New challenge for international students: How to solve rising housing rent in an innovative way?

Issue:

Australia is one of the world’s leading study abroad destinations that attracts a large number of international students, particularly in Sydney, which owns several famous universities. By 2022, the number of international students has reached nearly up to 620,000. However, this results in housing shortage due to the rising demand, causing a dramatic increasing rent in Sydney. A recent report on rental housing found that rent for single units in Sydney can even account for 90% of some basic workers’ weekly wages.

This is a feature story that focuses on how international students seek alternative solutions when facing such problem. This could be finding out some new insights for student readers, encouraging them to actively explore various solutions to fix the problem. On the other hand, it also calls for more attention from the government and society to the issue of housing for international student groups.

News value:

Proximity: The issue occurs in the Sydney, where has a large population of international students, which is highly relevant to their life.

Impact: This feature article provides various solutions that can serve as a reference and inspiration for other international students facing rental pressure. It also helps to let the government and society pay attention to the international student groups and take measures to ensure that students can access fair and affordable housing options.

 

Target audience:

The target audience is international students in Australia. Different ideas and solutions can serve as a reference for other students under rental pressure, and it can also provide more new insights for student. At the same time, such research can also raise public awareness, improve public understanding of international students, and recognize the impact of rising rents on them.

 

Publication:

The Sydney Morning Herald as intended publication.

Firstly, the content is mainly focused on the Sydney area, and The Sydney Morning Herald is one of Australia’s most influential mainstream media outlets, with a high impact and owning a large number of fans.

Secondly, The Sydney Morning Herald has a “property” feature section that is relevant to my topic, and can also include hyperlinks to Domain ads (an Australian housing-rental platform), which can likely help student readers find a living place.

Furthermore, The Sydney Morning Herald’s page layout is very structural, clean, and easy to navigate, which is ideal for publishing social issues. Additionally, its layout design is functional. For example, the main content can be highlighted on the side to help readers grasp the main ideas, and including ‘related article’ that help find more information about this issue.

 

Sources:

1. Interview stakeholders: Interview several international students in Australia, listen to their storiesof house-seeking, and ask for their strategies.
2. Online resources: Latest rental reports and statistical data on rent increases published by the government, as well as official statements from the government on this housing rental issue.
3. Articles on housing and rental advice from different platforms.

 

Multimedia, hypertext, interactivity:

1. Insert relevant images, interview recordings, and social media housing search vlogs, etc., to demonstrate the current situation of how international students suffer the expensive housing rent in Australia, and insert ad links to rental platforms for their information.
2. Insert links to useful data (i.e., official data reports) in the text to help readers gain a better understanding of this issue.
3. Encourage readers to share their opinions about this issue in comment area.