The Minister for Education has announced that international students studying in Australia who have been impacted by novel coronavirus will be able to access the same health and medical services as Australian citizens.
Minister for Education, Dan Tehan said the Government had established call centres that students could contact if they had questions about their health or education.
“These centres offer bilingual language support and can refer students to counselling services in languages other than English,” Mr Tehan said.
“The safety of the public, and all students, is the Government’s number one priority,” he said.
“We understand that extends to ensuring students have the mental health support they need.”
He said the message to students was that they were not alone and the Australian community would support them.
“I also want to assure students that even if they choose to do a little more of their study online, their highly-regarded, world-class Australian university degree also remains valid,” Mr Tehan said.
“The Government will continue to work closely with universities to make student transitions back into Australia as smooth and seamless as possible when travel resumes.”
He said the visas of students in China who were affected by the current travel restrictions remained valid.
“It is only if students attempt to travel to Australia and it’s determined that they have been in mainland China from 1 February 2020 that their visa will be cancelled,” the Minister said.
“I am in regular contact with Universities Australia and Vice Chancellors as we continue to co-ordinate our response to the Coronavirus.”
“We are dealing with the immediate issues of supporting international students impacted by the changed travel arrangements and exploring solutions to lessen the impact on their education,” he said.
