Australia’s Housing Crisis: No More Excuse to Blame the International Students
The social issues I have chosen to present are the most significant issues that Australia has been facing in recent years, which is the housing crisis. High rents and housing shortages sparked the housing crisis. Moreover, this situation is not only for international students and immigrants but also for the citizens living in Australia for their whole lives. The public had to face the increasing rent fees and also needed to pay for living, and many of them couldn’t afford it, which led to many of them being forced to move far away from the uni or workplaces. In this situation, a large number of foreign students and immigrants who arrived as freshmen in the country have been blamed for the primary cause of the housing issue. The target audiences I will focus on are citizens, international students and immigrants. The online publishing I will refer to is ABC News Australia, SBS News, The Age and NSW government website. Furthermore, I will choose the feature article on this proposal and further using in my assignment 3.
Outline
Background and context
According to a recent ABC News investigation, as can be seen in Figure 1, the data shows that the average income rental household was unable to access only 2% of postcodes at the onset of the pandemic (Ting et al., 2025), and it showed that affordable housing was available for individuals in 2020.
As shown in Figure 2, the data presented in the changing data after 2024 indicated that 68.7% of the postcodes are unaffordable for individuals in Australia. Therefore, there are several reasons behind it can be presented: pandemic impacts, policy and population growth.
Key points
The key point I will argue about is that international students do not take responsibility for the housing crisis, and the rising population just shows a small part of the influences. Moreover, the government should ensure there are affordable houses provided for them. The evidence to prove the key points will be the existing economic crisis of housing during the pandemic, the dilemma that international students faced, government policy about reducing the number of international students and further strategies of resolving the housing crisis.
Above all resources, I will also combine them with other materials such as videos and audio to show more details about the reality behind them.
Case Studies
The case study I will choose is news from ABC News Australia. There was one interview about a married couple who moved their house due to the unaffordable rent in recent years. Moreover, the second case study will be found in the social media that has related posts from international students who need to rent houses, and who can be potential interviewers.
Impacts
The reasons behind the housing crisis are policy, government decisions and economic situations. International students as a vulnerable group, which needs to face the strange environment, different housing policies, and lack of renting experiences. Those are all the disadvantages for them, mistakenly blaming them will increase the bias and discrimination between international students and citizens, and make the situation harder than now.
Solutions
Based on the news I mentioned, some solutions can be considered: firstly, Higher Housing Occupancy Near Transport Hubs, the new laws allow six- to eight-storey structures within 400 metres of rail stations or retail centres, and three-storey buildings between 400 and 800 metres (Harvey, 2025). Secondly, Dual occupancy regulations currently enable two residences on one lot (Harvey, 2025). Thirdly, Floor space ratio changes allow multi-block designs (Harvey, 2025). Therefore, the government needs to make some changes to alleviate the unignorable issues.
Reference
Australian Government Department of Education. (2024). International student monthly summary and data tables – Department of Education, Australian Government. Department of Education. https://www.education.gov.au/international-education-data-and-research/international-student-monthly-summary-and-data-tables
Harvey, A. (2025, April 8). New planning laws to help ease housing crisis in NSW are seeing home owners cash in. Abc.net.au; ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-08/nsw-planning-law-changes-property-developers-housing-crisis/105123016
Ting, I., Shatoba, K., Palmer, A., & Brettell, T. (2025, April 5). The rent crisis behind Australia’s two-faced cities. Abc.net.au; ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-06/the-rent-crisis-behind-australia-s-two-faced-cities/105118328
This is such an important perspective on the housing crisis. You’re right, it’s unfair to blame international students, and the ABC data proves it. To make it even more compelling, consider including a brief firsthand account from a student, perhaps describing their housing search struggles. Your policy analysis is strong, but have you considered how these solutions might apply in regional university towns too? The combination of hard data and human stories could make this truly impactful. You’re tackling a big issue the right way with facts and fairness. This could really help change how people see the housing problem.