In 2008 the number of students from India enrolled in higher education in Australia numbered 27, 701, making this group the second largest international student cohort in the country behind only China. Indian international students, like students from all countries studying in Australia, come to the country for a variety of reasons. India, like China, is a country where the competition for jobs is fierce, prompting many students to journey abroad seeking qualifications that will give them an edge, hoping to return from foreign shores as soon as possible and secure a job back home. Some come hoping that at the end of their studies, they will be able to secure permanent residency here, tailoring their studies to areas that will give them an opportunity to settle in Australia permanently. In both situations, the majority of these students make immense sacrifices, leaving behind friends and family, taking up poorly paying part time jobs and living in share accommodation in the outer suburbs. If asked why they chose Australia and not another country that could have offered them similar opportunities they may say it is because of the weather, here it is warm where as in Canada they would be forced to endure freezing winters. Or they might offer that Australia, unlike the USA or the UK, is affordable.

 

Once upon a time they would have also said that it was because Australia was safe. Unfortunately, this myth of Australia as a friendly welcoming country, an accepting multicultural country, is dead. As reports roll in of Shravan Kumar lying in a Melbourne hospital with critical injuries suffered as a result of a vicious attack at a house party, Australia’s right to call itself a safe place for international student to pursue their dreams vanishes. Even today, in the wake of global media attention on the subject and calls for legislation to be changed in order to punish those perpetrating these acts with hate crimes, another student from Melbourne was attacked at a train station by a Stanley knife wielding thug.

 

Put simply, attacks on these students are a disgrace and makes me ashamed to be an Australian. Ashamed because I have taught classes full of Indian students, seen them balance their studies with work, seen them battle to pass exams, ever gracious for the opportunity to be here, pursuing their goals. For too long Australia and Australians have benefited from their good grace without giving enough back. Whilst gesture of appreciation should be the spontaneous movement of a country that prides itself on the fair-go mentality it seems that we no longer carry with us that spirit, or perhaps we never did, perhaps we did but there was a hidden caveat, that this was a country for a fair go, as long as you are white. And so, lets look at the bottom line. In total, the export value of international student services is worth over $15 billion to the Australian economy. As Australian’s manufacturing industry further collapses and the global financial crisis puts pressure on families throughout the country, try and imagine what kind of hole would be left in the economy if international students decided that Australia was no longer a country that they would feel safe living and studying in?

 

So, lets look at just one example of the lack of foresight put into the treatment of international students in Australia. Several of the attacks on Indian students reported in the media recently occurred at train stations. Students, coming home from study or work, have been attacked whilst leaving the stations by gangs of opportunistic youth. These students, full time students, are not eligible for public transport concession cards. The same students who contribute billions to the Australian economy, who work here, who study here, can’t even get a discount on their train fare. What kind of message does this send? You can get attacked for free but you have to pay full fare. Australia says yes to inviting students to study in Australia, yes to allowing these students to pursue full time study, universities ask them to pay up to triple the fees of local students and yet they still are not eligible for a concession public transport ticket. It seems that on every front international students are being robbed by the very community that claims to be welcoming them.

 

I feel that what is needed is a visionary approach to improving the conditions for international students in Australia. Surely, one of the first measures that must be implemented is an improvement of security at and around suburban train stations in an effort to protect students against attack. After this, Australians, not just the Government, need to come together with the international student community and figure out ways to improve the experience of living and studying here in an effort to not only ensure the long term sustainability of international education in the country, but to fulfil our ethical and moral responsibility to our guests.