As the scale and scope of transnational education (TNE) has broadened, and the range of delivery models and partnerships has continued to expand, so too have the challenges. Universities offering courses outside their own country face a growing range of legal, practical and political challenges. The significant disruption during 2020–2021 coming from the global coronavirus pandemic, and it’s effect on the provision of higher education in most countries, has further amplified many of these challenges, raising questions about what the future might hold for TNE, including in China. This article aims to establish the major enablers and challenges for TNE provision. It utilises an investigation into Australian TNE providers immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to analyse these factors. As a major provider of TNE, including in China and other Asian countries, Australia provides a useful example of how TNE partnerships are being facilitated, for better and worse. In particular, the article establishes that tailored and often market-specific collaborations offer the best chance of a successful partnership. The study also provides an important basis for considering how TNE will function as a key component of the ongoing response of the higher education sector to the pandemic.

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The finalization of the Framework Agreement in 2016 and the opening of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations in 2018 indicate a period of unparalleled cooperation in EU–Australia relations. Nevertheless, these developments have occurred in the context of Brexit. In analysing the likely impact of Brexit this article will consider past bilateral disputes which negatively impacted on Australia’s engagement with the EU and how it was perceived as an international actor. In recent decades, however, the establishment of the single market and the implementation of the euro have seen a broadening of relations. Significant bilateral agreements have been completed despite the emergence, more recently, of the eurozone crisis as a source of bilateral tension. There is now an opportunity to assess whether relations have matured so that a single issue such as Brexit may not negatively impact on bilateral cooperation.