International Students Facing Racism In Australia:
Students are coming to Australia to get some quality education and if they are competent enough then most probably get a good job after completing studies. Australia has made immigration rules that if students complete their education and prove that they can work in the market then are eligible for applying for permanent resident status which can be later on converted to citizen status. Increase in immigration rate is some how not welcomed by local Australians because they are sharing the same resources with others (this is how some of them think). Am not going into details about racism but will only discuss how it affects a student life in Australia.

Life of a student is not only restricted to studies, he/she is a part of society. Student may need to meet other students, do group discussion with other local students. They may also work part time during study period to earn living expenses and can work full time in non-study period.

You can be a victim of racist comments while on work. Your boss may shout at you when it get busy even if you are working fast while another Aussie guy may be working slow but will be close to your boss. It mostly happens in labor jobs and other odd jobs where all credit goes to Aussie even though you work more.

International students also face a lot of problem while applying for accommodation only on the basis of Discrimination which make landlord not offering their property to students from certain nationalities.

Discrimination is also present in government sector, take example of Connex train service in Melbourne. Connex representative some times do inspection while you are on your way in train. They start checking valid tickets; if you are an international student and do not hold a valid ticket then I am 100% sure you will be fined around $160 for it and will be fined double if caught second time. But in the same carriage you will find an Aussie guy caught without a valid ticket and he will escape charges. Connex’s inspectors will only ask him to leave the train at next station. Trust me, it’s very common here and I have seen it many times my self.

Many students after completing their education and getting higher grades are still not able to get a professional job. The reason put forward can be that companies don’t want to leak their privacy as international students may leave Australia because of visa expiry, so they are no good to company. But on the other side racism is other factor. Even though an Asian guy holding Australian passport will get a good job in a company but will still suffer e.g., lack of promotion. Mostly you will find Aussies at managerial position in any kind of company and other workers with different nationalities working under them.

In June 1998, One Nation, an Australian nationalist party in Queensland won 25 percent of the votes with their main lines at fighting immigration by non-whites. This was made possible where unemployment was been high and where it was easy to convince the people that immigrants were taking their jobs, as it would serve to be a convenient excuse and avenue to vent frustration. In a speech the party leader said that Australia was “in danger of being swamped” by Asians and she also questioned the special welfare benefits for Australia’s Aborigines.

References:
http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Racism.asp#RacisminAustralia
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22566647-5007146,00.html

There are always some good and bad features of a society. In Australia, I have seen many people who don’t care about human diversity. Don’t think that people will insult you in public; it will only happen if someone is drunk. These are some real and hard facts that are why I have mentioned it, otherwise nothing such happen to me or any of my friends so far. But one thing is for sure that you may face problems in getting accommodation and may not be treated good while working in an environment where your fellows are white, only in case of odd jobs.