The International Student Blog

As we reported in our January issue of the International Student News, there has been a recent spate of attacks against international students in Australia, and most notably on students who are studying there from India. The problems have been grumbling for a while and came to a head earlier this month when accounting graduate Nitin Garg, 21, originally from the state of Punjab in northern India, was stabbed to death on January 2nd when on his way to a job at a fast food outlet in Melbourne.

There has been a lot of outcry from both academics in Australia and India, claiming that the Australia government has been doing too little with regards to the matter. Melbourne University professor Simon Marginson, delivering a keynote address to the World Universities Forum in Davos, said “The Australian government is in denial. Racist targeting is involved (in the attacks). Indian students do have a special problem. And there isn’t enough official and civil concern about international student security in Australia.”

The international student industry in Australia is one of the largest in the world with revenues expected to be in excess of $15 billion a year. The government has been heavily criticized for sticking their heads in the sand, denying there is a problem and only providing only modest security enhancements for know trouble spots.

Are you an international student in Australia – or planning to attend school in Australia? Post your comments and thoughts below:

New regulations are being introduced that will allow all students who are issued with visas on, or after the 26th April 2008 to automatically have work authorization. In the past all student visas that were issued to students studying in Australia did not have any form of work authorization, and students needed to separately apply for this – however now all student visas will include work authorization.

The actual working rights will not change for students, so students will still be able to work a maximum of 20 hours per week whilst in school, and unlimited hours during scheduled school breaks. However, the new process will greatly simplify the process for many international students.

The cost of the visa application has also changed, whereas previously the cost of the visa was $430 AUD and $60 AUD for the work authorization, this has now been change to one fee of $450 AUD

For more information about the changes, please see the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website

If you would also like to learn more about Studying in Australia, please see the Australia section of InternationalStudent.com for information about courses, preparing for Australia and much more.