Report on international student safety in Melbourne
The University’s recently released study into the safety of international students in Melbourne has received widespread media coverage.
The report, by a research team from the Institute for Community, Ethnicity and Policy Alternatives (ICEPA), found the vast majority of international students in Melbourne (78 per cent) believed Melbourne to be a safe place.
However, many international students reported threats to their safety that they believed had a racial, religious or cultural element.
Other key findings include:
- More than half of surveyed international students (57 per cent) found the city less safe than they had anticipated
- A complex cocktail of factors were identified by students as safety threats, including a lack of safe affordable housing, high-risk employment and poor transport options, but racism was one of the most frequently mentioned
- Perpetrators of violence were frequently identified by those who participated in the study to be groups of young, alienated men
The study surveyed 1013 international and domestic students across Melbourne. A further 35 international students completed in-depth interviews and 29 stakeholders, including Victoria Police, student associations, government and non-government agencies and consular officials were interviewed at length.
Releasing the report at a media conference on 16 February, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Linda Rosenman said that although the researchers made no claim that the survey sample was fully representative, the study was thorough and provided valuable evidence, including the need for further research.
“The report identifies the need for government, education providers and authorities to better understand and acknowledge all factors affecting the safety of international students,” Professor Rosenman said.
“We now have evidence that housing, employment, transport and racism are all in the mix as factors that influence attacks and abuse of international students in Australia.
“The opportunism argument – that a student who was assaulted or robbed was in the wrong place at the wrong time – appears likely to be true in some cases. However, in other cases students say that racism was a motivating factor. As Victoria Police officers interviewed as part of this study have indicated, the distinction can be blurred.”
Victoria Police Commissioner Simon Overland commented on Jon Faine’s program on ABC Radio 774 the day after the report’s release that it was a “helpful and intelligent contribution to the debate”.
The full report can be found at: www.vu.edu.au/icepa
VU Vibe, February 2010 edition
This story forms part of the VU Vibe newsletter for February 2010. The newsletter is published every two months by the Government Liaison Unit (GLU).
All stories in this issue:
- Welcome to the GLU newsletter, VU Vibe
- Strong enrolments forecast
- First interview with Chancellor George Pappas
- How to earn a qualification without further study
- Brumby launches data on diabetes epidemic
- Wildlife rescuer wins VC Award
- New classrooms wired for high-tech delivery
- Report on international student safety in Melbourne
- Grammar school moves in to Sunbury site
- Green spot: Marsha Thomson launches Footscray bike hub
- Senior appointments
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