18-7-2023 (MELBOURNE) An international student in Melbourne has revealed to SBS News that she has been “hot-bedding” with another tenant in a sharehouse in order to make ends meet. With the reinstatement of working caps on 1 July, the situation is expected to worsen for international students. The student, who goes by the name Priyanka (pseudonym), is a 19-year-old from India and shares a bed with a male tenant who works night shifts as a truck driver.
“Hot-bedding” refers to the practice of sharing a bed between two individuals who occupy it at different times. Priyanka and the other tenant split the $550 monthly rent for the room they share. The other male tenants in the house are also truck drivers from India.
Priyanka expressed her disappointment, stating, “It is definitely not what I expected when I first arrived in Australia. Living costs here are a terrible shock and were never mentioned by the migration agent in India.” The cost of living in Australia has been steadily increasing, with the Consumer Price Index reporting a 5.6% rise in the 12 months leading up to May 2023.
Rental prices have also surged, with a national increase of 6.3% in the past year. In Melbourne, the average weekly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in an average area costs $425, while in Sydney, residents can expect to pay 36% more at $578.
Priyanka not only struggles to afford rent but also faces challenges in meeting her food and transportation expenses. Additionally, on weekends when the bed she shares with the other tenant is unavailable, she resorts to sleeping on a mattress in the storeroom.
Initially enrolled in a full-time nursing degree at a Melbourne university, Priyanka worked casual shifts in a warehouse. However, she was stood down from her warehouse job in March when the caps on international student work hours were announced. This led her to quit her studies due to housing stress. While she plans to start a new degree soon and search for a stable job, the reinstated working caps will limit her to working the equivalent of 24 hours per week (around three shifts).
Previously, international students were restricted to 40 hours of work per fortnight while studying. These caps were temporarily removed during the COVID-19 pandemic to address workforce shortages. The Labor government will now reinstate the restrictions at a higher rate of 48 hours per fortnight. Domestic students are not subject to these caps.
The decision to reinstate the working caps aims to strike a balance between students’ work and study, according to Australia’s Home Affairs and Education Ministers. However, the move has raised concerns about its impact on housing stress for international students. Of the 600,000 international students currently enrolled in Australia, nearly 90,000 are from India, representing a 27% increase from the previous year.
The housing challenges faced by international students, including the practice of “hot-bedding,” have taken a toll on their mental health. Priyanka described feeling constantly stressed and anxious, unable to find a peaceful place to rest and relax while studying. She has refrained from sharing the extent of her struggles with her family in India, as they made significant sacrifices to support her education in Australia.
Manorani Guy, a student advocate working with Priyanka, highlighted that many new arrivals are shocked by the high cost of living in Australia. She explained that while promises are made to attract international students, the barriers they encounter, such as high rents, soaring living costs, and now work restrictions, are seldom discussed.
A 2021 survey conducted by the University of Technology found that over 3% of international students in Sydney and Melbourne were hot-bedding, and 40% were going without meals. The survey was conducted before the majority of international students in Australia lost their jobs during the pandemic.
According to Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia, the reintroduction of work caps may exacerbate housing stress for international students. He emphasized the need for more affordable student housing and ongoing policy discussions to address the issue.
The hospitality sector, which employs a significant number of international students, is expected to be heavily impacted by the working caps. Suresh Manickam, CEO of the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association of Australia, called for a review of the work caps in six months’ time, citing concerns about the potential rise of an underground economy due to limited work hours.
