By Andrew Klein

In memory of all those who were betrayed by those they should have been able to trust — and how they paid twice.

I. Introduction: The Promise and the Betrayal

Locum parentis — a Latin term meaning “in the place of a parent.” It is a legal and moral doctrine that places institutions and their agents in a position of trust, care, and responsibility toward those in their charge. When a university accepts an international student — often a young person, far from home, without family support, navigating a foreign culture and legal system — it implicitly accepts this duty.

The evidence presented in this paper demonstrates that Australia’s universities have not merely failed in this duty. They have systematically betrayed it.

International students are not guests to be welcomed. They are cash cows to be milked. They are not young people to be protected. They are revenue streams to be exploited. And the system that profits from their presence has built an architecture of exploitation that touches every aspect of their lives: their safety, their labour, their housing, their mental health, and their futures.

This paper examines the scale and nature of this betrayal — and offers a path toward genuine reform.

II. The Scale of the Crisis: Understanding the Numbers

Australia hosts approximately 700,000 international students annually, the second-highest ratio of international to domestic students globally. International education contributed AUD 47.8 billion to the Australian economy in 2023. Women comprise almost half of these students.

These numbers represent not just economic data, but human beings. Young people who have left their families, their support networks, and their home countries to pursue education in a foreign land. Young people who are uniquely vulnerable to exploitation — and who are being systematically exploited.

III. Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: A Shattered Dream

A. The Scale of the Problem

A national cross-sectional survey of 1,491 women international students found that sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are common among women international students and primarily perpetrated by men. More recent research has shown that 40 per cent of female international students have experienced at least one form of sexual violence since arriving in Australia.

A survey of 1,491 international students found that 54% had experienced IPV and/or SV in Australia in the previous 12 months, predominantly from male perpetrators.

In-depth interviews with international student women who experienced SV/IPV revealed three themes:

1. Confusion and vulnerability: “Feeling like a ‘deer in headlights'”

2. Withdrawal and isolation: “Going into ‘defensive mode'”

3. Loss of self and direction: “Not knowing ‘who I am anymore'”

As one researcher noted, IPV/SV can be “devastating for women international students, shattering not only their dreams and aspirations but also their sense of identity”.

B. Compounding Factors

The INVEST Project (International Students’ Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Experiences Study) found that experiences of violence are “often compounded by cultural isolation, visa insecurity, and limited access to support”.

Social support, housing stress, and financial insecurity were associated with an increased likelihood of victimization. These are not coincidental factors — they are features of the system that leave international students vulnerable to predation.

C. Institutional Responses

The responses of universities to complaints of sexual assault and harassment have “long been deemed inadequate or inappropriate“. Institutions that profit from international students have a structural disincentive to acknowledge or address the abuse occurring within their walls.

IV. Labour Exploitation: Wage Theft as a Business Model

A. The Scale of Wage Theft

A survey of almost 10,000 workers on temporary visas in Australia conducted in 2024 found that two-thirds were paid less than they were legally owed. Around 80% were international students.

International students alone are being underpaid by around $61 million every week — more than $3 billion a year.

A quarter of temporary visa holders were shortchanged by at least $10 an hour.

B. A System of Deliberate Exploitation

This is not a collection of isolated violations. It is “an interlocking system of deliberate exploitation”.

The worse the underpayment, the more likely the same employer was:

· Paying wages in cash

· Issuing fraudulent payslips

· Withholding superannuation

· Engaging in practices indicating forced labour — unsafe conditions, no pay, or threats of harm

One international student from Pakistan, working as a chef in Queensland, described the experience: “It is like an ecosystem … and everyone passes through it”.

C. Sham Contracting

More than a third of migrants in the survey (35%) were engaged as independent contractors — more than four times the rate across the national workforce.

Employers are unlawfully retaining migrant employees on Australian Business Numbers (ABNs) to sidestep:

· Minimum wages

· Penalty rates

· Casual loadings

· Superannuation obligations

· Fair Work Ombudsman oversight

D. The Human Cost

A 28-year-old international student from Pakistan was paid a flat hourly rate well below the legal minimum, with no payslips. When he left, his employer hired the next new arrival.

Vietnamese international students aged under 25 were paid as little as $15 an hour by employers who were themselves Vietnamese nationals.

The Nixon Review found that language barriers placed temporary migrant workers at high risk of workplace exploitation.

V. Housing Exploitation: A Crisis Within a Crisis

A. The Housing Trap

International students face “challenges accessing housing in both the private rental market and purpose-built developments“. The Property Council’s student accommodation arm states that international students make up just 4% of the rental market — yet they are routinely blamed for the broader housing crisis.

Former student Raj described his experience: a four-bedroom house converted to six bedrooms, with a family of three living in the garage. When he left, his room was taken by two international students who paid higher rent than him.

He described international students as “basically cash cows that are milked by the system”.

B. University Complicity

A COVID-19 case study found that widespread subletting exposed students to eviction and exploitation. The research highlighted the “inadequate student housing provision that endanger[s] the fundamental purposes of higher education“.

In one case, an international student was unfairly evicted from her University of Canberra accommodation after making complaints about noisy students. The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal found she was denied procedural fairness, and it was the operators of UniLodge that had breached the occupancy agreement. She was awarded more than $10,000 in compensation — but only after severe psychological distress.

The tribunal noted that the student had paid for the right to be comfortable — and was denied it.

C. Systemic Discrimination

International students face extra challenges in securing housing due to:

· Language barriers

· Lack of awareness of tenancy rights

· Lack of understanding of the rental system

· Keenness to secure accommodation that leads to exploitation

Housing circumstances can be defined as “boarding and lodging” and therefore exempt from the Residential Tenancies Act, leaving students without legal protection.

