Human Rights policy for international students

Education groups disappointed with Government international students strategy The Human Rights Commission, together with Universities Australia and the Academy of Social Sciences, is creating its own policies for foreign student safety. There was general disappointment among export education groups with the recently released Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) International Student strategy which was flagged almost 16 months ago but only released at the end of October. Australian Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes said he hoped to present their policies to COAG soon. Tertiary Education minister Chris Evans released the COAG strategy at the end of October. Undertaken in response to violence against foreign students and other crises in the market, the strategy outlines 12 initiatives for student wellbeing, consumer protection, education quality, and information. But organisations are more concerned about what is absent, especially proposals for safe and affordable accommodation and transport and an overall budget to implement the strategy. “This strategy has been in the preparation for a long time,” said Innes. “I was disappointed that these sorts of things weren’t covered.” The Council for International Students Australia and the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) have repeatedly called upon the government to address the housing crisis foreign students face and for the NSW and Victorian governments to provide travel concessions. Innes said now the Human Rights Commission was creating its own policies for foreign student safety, with Universities Australia and the Academy of Social Sciences. He hoped to present the policies to COAG soon. “We’d like to bring government with us but if the strategy doesn’t address these things, then I think … it is time that the sector put something in place,” Innes said, adding that he supported a recent call by IEAA to do just that. The IEAA said the government’s strategy was a start but lacked detail. “One disappointment for students and the education sector is the narrowness of the strategy,” said IEAA president Stephen Connelly. “While the sector was consulted in the lead up to the strategy’s development, a number of recommendations made strongly by the sector have not been taken up.” Connelly said the critically important community engagement component of the strategy was equivocal. “We don’t know the quantum of funds or whether real, additional money is being budgeted rather than being taken from other important programs,” he said. A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) said $750,000 had been set aside for to fund the first two years of the community engagement. The money came from existing funding within DIAC’s Diversity and Social Cohesion Program, the spokesperson said. The international education groups also criticise the strategy for its silence on discrimination and exploitation in employment, which are known problems for foreign students. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Safety (DEEWR) did not directly respond to questions about why items were missing from the strategy. However, a department spokesperson said the strategy should be viewed in the context of the government’s broader education reform agenda. “It complements the government’s response to the Baird Review into the international education sector and builds on initiatives undertaken at all levels of government to improve international students’ experiences in Australia,” the DEEWR spokesperson said in an e-mail. But Innes said international student numbers were dropping in Australia because basic minimum standards were not in place for them.