International students
The rights of international students residing in Australia are a significant concern for the Australian Human Rights Commission. International students have a discernable set of human rights including the right to non discrimination, equality of treatment, security of the person, access to justice, housing, information, freedom of religion and culture, and labour rights.
In November 2009 members of the Australian and New Zealand Race Relations Roundtable met with expert race experts and international students and their representatives to explore existing issues and identify ways forward. The Roundtable produced a Communiqué regarding these issues.
In March 2010, the Commission in partnership with the Academy of Social Sciences and Universities Australia convened the Racism and the Student Experience Policy Research Workshop. The purpose of the Workshop was to discuss what reliable data existed around (I) racially motivated violence in Australia and (II) strategies to improve the safety of international students residing in Australia.
In August 2010, a second workshop was held, entitled “Building an integrated response to improving the safety and well-being of international students in Australia”. The aim of the roundtable was to engage academic and government stakeholders in a discussion about the contribution of research to the development of international student policies, and to identify future priority areas for coordinated action.
Two papers were released by the Academy of Social Sciences following the workshops:
- Racism and the Tertiary Student Experience in Australia – by Adam Graycar (July 2010)
- International Student Futures in Australia: A Human Rights Perspective on Moving Forward to Real Action – by Professor Andrew Jakubowicz (Sept 2010)
The Commission is currently drafting a set of minimum standards for international student safety. The Commission will consult with key stakeholders prior to the standards’ release.
You can read more about the standards in Dr Helen Szoke’s speech at the Australian International Education Conference on 12 October 2011.
For more information about the Commission’s work with international students, please contact Christine Ratnasingham, Race Discrimination Team at Christine.Ratnasingham@humanrights.gov.au
