International students cannot survive the COVID-19 shutdown without government and university support, writes Adrian M.
international students
The Victorian government’s April 29 announcement of a one-off payment to international students is utterly miserable, writes Zebedee Parkes.
International students handed over thousands of signed petitions calling for travel concessions for international students to Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi outside state parliament on August 14.
New South Wales is the only state that does not provide travel concessions for international students.
International students in New South Wales face higher cost of living expenses than their counterparts in other states. This is one of the reasons students at Western Sydney University (WSU) have decided to launch a campaign calling on the state government to grant them public transport concessions.
“New South Wales is the only state where international students do not have the same rights as domestic students and cannot access the same facilities,” Daniele Fulvi told Green Left Weekly.
International students and supporters rallied on October 17 to oppose international students being exploited, bullied and pushed into poverty in Melbourne’s office cleaning industry.
The rally was called by cleaners’ union United Voice as part of anti-poverty week.
United Voice Victoria secretary Jess Walsh said: "International students are a very important part of our community. A quarter of the international students we surveyed received less than $10 an hour at work, and 60% received less than the minimum wage and many reported experiencing racism and sexual harassment.