities in Australia

Adelaide University
Australian Catholic University
Australian Defence Force Academy
Australian National University **
Bond University
Central Queensland University
Charles Sturt University
Curtin University of Technology
Deakin University
Edith Cowan University **
Flinders University
Griffith University
James Cook University
La Trobe University
Macquarie University
Monash University
Murdoch University
Northern Territory University
Open Learning Australia
Queensland University of Technology

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Southern Cross University
Swinburne University of Technology
University of Ballarat
University of Canberra
University of Melbourne
University of New England
University of New South Wales
University of Newcastle **
University of Notre Dame Australia
University of Queensland
University of South Australia
University of Southern Queensland
University of Sydney
University of Tasmania
University of Technology Sydney
University of Western Australia **
University of Western Sydney
University of Wollongong
Victoria University