Submissions
VEOHRC Submission to Victorian Overseas Student Taskforce
The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission welcomes the recent release of the report of the Victorian Government’s Overseas Student Education Experience Taskforce. The Commission was a member of the taskforce and is keen to work with Government to address race discrimination against overseas students in employment, accommodation and education.
The final report provides useful information about the experiences of international students and the industry. It identifies some of the systemic issues contributing to the exploitation of international students and makes welcome suggestions about how things like visa employment rules might be changed to improve the situation.
The Commission is particularly concerned that the human rights of overseas students may not always be observed. We are also concerned that overseas students may lack the awareness and confidence to seek help or make a complaint.
The report makes 23 recommendations. Some of these focus on what the Federal government might do, others are directed at education providers, community groups, state government agencies and students themselves.
The report identifies options for new services and supports for international students and recommends more work be done to investigate the feasibility of a student hub and a community education campaign about the value international students bring to our community.
The Taskforce Report will inform the upcoming Victorian Government International Education Strategy.
Given the problems international students face have such obvious human rights implications, the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilties will be a useful tool for the Government to use in developing and delivering its Strategy.
For solutions to work, and in order to ensure the right to participate in public life, as spelt out in the Charter, students should be directly involved in the design and implementation of the Strategy.
Government departments and public bodies must comply with the rights and responsibilities in the Charter when creating laws, setting policies and providing services.
The Commission looks forward to working closely with the government, education providers and international student bodies to progress the recommendations in the report and get much needed practical help on the ground as quickly as possible.
Download a copy of our submission:
- VEOHRC Submission to Victorian Overseas Student Taskforce - PDF (53KB)
- VEOHRC Submission to Victorian Overseas Student Taskforce - RTF (466KB)
Download a copy of the report:
