Image: Many international students battle anxiety and isolation far from home.

Having been an international postgraduate student in Australia, culture shock was something I expected. I presumed jet lag, homesickness, and probable funny group tasks would be on my list. The things I did not anticipate: the extreme pressure – to succeed and to stay and maybe to die even, with the internal dialogue getting louder by the minute.

The feature article that I am pitching to The Conversation Australia will investigate the growing problems accompanying mental health for international students coming to Australia. Although these problems are individual topics, they constitute a broader systemic subject, which is affected by visa regulations, unstable economy, mismatch of culture and mental health resources, etc.

Angle: Humanising the Systemic Problem

Unlike the students who are citizens of the country, the ones who have a Subclass 500 visa are obliged to have full-time registration as well as satisfactory academic progress. For some, academic failure is not only a reason for low GP, but it also means losing the right to stay in the country.

We will hear students like Yuchen Lu, a 23-year-old from China, who told me:

“I had a panic attack the week of exams. I wanted to ask for help, but I did not know if I will be deported for missing class. When I cannot afford another year of study

This article is going to be focused on the international students perspective and the stress caused by the fact that the problems are not only emotional, but are also political.

Source Material

The story is supported by research from:

• Orygen’s 2023 report, which shows international students are up to 1.6x more likely than domestic peers to experience severe academic stress
• Headspace’s commentary on the lack of culturally responsive support
• Sawir et al. (2008) on “prolonged loneliness” in international student life
• Journalism theory from Bradshaw (2024), who argues that digital feature storytelling must amplify unheard voices

The article will also include one-on-one interviews with students and mental health professionals.

Suggested Interviewee

Professor Melody Ding, Associate Professor
Institution: University of Sydney, Faculty of Education Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Email: melody.ding@sydney.edu.au

Multimedia and Online Platform Use

This feature will incorporate:

• Embedded quotes in Instagram tile format
• A short YouTube explainer: “Mental Health Rights for Student Visa Holders”
• Poll widget: “Would you avoid asking for help if you thought it might affect your visa?”
• Graphical data visualisation from Study Australia

The story will be optimised for Instagram and potentially cross-adapted into a short vertical video for The Conversation’sYouTube Shorts.

Why It Matters 

Australians now face no barrier in voicing their opinion on mental health. Yet, the factor attracting international students’ attention to this topic was ignored by most media and policies in Australia. With inflation drastically rising and educational institutions playing a key role globally, a serious concern is: Are we creating the world-class education brand as the sole criterion at the expense of the students’ wellbeing?

It is a compelling tale that serves to mirror the emotional, academic, and political reality of student life in this context, and press institutions to rethink ways to help those very students who contribute to the existence of the institutions.

References

Bradshaw, P. (2024). The online journalism handbook (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429321566

Orygen. (2023). Under the radar: International students and mental health in Australia. https://www.orygen.org.au/Orygen-Institute/Policy-Reports/Under-the-radar

Sawir, E., Marginson, S., Deumert, A., Nyland, C., & Ramia, G. (2008). Loneliness and international students: An Australian study. Journal of Studies in International Education, 12(2), 148–180. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315307299699