There are calls for the State Government to do more to protect international students following the murder of Hobart university student Zhang Yu.

The Multicultural Council of Tasmania says it has had a significant increase in the number of complaints, many of them from students who say they have been threatened, or verbally and physically abused.

The council's chairman, Davor Perovic, says students should be encouraged to make their complaints and be assured protection when they do.

He says at the moment they are often too frightened to take their complaints to the police.

"We have to be positive and look at it from the perspective of police should have the complaints but the problem here is that police are not actually receiving all of the complaints due to the very nature of the students being fearful," he said.

"They don't want to go to the police but in some cases their background has been somewhat reluctant to go to the enforcing authorities."

"I think that we have a certain obligation and a certain responsibility and these people should be treated not so much as Tasmanian citizens but as our customers in this case, because they are paying students.

"We don't want them to leave when they have concluded their studies here, they will be fairly influential people," he said.