VI. Mental Health: The Silent Epidemic

International students face elevated suicide risk but are less likely to seek help than their domestic peers. They are more vulnerable to experiencing poor mental health due to relocation from families, being far away from support networks.

Mental health issues experienced by international students include:

· Anxiety: 2.4–43%

· Depression: 3.6–38.3%

· Gambling problems: 3.3–50.7%

International students frequently report suicidal thoughts and behaviours but often do not seek help.

The Australian university sector had almost one million international students in 2024, yet these mental health challenges have received “minimal empirical attention“.

VII. The Legal Framework: What Should Protect Them — and Why It Fails

A. Locum Parentis

The doctrine of locum parentis imposes a duty of care on institutions that stand in the place of parents. For international students — often young, alone, and far from family — universities are expected to act as guardians.

They do not.

B. Government Responsibilities

The Nixon Review (Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System) found “significant vulnerabilities” in the immigration system, including exploitation of visa pathways for students.

The Review found that some providers collude with agents to funnel students into criminal activities, and agents mislead international students with false advice about courses, living and working conditions, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

C. The National Student Ombudsman

Legislation passed in 2024 created an independent National Student Ombudsman to investigate student complaints and resolve disputes with universities. The Ombudsman can also apply for civil remedies to prevent detrimental action.

However, the Ombudsman’s primary role is to deal with individual complaints — not to address the systemic exploitation that pervades the sector.

D. Legal Redress for Abuse

International students who experience sexual or physical abuse face multiple barriers to redress:

· Visa insecurity

· Fear of retaliation

· Language and cultural barriers

· Lack of knowledge of legal rights

· Institutional protection of perpetrators

The system protects the predator because that is a feature of its design.

VIII. The Lifelong Ramifications

A. For the Student

International students who experience exploitation, abuse, or violence face lifelong consequences:

· Mental health impacts: PTSD, depression, anxiety

· Academic impacts: Disrupted studies, lost opportunities

· Economic impacts: Wage theft, financial precarity

· Social impacts: Isolation, shame, stigma

B. For Female Students

Female students who have been sexually abused face particular challenges. They must return to their home countries, where they may face serious repercussions — not just for their futures, but for their very lives.

The system that profits from their presence offers them no protection. It offers them no redress. It offers them only the promise of exploitation — and the certainty of abandonment.

C. For Australia

The exploitation of international students is not just a moral failure — it is a strategic failure. Australia is creating a generation of graduates who will remember this country as a place of exploitation, not opportunity.

This tarnishes Australia’s reputation as an international student destination. It undermines soft diplomacy. It creates a legacy of resentment.

IX. The Pattern: Commodification Leads to Exploitation

Once a student is commodified — treated as a revenue stream rather than a human being — exploitation follows.

The pattern is consistent:

Domain                        Exploitation

Sexual safety              40% of female students experience sexual violence

Labour                         $61 million in wage theft every week

Housing                      Overcrowded, unsafe, exploitative accommodation

Mental health         Elevated suicide risk, minimal support

Legal redress           Barriers at every level

Once exploitation begins, it leads to more exploitation.

X. A Call to Action

What Must Change

1. Recognition of locum parentis: Universities must be held accountable for their duty of care.

2. Independent oversight: The National Student Ombudsman must have real power and resources.

3. End to commodification: International students must be treated as human beings, not revenue streams.

4. Safe housing: Universities must provide adequate, safe, affordable accommodation.

5. Fair work: Wage theft must be prosecuted as a criminal offence.

6. Access to redress: Legal pathways must be accessible, affordable, and safe.

7. Mental health support: Culturally appropriate, accessible services must be available.

8. Visa security: Students must not fear deportation for reporting abuse.

What We Will Do

We will continue to publish. We will continue to expose. We will continue to advocate. We will build a university that does not exploit — that educates. We will mentor students We will build a network of advocates. We will not stop until the system changes.

Locum parentis is not a suggestion. It is a duty. And it is time to enforce it.

Andrew Klein

References

1. Tarzia, L., et al. (2025). Experiences of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Among Women International Students in Australia. SAGE Journals. 

2. Tarzia, L., et al. (2025). A Shattered Dream: Women International Students’ Experiences of Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence in Australia. Journal of Family Violence. 

3. INVEST Project. (2025). New resources to support women international students. Deakin University. 

4. Migrant Justice Institute. (2026). A new survey of 10,000 migrants reveals exploitation at work is the norm. The Conversation. 

5. Migrant Justice Institute. (2026). How migrants are being ripped off by Australian employers. ABC Asia. 

6. Migrant Justice Institute. (2026). Australia: Migrant Justice Institute’s report exposes widespread exploitation. Business and Human Rights Centre. 

7. ABC News. (2024). ‘Cash cows milked by the system’: International students on the front line of housing crisis. 

8. ABC News. (2025). Student found to be unfairly evicted from uni housing awarded $10k. 

9. Nixon Review. (2023). Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System. 

10. Mental health and wellbeing of international students in Australia: a systematic review. NCBI. 

11. Suicide prevention for international students. (2025). PMC. 

12. COVID-19 and aggravated housing precarity for international students. (2024). UNSW. 

13. International students’ sexual and intimate partner violence experiences. Deakin University. 

14. OpenAustralia. (2025). House debates on international students. 

15. Fair Work Ombudsman. (2026). Vietnamese eateries that exploited migrant workers ordered to pay $802,000.