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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-16 Daily Xml
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (15:12): Will the Premier inform the house of what the government is doing to allay concerns about safety for international students in South Australia, given recent events interstate?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (15:13): I thank the member for Norwood very much for that question. South Australia has a hard-fought reputation as a safe and supportive place to gain a world-class quality education and also as a place that welcomes international students. We take this reputation very seriously.

Attacks of the kind we have seen recently interstate are cowardly, ignorant and unacceptable in our community. We will not tolerate racism or racist violence. As members of the house would be aware, there was an incident in Rundle Mall last Thursday, when an Indian student was attacked. The student suffered some minor injuries and was treated at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The student provided a statement to detectives at Adelaide CIB, who later arrested a 17 year old and remanded him on bail to appear in the Youth Court. The matter is now subject to an ongoing investigation.

The government takes the safety of our international students very seriously and will continue to monitor the situation closely. Prior to this incident last week, we had already implemented a number of initiatives. The minister for further education established a task force to examine how we can provide the best education and lifestyle experience for international students. The terms of reference for minister O'Brien's task force specifically include a focus on student welfare and safety.

Following the incident last week, the Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia, in his role as Chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission, convened a meeting of government and community stakeholders to further discuss the safety of Indian students. After discussions over the weekend with the Lieutenant-Governor, I am delighted that he has established a representative group to develop an action plan that will address issues confronting international students. I will certainly be personally attending at least one of the group's meetings.

Education Adelaide has also recently convened a meeting of key stakeholders to discuss Indian students' safety. I have also been advised that SA Police have been closely monitoring activities interstate. SAPOL holds regular meetings with international students at our universities and TAFEs. I can also inform the house that yesterday I met with the Indian Consul-General, Mr Amit Dasgupta, and at this meeting the Consul-General expressed his appreciation of the efforts of the police, the Lieutenant-Governor and indeed the government and minister O'Brien for their role in this process. I will be meeting again with the Consul-General next month.

We have seen international students go from 6,000 or 8,000 in the year 2000 to about 28,000, and next year maybe up to 32,000, with more than 60,000 anticipated by 2013-14. We welcome them as people, just as we welcome international students to then, if possible, stay on and become migrants and citizens. We are absolutely committed to protecting South Australia's reputation as a great place in which to live, study and visit. The education sector is critically important to the South Australian economy and community, and that is why we have been so determined to attract more international students to South Australia.

When we came to office we were incredibly underdone in terms of a fantastic educational resource. We have three outstanding universities but also a great TAFE sector and great school education sector, so we have been out there marketing in China and India, going to India every year, and we have seen exponential growth. One of the best parts of the feedback from that experience is that students feel welcome here. They feel embraced by their own communities. For instance, the Indian community, to which I am very close, has played a very positive role in making students feel welcome and at home and also throughout the sector.

Education, we are proud to be able to say, is now our fourth biggest export industry. It employs thousands of South Australians and is worth more than $740 million annually. We have a Strategic Plan target of doubling our share of overseas students by 2014, so it is important that we work towards making Adelaide the most student-friendly location of all the Australian cities, and we have done this work.

South Australia leads the nation in providing a safe and quality educational experience. We were the first state in Australia to offer all students in South Australia, whether international or local, concession rates for public transport. Lack of access to more affordable public transport is one of the concerns being raised interstate, because students are having to walk home. We have Education Adelaide, the first body of its type in Australia to run a comprehensive student and community support program. The program runs social activities such as visits to the AFL and the annual Lord Mayor's welcome. Then there is the free Adelaide Connector, which the approximately 5,000 students who live in the Adelaide City Council area use regularly, particularly at night, to get home after classes.

Finally, South Australia leads the nation in terms of the quality and standards of our private vocational education and training providers. The vast majority of South Australian private VET providers are members of the peak industry body, the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET), whereas nationally only 30 to 40 per cent of private education providers are members. Members of ACPET have a greater awareness of the national standards for international education and a greater ability to enforce these standards and support students with safety and welfare matters.

I want to make it very clear to all international students that their safety is of great importance to us and that they are most welcome in our city and our state. Recent events interstate are obviously a reminder to all of us that we must be constantly vigilant about our surroundings and security and to take advantage of the services that we have available here in South Australia. My call to all international students in South Australia is that, if you do become the victim of a crime, please report it to the police and they will take the appropriate action. On behalf of myself, on behalf of the further education minister and, indeed, the entire government, I say that we do not and will not tolerate violence, and nor will we tolerate racism in this state.

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