Australian government working to ensure safety of foreign students

New Delhi, July 1 (ANI): The Australian Government is working quickly to implement a series of high-level initiatives to improve the security of international students in Australia.

Any death of a young student, however caused, is a tragedy and one death too many. Australia takes very seriously the safety of international students studying in Australia, a Australian High Commission press release said here on Wednesday.

Australia is a relatively safe country compared to most other nations. It has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world. The Australian Government is doing all it can to address the challenges faced by some international students.

The release said articles on this issue in today's Australian newspapers did not contain accurate statistics about crime related deaths of international students in Australia.

It also said information from the National Coroners Information System has not been released as the coroners are not satisfied that there is accurate data relating to international students.

The articles referred to information presented to the Australian Parliament in February which simply reflected the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) records of deaths for whatever reason (be it accident, illness, or other).

As DIAC is reliant on others providing advice when a death has occurred, DIAC records should not be used as a basis for determining the number of deaths or the cause of death of international students.

Australia remains safe for international students

Even if the newspapers' figure of 54 deaths of international students in Australia over a year is used, this would represent a death rate of approximately 0.15 per 1,000 population, which is significantly less than death rates for the general Australian population of student age. For example, the death rate for persons aged 20-24 is 0.5 per 1,000 population.

Australia is a socially cohesive nation because of our ability to welcome people from different backgrounds and respect their traditions, their choices of faith and their lifestyles.

The Australian Government is committed to ensuring that people settling in Australia, temporarily to study or work, or permanently to live, have support and assistance to become fully functioning members of the Australian community, the release concluded. (ANI)