Over 100,000 international students were stuck overseas when Australia's borders first closed in February 2020, and new international students are still unable to enter the country.
New modelling from the Mitchell Institute shows that border closures mean the value of Australia's international education sector will shrink from 40.3 billion dollars in 2019 to 20.5 billion dollars by the end of 2022.
In New South Wales alone, international students make up 14-billion dollars of the states economy.
In order to try to get back some of that revenue, the state has sent a COVID-safe plan to the federal government for consideration.
The proposal would allow overseas students to return, as long as they undertake quarantine at a special approved site in Sydney.
