Is Australia still a dream for international students?

Similarly, a number of recent, highly publicised attacks on Indian youth in Australia have revealed that there isn’t any co-ordination between education departments and other administrative agencies for the social and economical protection of foreign students during their stay in Australia.

According to reports, over the first eight months of 2009, the Overseas Students Support Network, Australia, received about 1,500 legitimate and serious complaints. The majority of these were related to non-academic issues including safety, living and work-related matters. When interviewed by the ABC, few months ago, Robert Palmer, the Director of the Support Network said their organisation found six or seven students who were thinking of committing suicide due to their living conditions.

Then there have been cases where students have lost thousands of dollars with the sudden closure of some private colleges. They don’t get enough help to get refunds. The ABC's Four Corners program earlier in 2009 reported on overseas students who had lost tens of thousands of dollars to colleges, or migration or education agents, and they didn’t know where to go or what to do.

The substantial costs of renting, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, the high cost of transport and even food prices make it hard for foreign students to cover their daily living and educational expenses by working just 20 hours a week. The immigration department must re-evaluate student working hours to take into account the significant increased cost of living in metropolitan cities of Australia in recent years. Otherwise the number of students working unlawfully long-hours on low wages will continue to increase.

Recent academic research from Monash and Melbourne Universities showed more than half of the international students surveyed were receiving less than the minimum wage, which is now $14.31 per hour. Even more disturbingly 33.9 per cent of those surveyed were receiving less than $10 an hour - which in Australia is effectively slave labour rates. Work-related injuries, incidences of depression and threats from the employers to the foreign students will keep increasing.

Medical insurance is another area where foreign students have many problems. They find face delays in receiving reimbursements for medical bills particularly in cases of ordinary illness.

Foreign students receive no assistance from their colleges, nor is there a government agency, like a job network, where they can get help to find work which suits them. The Australia government needs to address this area. There should be a job network type of government agency to exclusively look after foreign students.

Private colleges increase their enrolment charges and fees with little notice and in some cases it becomes hard for students to re-enrol for the next term. Non-payment or a delay in payment may result termination from the college. It is understood that colleges need to review and set their fees to meet their increasing running costs; however, increases in charges must be done with the close consultation of all the stakeholders, including government.

Safety of foreign students is a very critical issue. The assaults on Indian students in 2009 brought embarrassment and shame for Australia. Michael Wesley, executive director of international policy think tank for Lowy Institute, prepared a report, in August 2009, on the long term damage to Australia as a result of attacks on Indian students. During a radio interview, Mr Wesley said the welfare of foreign students is important for Australia otherwise it could cause serious problems in the future.

Certainly, Chris Evans, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, and Laurie Ferguson, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services have done some good work in the reviews and reforms of key multicultural and immigration programs, some of which are related to the needs of international students. Still, a lot more needs to be done to make sure that there is a better system: for enrolment, job-finding services, dealing with complaints, health support, concessions for transport and housing, and adequate policing measures for international students.

To keep the Australian dream alive for foreign students and professionals, it is important that their Australian experience is a positive one. This will benefit all the stakeholders involved.