Victorian Premier John Brumby to arrive in India today

Already facing flak for the recent spate of racist attacks in his state of Victoria, Brumby will meet officials, students, business leaders and the Indian media "to ensure the message is heard loud and clear that Victoria is a welcoming, multicultiral place."

As he prepared to leave for New Delhi to reassure India that his country was safe for its students, Victorian Premier John Brumby on Monday announced a USD 14 million boost to secure the long-term future of the state's international education industry.

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Launching the project 'Thinking Global' with a Ganesh puja, Brumby said the quality of international education would include audit of high-risk providers and will also include extension of current rapid audit to cover an extra 24 providers in next four months time.

Brumby, who will arrive in India on Tuesday, will meet with officials, students business leaders and the Indian media "to ensure the message is heard loud and clear that Victoria is a welcoming, multicultiral place."

Brumby said his trip was of utmost importance in view of attacks against Indian students in Australia. He said his trip signified that the relationship between the two sides was strong and positive and that Australia was keen to further boost the ties.

Of the $ 14 million, the government will spend USD 1.4 million on maintaining the quality of its international education apart from $ 0.9 million on buddy programme to support overseas students living in Victoria.

"The key initiatives will include extending state's education service managers, international scholarship programme, expert reference group."