PA/18/09 1 July 2009
Safety of International students in Australia
The Australian Government is working quickly to implement a series of high-level initiatives to improve the security of international students in Australia.
Any death of a young student, however caused, is a tragedy and one death too many. Australia takes very seriously the safety of international students studying in Australia.
Australia is a relatively safe country compared to most other nations. It has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world. The Australian Government is doing all it can to address the challenges faced by some international students.
Articles on this issue in today’s Australian newspapers did not contain accurate statistics about crime related deaths of international students in Australia. Information from the National Coroners Information System has not been released as the coroners are not satisfied that there is accurate data relating to international students.
The articles referred to information presented to the Australian Parliament in February which simply reflected the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) records of deaths for whatever reason (be it accident, illness, or other).
As DIAC is reliant on others providing advice when a death has occurred, DIAC records should not be used as a basis for determining the number of deaths or the cause of death of international students.
Australia remains safe for international students
Even if the newspapers’ figure of 54 deaths of international students in Australia over a year is used, this would represent a death rate of approximately 0.15 per 1,000 population, which is significantly less than death rates for the general Australian population of student age. For example, the death rate for persons aged 20-24 is 0.5 per 1,000 population.
Australia is a socially cohesive nation because of our ability to welcome people from different backgrounds and respect their traditions, their choices of faith and their lifestyles. The Australian Government is committed to ensuring that people settling in Australia, temporarily to study or work, or permanently to live, have support and assistance to become fully functioning members of the Australian community.
For further information, please contact Mr Tim Huggins, First Secretary (Public Affairs), on 011 41399997.