Oz announces measures to improve safety of intl students

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Apr 21 (PTI) Against the backdrop of attacks
on Indian youths, a key inter-governmental forum in Australia
has announced a slew of initiatives, including setting up of
an information portal, to improve safety and well-being of
international students.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) said the
measures will be implemented under its International Students
Strategy for Australia (ISSA) that will include a central
portal to provide students with up-to-date information on
personal safety, student support services, housing, workplace
rights and other useful information.
Apart from that, it will include a national strategy to
improve connections between students and the communities they
live in and an international student committee to give
students a forum to put forward their views on their
experiences in Australia.
There will also be an independent statutory complaints
body which will be mandatory for international providers and
task forces in each state and territory to ensure students are
provided with proper support in the event of a provider's
closure.
The measures were announced against the backdrop of a
series of attacks on Indian students since June last year.
21-year-old Nitin Garg, who died in January, was the first
victim of such assaults this year.
Welcoming the COAG move, Education Minister Julia Gillard
said the strategy would complement the findings of the Baird
review to ensure that Australia remains a world-leader in the
international education sector.
The new agreement will benefit over 434,000 students from
190 countries worldwide who are currently living and studying
in Australia, according to an official statement.
Measures already introduced by the Government include a
nationwide audit of education providers and a requirement for
them to re-register their courses under tighter new criteria
in 2010.
Gillard also welcomed a decision by Australian Police
Commissioners to share initiatives designed to ensure student
safety and improve the dissemination of information to
stakeholders.
The final International Students Strategy for Australia
will be released by COAG -- which comprises the Prime
Minister, State Premiers, Territory Chief Ministers and the
President of the Australian Local Government Association
(ALGA) -- in the coming weeks.

The COAG, which concluded its 29th meeting in Canberra
yesterday, noted that there has been a rapid growth in the
number of international students studying vocational education
and training courses in particular.
It was agreed that this growth has resulted in pressure
on regulating the quality of the market and ensuring that
international students have access to adequate support and
infrastructure.
The meeting also noted that early measures have already
been taken to strengthen regulation and education quality.
A programme for rapid quality and financial viability
audits of international education providers was already
implemented and COAG acknowledged work with overseas
governments to improve the regulation of education agents
operating in their countries.
Strengthened migration policy arrangements were also
looked at to encourage international students to focus on
obtaining quality education from quality providers and to
ensure that student visa applicants have the necessary funds
to live in Australia.
The COAG acknowledged measures to focus on and increase
police surveillance of high crime areas and the engagement of
police, multicultural affairs agencies and other community
groups in programmes to improve the safety and wellbeing of
the community, including international students.
During the meet, Australian Police Commissioners agreed
that through the Australian and New Zealand Policing Advisory
Agency (ANZPAA), police would share best-practice safety
initiatives related to international students and ANZPAA would
work with stakeholders as appropriate to disseminate this
information. PTI NC