PA/37/09 16 September 2009
Australia condemns attacks on Indians
New Initiatives announced by the Police in Victoria
Deputy Prime Minister welcomes outcomes of the International Students Roundtable
The Premier of the State of Victoria, Mr John Brumby, today condemned an attack on four Indians in a Melbourne suburb on Saturday.
Premier Brumby, who will be visiting India next week, said any violence ‘is completely unacceptable ... and I'll keep repeating this message as long as I have to get the message out … I can only repeat that overall we remain one of the safest places in the world".
The Premier said he would meet key Indian officials next week during his visit to discuss the recent incidents involving Indian students.
The Victoria Police arrested four men for assault and affray after the incident on Saturday night and are continuing their investigations.
Further safety measures in Victoria
Victoria Police are continuing to step up their enhanced law enforcement efforts. They will be introducing a new fleet of high-tech divisional vans as part of a huge boost to police vehicle numbers and resources.
Police Minister Bob Cameron said the Victorian Government had provided record funding this year to Victoria Police and the new generation divisional van was another example of how that record funding was delivering better resources to Victoria’s police force. Some of the features of the new van include:
• Increased storage space for operational equipment
• Video monitoring and recording of detainees
• Two-way communication between front cabin and rear pod
• Video camera that automatically switches between pod monitoring and reverse camera when reverse gear is engaged
• Dampeners on pod doors to prevent detainees kicking doors open and injuring members
International Students Roundtable
At the same time as stronger law enforcement measure are being implemented, the Federal Government is continuing to consult international students, including Indians, to ensure that student welfare issues are addressed in an effective manner.
The Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Education, Ms Julia Gillard, thanked the 31 international students who participated in a two-day Roundtable organised at the Parliament House in Canberra. Ms Gillard said she looks forward to their representatives accompanying her to the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment (MCTEE) later this month.
The Roundtable assessed the challenges facing international students and their experience in Australia, including pre-arrival information and visas, the quality of education, access to services, social integration, fair treatment and the cost of education.
The students recommended a number of actions, in particular the establishment of International Student Information Centres as one-stop shops for international students to access services vital to their education and welfare while in Australia.
They also made recommendations regarding an ongoing connection between the Government and representatives of international students, including an annual roundtable. The students will continue to work with representative bodies like the National Union of Students and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations to establish a continuing voice for international students.
A communiqué issued at the end of the Roundtable will also be presented by three representatives to MCTEE later this month, where the issues can be considered by all levels of government.
The students at the Roundtable are currently studying at universities across all Australian state and territory and represent 19 home countries. They are studying qualifications from diplomas to doctorates and were selected from more than 1300 applicants.
A copy of the communiqué is enclosed.
Media enquiries: Public Affairs Section, 011 4139 9900.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ROUNDTABLE
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
COMMUNIQUÉ
15 SEPTEMBER 2009
The Australian Government convened an International Student Roundtable to which it invited 31 international students from nineteen countries and five continents, students undertaking vocational education diplomas, bachelor degrees, Masters and Doctorates.
The purpose of the Roundtable, which ran across three days, was to draw on international students’ direct experience in Australia to identify the pressing challenges facing international tertiary education; and to develop actions that the Australian and State governments, educational providers and other stakeholders can take to improve international students’ educational outcomes and their Australian experience.
Roundtable students welcomed the opportunity to discuss the challenges they face, and to contribute to how governments and education providers can improve international tertiary education.
Overview of the student experience
The Roundtable recognised that a high quality, tertiary, international education sector benefits all – international students, domestic students, the educational providers themselves and broader Australia. These benefits come in the form of better educated and worldly students from Australia and overseas, a more diverse, competitive and international education providers, and a nation that is enriched by the presence of a larger, more integrated international student body.
Personally, students reflected that their educational experiences and their capacity to participate in Australian life were generally positive, and in many cases very positive. They valued their opportunity to live and study in Australia.
