Australian police tour India on student-attack issue
Updated
Senior Australian police, bureaucrats and university officials are touring India, in an attempt to restore Australia's image as a safe destination for overseas students.
The delegation follows a string of attacks on Indian students, in Melbourne and Sydney.
Presenter: Sally Sara, South Asia correspondent
Speakers: Colin Walters, leader of the delegation; Paul Evans, Assistant Commissioner of Victoria Police; David Hanna, Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development
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SARA: This is the start of a nine-day roadshow across India.
The Australian delegation will meet students, parents, government officials and face questions from the Indian media.
The Government hopes the visit will reverse some of the damage caused by the attacks on Indian students and reassure that steps are being taken to stop the violence.
The leader of the delegation, Colin Walters from the Commonwealth Department of Education says it's hard to gauge just how much Australia's reputation has been tarnished.
WATERS: Well, the High Commissioner took the view that the best thing we could do was to bring a team who could speak knowledgeably about all of the issues that have been raised here.
And we hope that by explaining that the Government is taking it extremely seriously, we hope that people will see the thing in a bit more perspective and will come to understand that Australia is not the place that has been portrayed in some parts of the Indian media.
SARA: For the past six weeks, the attacks on Indian students in Australia have received blanket coverage.
It's unclear what it will take and how long it will take to repair Australia's reputation.
Assistant commissioner of Victoria Police, Paul Evans says his officers are carrying out undercover operations as part of their patrols in Melbourne.
EVANS: We, certain locations we watch and certainly on the transport hubs and in the vicinity we have people not only in uniform, but also in plain clothes who are keeping an eye on things and on the trains as well, to provide extra security.
SARA: Until now, Australia has been a hugely popular destination for Indian and other overseas students. In Victoria, the number of overseas enrolments in private vocational colleges has increased by more than 500 per cent in the past four years.
Government officials say they are cracking down on any private operators who are not meeting the basic standards and not looking after their students.
David Hanna from the Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development says high-risk operators have been given a clear message.
HANNA: If you're not in it for the right reason and you're not doing the right thing, then we don't want you in the industry. It's pretty simple. Every college enters into a contract with its students and in many ways Australia enters into a contract with those students too.
So, it's important that we ensure that everybody who is a player in this field does the right thing and delivers exactly what's expected.
SARA: The nine-member Australian delegation will face the Indian media at a press conference later today.
