PA/34/11 11 August 2011
Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Study into Crimes Against International Students
The Australian High Commission welcomes the release today of a detailed study by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) into crimes against Indian and other international students in Australia.
There is nothing in this comprehensive analysis — the first of its kind — to support the view that racism was the driver of attacks against Indian students.
Indeed, the study shows that rates of assault against Indian students in Victoria, where half of Indian students reside, were much less than the community average (8.9 per thousand compared with 13.9). If Indian students were being singled out on racial or other grounds, we would have expected the reverse to be the case.
Since the study is a statistical analysis, it does not directly assess the motivation behind the attacks. But its findings are fully consistent with what the High Commission said at the height of the media coverage of attacks on Indian students: while some of the attacks may have been racially motivated, the overwhelming majority of incidents were examples of opportunistic urban crime.
The higher rates of robbery against Indian students is also consistent with what we have been saying for some time, namely, that the risk profile of Indian students in Australia is higher than for other international students because of their greater representation in higher risk occupations, especially shift work as taxi drivers and in service stations and convenience stores. Gender is another factor since in Australia young males are generally more likely to be victims of crime. Seventy per cent of Indian students are male compared with fifty per cent for other international students.
The commissioning by the Australian government of this detailed study indicates the seriousness with which we take the safety of international students and our determination to ensure their well being. This is reflected in the international student strategy we have put in place and the steps we have taken in the areas of law enforcement, closure of inadequate education institutions and additional student welfare measures, including a 24 hour hotline and drop-in centres.
The study covers 420 000 students over the period 1 January 2005- 31 December 2009, cross matching student visa data with police crime victim data. It analyses crimes against international students from the five largest source countries: China, India, Malaysia, South Korea and the United States with comparisons of crime rates across these groups and with the general community.
The full study is available on the AIC website at www.aic.gov.au