Australia’s Soaring Rent Is Pushing International Students to the Brink

Background：

International students are facing a growing rental crisis in Australia. According to Domain’s March 2025 Rent Report, the median rent for a Sydney unit has reached A$725/week, an increase of around 3.6 per cent year-on-year. And according to the Orygen Mental Health Study, housing instability can significantly increase anxiety, isolation and study stress among international students. While Study Australia provides advice on renting accommodation, there is a lack of substantive policy support. Many universities have even marketed their halls of residence, adding to the rental burden.

 Angle：

From the perspective of international students, it criticizes the failure of the Australian government and universities to provide basic housing security and highlights the real-life impact on students’ mental health and academic performance.

Chosen genre：news commentary

 Chosen publication：

This commentary is intended for Guardian Australia, which has been an influential digital news platform in Australia since its launch in 2013. According to official readership figures, its audience is predominantly young and middle-aged urbanites, 86% of whom are upper-middle class. Its Comment & Opinion section encourages diverse perspectives, structured criticism and advocacy language, making it ideal for this type of commentary, which is based on data, case studies and policy analysis.

 Target user group：

• International students and supporting groups.
• University staff and policymakers.
• The public who are concerned about social inequality and housing issues.

Sources of information：

• Domain March 2025 Rent Report
• Anglicare Australia Rent Affordability Map
• Orygen Report
• Australian Universities Report
• ABC News reports about international students renting apartments

Potential interviewer：

• Torie Brown：Executive Director of the Student Accommodation Council, a division of the Property Council of Australia. Contact via LinkedIn
• Weihong Liang：Education Officer for the University of Sydney Postgraduate Representatives Association and an active advocate for international student rights. Contact via LinkedIn
• Xuechun sun：A postgraduate student at the University of Sydney who has lived in expensive student accommodation. Contact via email

Multimedia：

Images will show student shared accommodation in poor conditions, advertisements for high rents, and queues of students looking at properties.

Video interviews with current international students in Australia, inviting them to share their experiences of renting in Australia.

Hypertext：

Multiple hyperlinks from authoritative sources will be embedded in the text, and the links will appear as keyword embeddings in the body of the text and open in a new web page, enhancing the reading experience and verifiability.

Interactivity：

The commentary will open a comment section to encourage readers to share their experiences of renting in Australia and use tags to increase exposure. At the same time, the content will be extended to Instagram and YouTube by posting 30-second ‘international student housing stories’ short videos or interactive polls to expand the reach of the topic and achieve platform-wide distribution.