International students are expected to be welcomed back under a NSW Government pilot plan for their safe return over the second half of the year, to help kick-start the billion-dollar industry.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said international students are a vital missing piece in the State’s economic recovery, with the sector worth $14.6 billion in 2019.

This will benefit tens of thousands of NSW residents whose jobs rely on this industry across retail, hospitality and many other fields.

The pilot plan will initially see a limited number of students from a range of countries in purpose-built student accommodation adhering to the same quarantine requirements as all incoming travellers.

“International education is our second most valuable export and we need to do what we can to help students return and revive this sector as quickly as possible,” Mr Perrottet said.

“Typically, we have more than 250,000 international students studying in NSW each year and they directly supported over 95,000 local jobs prior to the pandemic. If we don’t act fast, students will turn to other overseas destinations and it could take the sector decades to recover. That’s why we’ve developed a pilot plan supported by NSW Health and NSW Police that enables 250 international students to come to Sydney per fortnight from mid-year, in a gradual approach that will enable us to closely manage the process and ensure community health is not compromised.”

The international student allocation will be in addition to the current number of returning Australians allowed into NSW each week.

“This won’t come at the expense of returning Aussies. We will continue to bring back 3,000 people per week – well more than any other state,” Mr. Perrottet said.