Honi Soit spoke to a cross section of international students across different Faculties and year levels, asking them about each step in the process to get to USyd, but also what life is like in an increasingly expensive city and hostile country.
Coming to Australia
Before coming to Australia to study, international students have already spent a lot. Besides the student visa application fee which has been recently doubled, they also need to pay to take an English test like the IELTS, as well as tuition fees to prepare for the said test, the health insurance Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), a health examination fee, the massive university tuition fee, the flight ticket, and probably an education agent fee as well. None of these costs take into account the capital needed to just live in a city like Sydney
Education agent fee 6.8k AUD, tuition fee 50k AUD for one year, OSHC around 200 AUD, IELTS learning 6.4k AUD, IELTS test fee and other fees 4.2k AUD, so it’s around 68k AUD in total.
– Stella Jiang
In total, tuition fees for a whole year of study is 40,000 AUD plus. This is already including a 20% scholarship that I got.
– Vi Phong Tran
Just narrowing in on the English exams reveals an even more complex system. International students might take the test multiple times just to get a satisfactory score, which means paying multiple times. Many students don’t live in cities with test centres, therefore, they might need to travel to another city. Since the tests are organised in the morning, they usually need to book a hotel as well. Moreover, the valid period of the test score is only one year. Students will have to take it again for future visa applications.
Life in Australia
International students struggle to find affordable housing. Most of the participants find it hard to look for accommodation for the first time in Australia due to the lack of rent history and a stable source of income. The weekly rent of our respondents ranges between $400-800 per week.
… 400+ AUD a week would be impossible to afford for almost everyone I know back home in Thailand. And most people I know here live in places faraway in Parramatta, black town, Kogarah. [More than] 30-60 mins transit back and forth to attend university… cost approximately 7-10 AUD. I’m not sure how much most other students spend but I can imagine it being a nightmare.
– Anonymous
It’s hard especially when we’re offshore and looking for our first ever accommodation in Australia on Apps such as Real Estate. The agent tends to choose onshore tenants. In peak seasons, just before the semester starts, I’ve experienced a situation where a 40 square metre’s housing has more than 80 people in queue for inspection.
– Vidora
Work in Australia
International students are also facing the risk of workplace exploitation. The lack of work experience, language barriers and the restrictions of visa conditions make it harder for them to find a job. Therefore, they may compromise with the employees to work more and get less pay with cash-in-hand, and they may be less likely to report their employees for exploitation or abuse.
Tingting Zheng has worked in some Asian supermarkets and restaurants in Australia. She said most of them cannot provide salaries reaching the national Minimum Wage. Once she accepted an invitation for a two-hour trial work, but when she arrived, she was told that the trial work wouldn’t be paid.
Most of our respondents haven’t started work.
I can’t find a job, so I’m not qualified to experience unfair treatment in the workplace.
– Ruinai Zhao
[I’m struggling to find] part-time jobs. I think due to increasing costs, many international students are seeking part-time jobs to cover costs, hence making it very competitive and hard for some to get.
– Vaishakh Subin
Struggling in Australia
Spending a lot just to come to Australia for study, suffering a lot from the high cost of living, and worrying a lot about their jobs, international students are also facing other difficulties. They are more likely to be targeted by scammers and “virtual kidnapping”. Some of our respondents come to Australia alone, finding it hard to make friends and gain a sense of belonging. Some find it difficult to learn about the culture and customs here. Many of our respondents expressed their worries: not only about finding a part-time job as a student, but also about finding an ideal job in Australia after graduation.
Many jobs are not open to international students; and even if they do, we lack competitiveness compared to the domestic students.
– Anonymous
It is hard to find a relatively good job as a student, since the limited working hours. It’s reasonable as a student visa holder is supposed to spend more time on studying, but it limits the opportunities. Also, more programs are only opening for citizens or PRs.
– Luobin Huang
I think international students have to live really cautiously: paying the largest amount of money, receiving the worst services, suffering from racial discrimination if not staying alert, dealing with many urgent situations that we’re not familiar with. And we can be easily kicked out of this country.
– Lauren Qi
Reactions to policy changes
When asked about the proposed cap students were scared and told Honi they were already feeling the effects around them.
I know this from my visa process and the voices of all the people whose visas were denied on baseless means.
– Anonymous
It is already hard to obtain visas, many students from my home country of Vietnam are facing visa delays or getting rejected. It’s becoming more and more prevalent that visa applications fail. Capping it at 40% would just make it even harder for international students, especially from smaller countries. It definitely makes Australia less competitive than other countries.
– Vi Phong Tran
Interestingly, the perspectives were not all negative. Even though the policy could end their time in Australia, many students argued the government had the right to control migration and add in restrictions. This speaks to an important disconnect between the government’s rhetoric and the attitude of students. International students don’t oppose reform, but the common complaint was that changes were rushed or arbitrary.
I can understand that if considering it from the perspective of the Australian government.
– Runai Zhao
…If the policy is not targeted [at] a specific group, I feel it is reasonable. Some of the students are not focused on their study, so in this case, a [limit] may improve the academic atmosphere [on] campus.
– Luobin Huang
…It’s understandable that they [the government] should make sure that the local people can get education and jobs.
