Story topic & angle
It is a known fact that Australia has a lower level of housing supply than average OECD countries. With the upcoming federal election on 3 May, both Coalition and Labour party has proposed a cap on international students number. Peter Dutton has reasoned that it is to relieve the housing pressure and make homes affordable for young Australians. However, many sources have considered this as a spurious claim as international students only made up 4% of the rental market. While being positioned as the scapegoat of this problem, international students face as many challenges as average Australians, if not more, from the housing crisis.
While Australians have their home to return to, international students face loneliness and isolation in a foreign land. This features would focus on the impact of the lack of student housing on international students’ mental health and wellbeing. Mental health and wellbeing issue is exacerbated from the lack of housing choices and high cost of rent which results in stress.
International students have to tolerate poor living conditions. Rent has become a financial burden. With the policy change, international students are only allowed to work 24 hours a week during term time limiting their ability to afford rent. Increased rent has limited their ability to afford the cost of living such that they have to cut on food and cannot afford counseling services when needed.
Target publication
The Guardian- This is because it is a current issue affecting international students across Australia. As The Guardian frequently addresses topics such as housing, education, and immigration through an in-depth analysis, I believe it is a suitable publication.
Sources
- Human:
- International students who are affected by the lack of housing (primary)
- Student housing officers and real estate agents
- Psychologists who can offer insights about the impact of housing crisis on students’ mental health and wellbeing
- Documentary: Reports on student housing supply and its impact.
- Online:
- Related news articles
- Social media posts about international students’ personal experiences such as Tiktok and Xiaohongshu.
- Online forums such as Reddit and Studentroom.com.
Interview
- International students who are affected by the lack of housing
Multimediality,Hypertextuality, and Interactivity:
- Multimediality: Still images showing the living conditions of international students, and how rent affects their ability to afford food and mental health support. Furthermore, I would add an interactive video that shows how housing supply, particularly student housing, and rental prices have changed over time.
- Hypertextuality: Include hyperlinks to relevant sources and stories which readers can read further to gain deeper understanding of the topic
- Interactivity: Include a comment section which allows readers to share their opinion about the features. This would allow for dialogic interactivity
Conclusion
This is a current issue that affects international students across Australia. This feature aims to tell the story from the view of international students whose opinions are often overlooked, focusing on the impact of the lack of housing and high rent on their mental health and wellbeing.
I think in terms of interviewing not only the international students themselves, but also the school counsellors and other professionals who help students solve their psychological problems, explaining the relationship between housing stress and mental health from a professional point of view, which is more authoritative. Secondly, I think this news article needs to define the target audience to determine the direction of writing more accurately. For example, if the article is aimed at international students, it should focus on empathy and include practical advice such as ‘how to cope with housing stress’.