Nonetheless, the Roundtable also recognised that there were some pressing challenges that faced international students, which governments and providers should address. The number of international students in Australia has grown rapidly over the last decade. While this rapid growth is testament to the innovation and responsiveness of the sector to student needs, it is also the source of many challenges that now confront international students, providers and the Australian community.
These challenges can be grouped into six major areas:
1. Pre-arrival information and visa status
2. Quality of education provision
3. Access to basic life services
4. Social integration in Australia
5. Fair treatment
6. Cost of education.
Of these, the first three areas were regarded as the greatest challenges to the quality of international students experience in Australia.
Addressing these challenges would result in the following outcomes for all international students.
1. Better quality education and more effective support for international students
2. A more harmonious environment, allowing greater participation and involvement in Australian life
3. Richer and more internationalised learning experience for tertiary students in Australia
4. An improved and more sustainable international education sector in Australia
5. A better integrated and valued international student body which will benefit all.
Actions to address challenges
1. Pre-arrival information and visa status
Information provided prior to the decision to study in Australia and during student studies is crucial. The foremost information gap to resolve is the lack of quality information provided by overseas agents.
• Comprehensive manual - The Roundtable requests the development of a one-stop comprehensive manual (extending far beyond the obviously important issues of accommodation, safety and visas) to assist in the ease of accessible quality information. The Roundtable would like to ensure that all prospective students receive this manual, and endorse strict methods such as setting its receipt as a requirement for visa permission.
• Changes in visa settings - The Roundtable is concerned about the changes to MODL once students have already enrolled in their courses in Australia. The Roundtable suggests more comprehensive information provision regarding changes and the “grandfathering” of points values under which they commenced the course to resolve this concern.
• Language assessment - The Roundtable is concerned about the unrealistic disparity between the IELTS for successive visas. The Roundtable suggests a narrowing of the gap between visas such as the study visa and the skilled migration assessment.
2. Education quality
Quality of education is a crucial concern for the Roundtable. We believe that quality is determined by the educational facilities, the availability of job placements, language barriers, teaching competency, grading standards, provider quality and syllabus. We strongly encourage Government to regularly monitor and review providers for international students.
• Facilities - A quality education requires appropriate facilities for the number and needs of the student body it serves. However, with the rapid growth of the international student sector many of these facilities are proving inadequate—unable to scale to match their student growth. A proposed solution is to regularly evaluate the level of institutions’ facilities, including equipment and faculty, to meet a balanced class composition.
• Industry experience - The Roundtable feel a more ‘hands on’ approach to education, with industry experience, is necessary in refining student qualifications and learning. It would like educational institutions to provide this experience by increasingly linking institutes to industries and offer international students more internship or training programs at no additional cost. This will allow students to gain work experience, a better understanding of the field in which they are studying, confidence and credit points.
• Teaching quality - International students will often find it difficult to understand and participate or perform in class due to poor teaching techniques. The educational providers are in a unique position to aid these students. The key services these providers could offer are further training for lecturers, helping to establish voluntary study groups and activities with local students to gain skills needed to study effectively and live harmoniously in Australia. It asks the Government to help encourage these institutions to provide these services for improved education quality.
3. Access to basic life services
The Roundtable would like to see some improvements in the provision of basic services for international students studying in Australia. The priority basic services are accommodation, transport and health care. The Roundtable does not seek preferential treatment for international students. It seeks equal treatment to domestic students. It makes the following recommendations to achieve this aim:
• Accommodation - Education providers should collaborate with state and federal governments to develop a model for the provision of affordable accommodation to international students. This may include creative ways of utilizing unused or undiscovered resources, such as an organised home-stay program.
• International student information centres - The Commonwealth government should collaborate with State Governments to establish an international student centre in each city to provide advice on and referrals to basic services, as some institutions do not provide a comprehensive service.
• Referral desk - Every education provider should have an on-campus services referral desk for international students.
