Foreign students want more details on danger

Updated July 1, 2009 16:56:48

The peak body representing international students in Australia wants more information about circumstances surrounding the deaths of international students studying in Australia. There are growing concerns about the reporting of foreign student deaths and the lack of detail on numbers and causes.

Presenter:Emily Bourke
Speakers: Glenn Withers, Universities Australia; Sharman Stone, Australian Opposition's immigration spokeswoman; Wesa Chau, Australian Federation of International Students.

EMILY BOURKE: A spate of violent assaults on Indian students has prompted universities to draw up an action plan on student safety, and a Senate inquiry is looking into the welfare of international students.

Tomorrow at the premiers' conference, the Prime Minister is expected to present a strategy to improve the lives and treatment of overseas students.

But it's the deaths of overseas students and the causes of those deaths now under the spotlight.

Earlier this year the Federal Government revealed 51 overseas students had died in the 12 months to November 2008.

Thirty-four of those deaths are from unknown causes.

SHARMAN STONE: In a 21st century country like Australia, that lack of data and detail is just not acceptable.

EMILY BOURKE: The Federal Opposition's immigration spokeswoman is Sharman Stone. She points to a labyrinthine system that includes state coroners, the Immigration and Education Departments and universities and colleges.

SHARMAN STONE: So it's a need for that follow-up, initial reports at the Department of Immigration that an ongoing need for the institution or the state authority to later inform the Department of Immigration as soon as it does have the data from coronial enquiry as to the cause of death.

At the moment I think, seen perhaps a legacy of many, or earlier days when we didn't have so many students, but this hasn't been properly sorted out.

EMILY BOURKE: The World Today has been told there is no legal requirement for the Immigration Department to receive reports of deaths or injuries of international students.

But the Department does facilitate travel for bereaved or concerned relatives.

Foreign students want universities and colleges to give them more information about the dangers of life in Australia.

Wesa Chau from the Australian Federation of International Students.

WESA CHAU: The important this is really not just to report, but to find the root causes of these deaths, is it murder? Is it suicide? Because those are very important things that needs to be addressed.

In regards to the information provided to the international students, it's not enough, or information provided during orientation time which has basically information overload to international students.

For example, regarding safety for example, a lot of international students are actually not aware of the spots that may be dangerous to them.

EMILY BOURKE: Glenn Withers is from Universities Australia.

GLENN WITHERS: Anecdotally it's not clear at all there is a wider problem than there are for domestic students, so despite them being in a strange country, it does twist a little more to things like these issues of accidental deaths in hiking, or beaches, and less road deaths because they don't have as much car ownership as the locals.

But they're the twists we'd like to look at and help with; but overall it is a problem of young people getting out and about and doing things.

EMILY BOURKE: Has it come to your attention that there's a lack of information about the causes of student deaths, of foreign student deaths?

GLENN WITHERS: It has, it's been an issue now that's been raised and one of those, one of the many issues that are being considered before the taskforces in the various states, Senate enquiries are in place, there's also a national security taskforce -, and this is one of the issues they'll be looking at.

But it is a complex issue because the way in which data is recorded is subject to important privacy issues, very important non-discrimination issues and I think we work through that in a measured way.

EMILY BOURKE: Is there anything extra universities could do to ensure the safety and well-being of international students?

GLENN WITHERS: We do a lot of course as large organisations, and that includes information provided prior to departure which just about all universities are involved in, then information on arrival, then of course updates and ongoing information, including things like mentoring with local students.

So there's a range of those initiatives, many well in place but also for instance as an organisation, Universities Australia is about to release a best practice guidelines so that we are sharing what all the universities do amongst themselves and for other education providers.