Students life in Australia may not be as easy as you think. We spoke to students at RMIT about this. Many students have asked us about life in Melbourne and here is the truth.
Devan from India
I came to Melbourne for a better life away from India's slums. If I were to live India I'd have to work about 18 hours a day for meagre wages in a factory.
For the first two years in Melbourne I had to work in low paid jobs just to get by. I am studying at RMIT in Fashion and textiles and it costs about $20000 per year.
On top of that I have to save money for visa obligations. I work as a cleaner in a high office building in the city and like others I am only paid a lowly wage of $14 an hour. Living in Melbourne has become a daily struggle. I have to work out whether I can skip meals to pay the rent on time. Or if I can have both.
My MYKI per year is over $1000. Local students can get concession, why can't we?
Dan from China
I came to Australia to pursue a degree in Business Management. It was here that I tried to find a job that pays the legal wage of $24 per hour. But no one was willing to do that for me. Everyone wanted to pay about $11 an hour.
When I asked my first boss, he said "$10 an hour is all you are getting". I thought wow that was a lot. In China I got virtually nothing from my parents as we were poor farm kids.
My parents wanted to send me overseas so that I can have a better life and future. The first few days in Melbourne I thought " Wow what a clean city compared to China".
I was very reluctant to report my boss so I tried to find another job. But in the end they all paid the same wages.
I wanted to get PR, but PR is very difficult to get here. The occupation list changes yearly depending on what the Government needs. This year they removed 5 of the occupations.
I live in Clayton which is in zone 2. Here there is cheaper housing in the area. But I still have to toss up between paying for my monthly or putting food on the table.
The practice of underpaying international students
It is quite common says the people of United Voice. The same can be said for the International Care Service who regularly sees a lot of students who are being underpaid.
We remember the cleaner case where many were being underpaid. I think this is still going on til this day.
High hopes
Through our Facebook findings a lot of students hope for a better life here. But what they don't know is that they can have a lot of problems with adjustment, rebuilding a new life etc. This was regularly reinforced in our tenure at the student union where a lot of students came for help. This was also seen in the play "Life's a Gamble".
The Compass service at RMIT regularly sees International students who have these sort of problems in Melbourne. They are a Student Union service which assists with all sorts of issues that students may have with their life.
Devan from India
I came to Melbourne for a better life away from India's slums. If I were to live India I'd have to work about 18 hours a day for meagre wages in a factory.
For the first two years in Melbourne I had to work in low paid jobs just to get by. I am studying at RMIT in Fashion and textiles and it costs about $20000 per year.
On top of that I have to save money for visa obligations. I work as a cleaner in a high office building in the city and like others I am only paid a lowly wage of $14 an hour. Living in Melbourne has become a daily struggle. I have to work out whether I can skip meals to pay the rent on time. Or if I can have both.
My MYKI per year is over $1000. Local students can get concession, why can't we?
Dan from China
I came to Australia to pursue a degree in Business Management. It was here that I tried to find a job that pays the legal wage of $24 per hour. But no one was willing to do that for me. Everyone wanted to pay about $11 an hour.
When I asked my first boss, he said "$10 an hour is all you are getting". I thought wow that was a lot. In China I got virtually nothing from my parents as we were poor farm kids.
My parents wanted to send me overseas so that I can have a better life and future. The first few days in Melbourne I thought " Wow what a clean city compared to China".
I was very reluctant to report my boss so I tried to find another job. But in the end they all paid the same wages.
I wanted to get PR, but PR is very difficult to get here. The occupation list changes yearly depending on what the Government needs. This year they removed 5 of the occupations.
I live in Clayton which is in zone 2. Here there is cheaper housing in the area. But I still have to toss up between paying for my monthly or putting food on the table.
The practice of underpaying international students
It is quite common says the people of United Voice. The same can be said for the International Care Service who regularly sees a lot of students who are being underpaid.
We remember the cleaner case where many were being underpaid. I think this is still going on til this day.
High hopes
Through our Facebook findings a lot of students hope for a better life here. But what they don't know is that they can have a lot of problems with adjustment, rebuilding a new life etc. This was regularly reinforced in our tenure at the student union where a lot of students came for help. This was also seen in the play "Life's a Gamble".
The Compass service at RMIT regularly sees International students who have these sort of problems in Melbourne. They are a Student Union service which assists with all sorts of issues that students may have with their life.
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