– Xiying
For student visas, not only was the application fee raised, but also the English test score requirements and financial requirements. Individuals now need to prove that they have at least $29,710 and an IELTS score of 6.0 (previously 5.5) or equivalent to apply for Student visas. For Temporary Graduate visa, it’s now 6.5 with a minimum score of 5.5 for each component of the test. However, the eligible age and stay length of this visa has been generally reduced.
I think it’s a good thing that they have raised the English test score requirement. I have observed that many international students cannot even communicate normally in English. …It is unfair to the other students in a sense.
– Damon Zhou
I just hope that it wouldn’t be another way for them to generate more revenue from international students (through tuition fees and bridging course fee etc).
– Tingting Zheng
Even for students currently enrolled, the changes have forced some tough decisions and trade offs.
I know some of my friends changed their major due to the changes.
– Luobin Huang
I do not think it affects those that have already received their study visa much but those with hopes and dreams outside suffer to afford and then despair over if they will receive it or get unfairly denied as they might “not return”, even though the price of the visa and the tuition fee has increased time and time again already forming a massive barrier for almost all, those that chooses to afford it still could be denied with 1600 AUD lost to empty excuses like “we just don’t trust you enough.”
– Anonymous
I have to reapply for [a] visa sooner than I thought. It messes up a lot of my plans, and is making it difficult to know what to do after I finish my undergraduate degree. … The general visa applications have been very delayed and they’re seemingly informing us that it’ll be very hard. Applications used to be quite quick but now it seems that it’s on hold. Because of that, I’m likely only going to stay here until I finish my bachelor degree and then go back to my home country. I also know of many friends back in my home country who struggled to get their visas certified.
– Vi Phong Tran
Many Australian politicians seem to be entirely ignoring international student rights – there is no mandate or votes in it. The response from the NSW Minister for Transport to the ‘Fair Fairs’ petition signals still no travel concessions for international students. Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton claimed that international students should not receive student services like FoodHub which should only be for “citizens.” However, economically speaking, international student tuition fees count for a large portion of revenue for universities in Australia – nearly half, in the case of USyd.
…International students pay higher tuition fees, but are not treated with fairness, which is ridiculous.
– Xiying
[Politicians] create and demonise groups of people to hide their own crimes. International students live almost exactly the same as the citizens and perhaps pays more per year to the Australian economy, and yet still Australia cannot even spare a bit of concession to us.
– Anonymous
We’re already paying a lot more than Australian citizens, we’re already contributing so much [in] so many different areas that it should only be fair that we are granted the same rights as others. Foreign students here still pay all the fees Australians pay and more, so shouldn’t we have the same access and rights. Giving us concession travel and more support for food doesn’t take away much, but would really be helping us as Australia is such an expensive country.
– Vi Phong Tran
International students contribute significantly to Australia’s economy and cultural diversity, yet they are often excluded from basic rights and services that their domestic counterparts enjoy.
Many international students juggle studies, work, and the high cost of living in Australia, often without the support networks that local students might have. Denying them access to essential services exacerbates their vulnerability. International students deserve to be treated with dignity and fairness.
– Vaishakh Subin
I’m not sure. As an international student, I want to get more benefits [like] domestic students. However, maybe they and their families pay more taxes to the states and therefore get more service (?). I may need more knowledge on the details.
– Luobin Huang
Student services should cover international students, as international students are students.
– Runai Zhao
Ignoring international students would sadly only exacerbate the problems. It pushes keen students and academics away. Sometimes it feels like the quality of international students is used as an excuse to this exclusion, but I’d say the diminishing quality of students being attracted is partly due to the unfavourable environment.
– Vi Phong Tran
None of these stories are new or recent, but the climate since COVID has only made things worse. The rising cost of living impacts all Australians, but the government has targeted international students as a supposed solution to all their problems.
What now?
None of that will change unless the media start amplifying their stories, and the arduous process all of them have to overcome. The social licence for migration will never be maintained by telling the public that students provide “value” to the economy, the students need to be defended on their own terms.
But people on campus need to do better as well. The SRC have to step up, like they did with the transport concession campaign and make fighting these caps and new visa rules a priority.
The University needs to do better as well. Vice Chancellors are quick to cry foul and attack caps which will impact their bottom line but when international students are just a profit making mechanism their well being and experience will never be the priority.
A spokesperson told Honi Soit that they “deeply value the contribution our international students make to our community” and that they provide “in-person wellbeing support, online and phone support in different languages and peer support programs.”
They also pointed to specific support targeted at cost of living like “food vouchers and financial bursaries to help students cover rent, food and other general living and study expenses, as well as emergency accommodation for those who need it In Semester One this year we provided more than 18,000 free meals to our students, working with the USU and the Library.”
I’ve just finished my IELTS test again – spent 445 AUD to book it. I’ve done it for my student visa, but it was also a requirement to apply for the Temporary Graduate visa – which will cost me another 1945 AUD. Looking at the responses, I can see that we international students have the same worries around money – we are always paying, paying a lot to those big institutions. We’re students, suffering from unfairness. But we are considered as numbers that need to be capped, who’s going to listen to the story of us?
