By Tanaya Das

 

Increasing fees, spiraling costs of living, rental increases and lack of adequate student accommodation defines student living in Australian cities. Cities like Sydney and Melbourne who host the maximum number of international students are

Many international students study while under financial stress

expensive cities with increasingly higher costs of living. For years international student advocates as well as various student associations have been lamenting the lack of adequate information and support as these leave foreign students open to exploitation.

 

In March of 2013 (Volume 237) we reported on the overcrowded living conditions  many students are forced to endure due to lack of affordable student housing. It seems surprising that so many students would be ill-prepared with adequate resources to maintain a decent standard of living in Australia.

 

Ayub* a Pakistani student studying in Sydney says "When I came to Australia I was told by my education agents that $1000 was enough to live well in Sydney, $1000 a month for a single person is a lot of money back home so it didn't seem surprising. I checked the Department of Immigration website and was told I needed $1550 a month for living costs, I found similar information on the University website in fact the university website claimed one could live well within $1200 a month. The University representatives at Education fairs also said it was easy to find cheap accommodation close to Uni and $1500 was more than sufficient a month. I assumed the government and the university must factor in the effects of inflation etc to reflect a realistic amount which would ensure I would be comfortable. The reality was a rude shock."

 

UTS website states "An international student requires a minimum of A$14,786 to A$25,680 for living expenses for each academic year." Currently the living costs requirements for a student visa applicant on the DIBP web site is as follows:

 

Applicant	AUD18610 per year
Partner	AUD6515 per year
First child	AUD3720 per year
Each other child	AUD2790 per year

$18610 means $1550 per month to pay for accommodation, food, transportation, utilities, groceries and miscellaneous. To those living in Sydney these costs seem too low for decent survival which Ayub found hard to deal with. 

  

He says "University accommodation costs are outrageous at a minimum of $250 a week plus internet, electricity and a host of other costs like a non-refundable acceptance fee, change of room fee, unauthorized overnight guest fee etc. Single rooms in and around the university are hard to come by plus cost at least $300 a week and since my university is close to the city I am stuck between spending increasing amounts on rent or paying exorbitant weekly transportation costs. International students don't even get travel discounts on weekly tickets! So I pay a minimum of $1000 on rent and then have $550 left a month for all my other expenses, its like having to fast all year round because I certainly can't afford food like this."

 

Continued  

In case you were wandering which university to study in Australia you may be interested in the latest world rankings released by the Times Higher Education report.

Surprisingly the University of Sydney is trailing considerably behind its rivals. Perhaps Melbourne and Canberra are cheaper places to live so you and you can spend more to gain the best standard of tuition.

	2014-15 WORLD RANK	2013-14 WORLD RANK
1	University of Melbourne	33	34
2	Australian National University	45	48
3	University of Sydney	60	72
4	University of Queensland Australia	65	63
5	Monash University	83	91
6	University of New South Wales	109	114
7	University of Western Australia	157	168
8	University of Adelaide	164	201-225
9	University of Technology Sydney	226-250	301-350
10	University of Newcastle	251-275	251-275
11	Queensland University of Technology	276-300	276-300
12	University of South Australia	276-300	301-350
13	University of Wollongong	276-300	276-300
14	Charles Darwin University	301-350	351-400
15	Deakin University	301-350	301-350
16	Macquarie University	301-350	276-300
17	Curtin University of Technology	351-400	Not ranked
18	Murdoch University	351-400	301-350
19	Swinburne University of Technology	351-400	351-400
20	University of Western Sydney	351-400	Not ranked

Unfortunately our news regarding the 56 years of waiting turned out to be correct! If you do happen to have another 56 years to wait for your visa processing, you may be interested to pass the time reading our IMMIGRATIONews archives.

The recent ones can be found here and the older historic editions can be located here.