Fire Safety Information for Students

The recent tragedy in melbourne resulting in the deaths of three international students has highlighted the over crowded and non-compliant housing situations that many international students are forced to live in due to the high rental prices and low vacancy rates in the rental market.

Despite this, it is also apparent that many students are unaware of the basic fire safety risks in houses. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade in Victoria has an eduation unit that produces many information brochures for students. Fro more information please contact MFB Education Unit through the link to the website. 

National Internship Programs

Universities Australia has just released a discussion paper that describes and introduces options for internship programs for students at Australian universities. The discussion paper calls for submissions before November 30th, 2007.

The NLC will be sending a submission outlining the problems that internationals face regarding current internship opportunities, and addressing the options that are put forward in the discussion paper from the perspective of international students in Australia.

The discussion paper can be downloaded from the Universities Australia website and any international student or international student organisation may make a submission.

The NLC Internship Submission

International Student Housing Focus for 2007....

In 2007, the NLC Research Department wrote a submission for the VICTORIAN Government Residential Accommodation Issues Paper.

The main focus for this submission will be to provide the government with problems that international students face in Victoria when they are looking for housing, while they are in rental properties and the lack of up to date and accurate pre departure information that students are provided before they arrive in Australia. Another important focus for this submission is the exemption that some student accommodations have from complying with the Residential Tenancies Act in Victoria.

The NLC is very aware that these issues are not occuring in Victoria alone. Hopefully following this review, changes will be made to imporove situations for many international students in Victoria, and NLC will have some ability to pursuade other state governments to recognise there are similar problems occuring in their states which need to be addressed. (see media release)

Please download the Victorian government issues paper, or the NLC submission. For a full list of submissions go to the Consumer Affairs Victoria website.