International Student Welfare

Over recent years the international education industry has boomed and is now one of Australia''s top exports. Despite the fact that this industry currently nets billions of dollars in export profits, very little is known about the welfare needs of teen- aged international students who undertake their secondary school education in Australia. This mixed method study investigates the welfare of adolescent overseas students attending ten non-Government secondary schools in Melbourne. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 318 overseas students through a questionnaire. Eighteen pupils volunteered to participate in interviews where they were asked to talk about their experiences as international students. These young people were also asked to offer their advice to the education providers regarding their welfare needs. Finally, semi-structured interviews were used to gather knowledge and experiences from school staff representatives and other carers of overseas students regarding the pastoral needs of the young people in their care.