Hughes has been providing strategic advice and public relations support to StudyAdelaide since 2020, delivering a range of services – including public relations, issues management, media liaison, video, digital, and integrated campaigns.

Major pieces of work have included community sentiment campaigns, which have been run over several years as international education has been in the political spotlight.

OBJECTIVES

As international education rose to South Australia’s number one export in 2024, StudyAdelaide commissioned its second community sentiment campaign to bolster the sector’s social licence amid ongoing negative sentiment towards international students. While the issues moved on from COVID and border closures to immigration policy, housing shortages, and capping student numbers, international students remained prominent in local and national news.
Frequently, international students were being cited as the cause of social and economic problems. However, there was a compelling story to be told about the positive contribution international students make to business, tourism, filling workforce skills gaps, and giving back to the community.

Our campaign objectives were to:

• Increase positive community sentiment towards international students
• Educate employers and grow awareness of opportunities to employ international students

ELEMENTS

Activity included four key themes:

• The role of the international education sector
• The contribution of international students to solving local workforce challenges
• How international students are giving back to our community through volunteering
• The contribution of international students and their families to tourism and the regions

The scope of work included:

• Negotiating and securing StudyAdelaide’s involvement in News Corp’s Future SA Forum, which was attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Premier Peter Malinauskas and South Australian business leaders.
• Shooting and production of four videos highlighting the international education sector.
• Editorial, opinion, and supported print and digital content.
• Paid and organic Social Media campaign.
• Benchmark and campaign sentiment monitoring and reporting.

In addition to the community sentiment campaign, Hughes supports StudyAdelaide with ongoing public relations activity, including its annual International Student Awards.