Helping international students feel safe down under

Co-designed with a team of international students in conjunction with advocacy group AusWISE, Safe Down Under aims to make healthcare navigation clearer, safer and more culturally accessible for international students across Victoria.  

Project Team Lead Tuhar Yeasmin is an international student studying a Masters of Public Health at Monash University, and said she was motivated to be part of the project after her own experiences accessing healthcare. 

“Without a resource to help me navigate the Australian health system and my overseas student health cover, I ended up being ping ponged between my GP, a hospital and three different service providers unnecessarily,” Tuhar said. 

“It's just a lot of extra stress added onto your studies." 

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre Director Prof Jason Ong said the website will make a huge difference in empowering students to take charge of their sexual health by reducing stigma and giving assurance that doing so is safe and confidential. 

“Some international students will be coming from a context where the sexual health is not even acknowledged, let alone talked about,” Prof Ong said. 

“We also know that many students have confidentiality concerns. 

“They worry that if they get tested the results might be shared with their parents, or with the government which they worry will affect their ability to stay in the country. 

“Safe Down Under debunks all of that, in addition to sharing reliable sexual health information and avenues for students to get low, or no-cost treatment. 

“In my role I’ve had the privilege of seeing various initiatives aimed at improving sexual health. 

“I’d rate Safe Down Under as one of the best, primarily because of the way international students perspectives, voices and needs are kept central to the project all the way through.” 

Safe Down Under is now live and can be found here.