• Transport - The State Governments should be encouraged to implement equal treatment for domestic and international students in the matter of transport concessions. It should also consider introducing more frequent public transport to local suburbs where students live.
• Health and child care - Access to medical services and child care services should be on fairer terms for international students. The Government should also provide international students with more options of medical insurance providers.
4. Social Integration
International students' security, safety and their feeling of safety are vital to their social and educational experiences. Many short term security improvements should be initiated, including a more visible police presence. Long term solutions should be centred on multicultural inclusion and social integration within the student community and Australian society.
• Communication with security - Some suggestions for short term solutions to security issues include better and faster communication between the police of Australia, students, and the educational providers. This should be pursued through all available avenues, including e-mail updates, comprehensive websites, and face to face interactions.
• Social and safety information - Before arriving in Australia, international students should receive comprehensive information about safety and security issues and provisions particular to their institution and location. Pre-arrival information should also cover specific programs for multicultural integration in their institution as well as in Australian society.
• Integration into communities - Once the student is at the institution, orientation for all levels of education is vital to the integration of the students into the institution's culture as well as into Australian society. The orientation should bring together international and domestic students. Ongoing integration should be achieved through international and domestic students working together in the community through community service, events, and festivals which celebrate and share their diverse cultures.
• Connecting with government - Having international student representation at all levels of government and within tertiary institutions is vital in making sure international student voices are heard and bridges are built within tertiary communities and Australian society. This may best be achieved through grass root efforts, and there is a role for the federal and state governments to promote greater social integration and encourage tertiary institutions to see us as 'students' first, before defining us as 'international' or 'domestic'.
5. Fair Treatment
Resonating with the Australian ethic of “fair-go”, the Roundtable wants fair and equal treatment for international students. Simply put, this means protection from exploitation, acknowledgement of the value international students provide to Australian society (in addition to the economic benefit), and the streamlining and improvement of the necessary administrative procedures which accompany our study.
• Stricter monitoring of quality and treatment - The Roundtable would like to see the Government more strongly regulate poor quality education providers and exploitative employers. For the education providers, the Roundtable proposes the establishment of an industry “minimum standards” with strict monitoring and penalties and Government guarantees against provider closure (i.e., provide a replacement of institution or reasonable compensation in the event of provider failure). The Roundtable believes the Government should encourage creating an independent body for international students to advocate for students and address their complaints. The roundtable feels the Government should review the IELTS exam.
• Recognition - The Roundtable would like to encourage the Government to publically communicate a recognition and appreciation of the value of international students to Australia. It feels that the discourse is too often on the economic benefit, and not as often on value provided by the diversity; the social capital via networking—to businesses and country; and to better education outcomes via our experience and knowledge. This recognition or appreciation may be built through many methods including: advertisements; pamphlets and brochures at community centres, an annual award to an international student who provides great value to Australia; and enhanced multicultural education in Australian primary and secondary schools.
6. Cost of education
International students and their dependants are facing financial challenges that arise from the uncertainty of increasing tuition fees, limited scholarship availability, high cost of living (e.g., accommodation, transport and visa application fees). These costs pressure students to work longer hours and to seek for an increase in the work limits.
Suggested solutions discussed by the Roundtable include:
• Manage Rising Fees - While Government may be reluctant to regulate fees, it could impress on students the importance of their consumer rights prior to any initial payment of fees. It could also require greater transparency among providers with regards to their current fees and potential fee increases.
• Work limits - Government may take measures to provide more reasonable accommodation, transport and other living costs, so as to reduce the financial pressure on students. Otherwise, it could increase the work limit to 25 hours per week, so they can meet their financial demands. Government should inform students of the interpretation of volunteer work and its exclusion/inclusion in the work limit.
• Scholarships - Increase scholarship availability and accessibility of information to all international students, as well as the transparency of the selection process.
Roundtable students look forward to the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments’ response and on-going consultation regarding the outcomes of the Roundtable.
Roundtable students will seek to work with National Union of Students, Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations and other student organisations to progress a national voice for international students.