Foreign student market in tatters over Brazilian death

Brazil is the largest source of students from Latin America studying in Australia and is also the largest Latin American market for visitors to Australia.

Roberto's death reminds us of a report by the Australian Institute of Criminology last year which showed Indian students in Victoria had a higher or equal rate of assault than all Victorian males.

The research surveyed 13,204 international students who were victims of 14,855 crimes (3201 assaults, 3206 robberies and 8440 thefts) between 2005-2009 from India, China, South Korea, the United States and Malaysia.

The report stated that Indian students were more likely to have high-risk jobs where they were working night shifts by themselves and catching public transport to go home late at night.

The Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Bill 2011, was passed recently to protect Australia's international education sector from shonky providers. But no legislation could shield the young Brazilian student from the tasers of the NSW police.