She said all providers would have to publish a list of the agents, whether within or outside Australia, they use.

The government was also considering forcing providers to develop websites to allow students to make anonymous comments about agents.

Nearly 100,000 students from India are enrolled in various courses in Australia. The assaults on Indian students and reports of colleges exploiting international students had caused an uproar in India.

India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna had visited Australia, during which he was assured that students would be protected. The attacks had caused concern in Australia's education sector with many fearing a significant drop in the number of students enrolling here.

Former Liberal MP Bruce Baird was recently appointed to review the laws covering overseas student services.

'We'll take advice from the Baird review, but this is the first, important step in the process of cleaning up an industry that has grown too fast, too soon,' Gillard said.