ON CAMPUS
campusreview.com.au
Students struggling
Severe stress on students to make
ends meet revealed in survey.
By Loren Smith
W
hile the silly season burst
forth in late November last
year, the National Union of
Students released some sobering findings.
Roughly half of students are struggling
to pay rent, and over a third are living in
poor conditions. Additionally, despite the
fact that 76 per cent of students work,
89 per cent report having experienced
difficulty affording university essentials,
like textbooks.
Contained in their Student Housing
Survey, conducted in conjunction
with Anglicare Australia, the NUS said
these revelations indicate students are
experiencing “severe stress”.
Though the survey’s sample of 2000
students is not necessarily representative
(there are around one million students
in Australia), Marie* can vouch for
poor conditions. As a neuroscience
undergraduate at the University of
Melbourne, she lived in a “dilapidated”
$170 per week studio in Hawthorn.
“Everyone asked why the building wasn’t
condemned. It was really dirty. It looked
like a crack house.”
Aside from illegal building conditions –
broken fire alarms and balconies that “came
up to my crotch” – Marie said the apartment
was infested with cockroaches.
“I would kill around 20 a day, then I
gave up.”
It also didn’t have essential amenities,
like a stove, oven or fridge. She ate canned
food for three years, heated over a camping
hotplate she bought on eBay.
She got by, thanks to working 20 hours
a week at a childcare centre, as well as
24
receiving government benefits. The same
arguably couldn’t be said for international
students there, who lived four or five to
a studio.
“Almost no-one was sleeping in a bed,”
she said. Because of the stress this created,
“they were always screaming at each other”.
More research needs to be done to find
out whether this is the norm. The survey
report itself acknowledged that because of
insufficient international student responses,
they could not be analysed.
One finding, however, was indisputable,
and particularly struck NUS welfare
officer Jordan O’Reilly: 85 per cent of
respondents struggled despite receiving
government benefits (80 per cent) and
working (75 per cent).
The third-year teaching student at
Flinders University considers himself “lucky”
to be able to live at home, though he still
feels squeezed. He studies part-time so he
can work two jobs and afford to pay his
parents $50 board a week. When his first
lot of textbooks cost $350, he had to ask
his dad to pitch in. “I can easily see how
you could struggle, let alone have a social
life,” he said.
Marie, meanwhile, who received
combined Youth Allowance and
Commonwealth Rent Assistance payments
of $560 per fortnight, said she only felt
financially comfortable because her rent
was so cheap.
THE DOMINO EFFECT
Eighty-two per cent of working students
said the amount of time they spend at work
hurts their studies.
Although Marie didn’t experience this
personally, despite the few times she had
a 10-hour work shift before an exam, it
impacted her peers, John* and Amy.* They
didn’t get into postgraduate medicine at the
University of Melbourne. Marie thinks this is
because, in contrast to others in her cohort,
John and Amy had full-time jobs.
“I was the only one of my friends with
a part-time job to get in to med school.
The vast majority [who got in] were from
wealthy backgrounds, and most were living
at home.”
O’Reilly believes poor housing, too, is
a study hindrance, describing its effect as
domino-like. For instance, if a student lives
in an overcrowded share house because
they can’t afford anything else, the noise
and lack of space are distracting and limit
sleep. In turn, this can affect a student’s
marks, and ultimately, therefore, their
graduate career.
O’Reilly’s friend personally experienced
this. Originally from Geelong, he moved
to Adelaide for university. He ended up
living in a share house he found online.
Although it had six bedrooms, it housed 12
students. Some slept on bunk beds, others
on couches. Naturally, study and sleep
were hampered.
Because of the survey findings, among
other recommendations (the survey
also canvassed casual student worker
exploitation), the report proposed an
increase in student subsidies.
“Raising Youth Allowance, Austudy and
Abstudy so that they are adequate to cover
the cost of living and study, including
housing, is one obvious and urgent need,”
the report said.
“This is consistent with the findings of
Anglicare Australia’s Rental Affordability
Snapshot for the last eight years – that
people on Youth Allowance are the most
likely to be locked out of the private
rental market.
“Other policy changes, such as ensuring
proper rental rights, including for those
living in university accommodation, should
also be explored.”
But these requests seemingly only
received radio silence.
“As far as I’m aware, there’s been no
real response from universities or the
government,” O’Reilly said.
Students would undoubtedly appreciate
answers. ■
The Department of Social Services, which
is responsible for student subsidy policy
changes, was contacted for comment but
did not respond by the deadline.
*Names changed.