Every year, parents around the world place their trust in Australia.
They send their children thousands of kilometres from home, often investing years of savings, sacrifice and hope into the dream of a better future. They say goodbye at airports, hold back tears and watch as the people they love most disappear through departure gates and into the unknown.
At that moment, they place an extraordinary amount of trust in our country. They trust that Australia will not only educate their children, but also welcome them, care for them and help them find their place in a society that is completely unfamiliar.
Yet while Australia often speaks about the economic value of international education, we spend far less time talking about the human side of the story.
International students are frequently discussed as enrolments, workforce contributors and future skilled migrants. We celebrate the billions they contribute to our economy, but rarely stop to consider what they contribute as people. Before they are students, they are sons and daughters. They are young people carrying the hopes, dreams and sacrifices of entire families.
When an international student arrives in Australia, they leave behind far more than a home address. They leave behind parents, grandparents, childhood friends, familiar routines and the support networks most of us rely upon without ever thinking about them. What we see are the smiling photographs at the airport. What we do not see is the loneliness that can follow, the challenge of building a life from scratch in a country where nobody knows your story, or the moments when home feels impossibly far away.
We do not see the birthdays missed, the family celebrations watched through a phone screen, or the days when something goes wrong and there is nobody nearby who has known them their entire life. We do not see the reality that when crisis or trauma strikes, Mum and Dad cannot simply drive across town to help.
Yet despite all of this, they come.
Not because it is easy, but because they are brave.
International students are among the most courageous people I have ever met. While many of us build our lives surrounded by familiar faces and lifelong support networks, they step into the unknown and trust that a country on the other side of the world will provide opportunity, safety and the chance to build a future.
Australia benefits enormously from that courage.
International students enrich our classrooms, workplaces, sporting clubs, volunteer organisations and local communities. They bring new perspectives, new cultures, new ideas and new experiences. Some will eventually become Australian citizens. Others will return home after graduation. But whether they stay or leave, a chapter of their life has been written here. Australia becomes part of their story, and they become part of ours.
That is why engagement matters.
Not because it improves a statistic or satisfies a policy objective, but because human beings need connection. For all the excellent work done by universities, governments and community organisations, belonging cannot be created by institutions alone. It is created through relationships. It is built through friendship, community and the simple acts of kindness that make people feel welcome.
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing international students is not academic pressure or cultural adjustment. It is the feeling of being surrounded by thousands of people and yet still feeling completely alone. And perhaps one of the greatest mistakes we make as Australians is assuming that somebody else is responsible for addressing that.
Too often, we assume the university will create belonging. We assume a support service will create belonging. We assume a community organisation will create belonging. Yet belonging has never been created by institutions alone. It is created by people. By neighbours who say hello. By teachers who take the time to check in. By employers who genuinely care. By volunteers who give their time. By communities that choose to make room at the table.
When someone leaves their home country and entrusts part of their future to ours, they become more than a student. They become our guests.
Australians have always understood the importance of looking after guests. Not because a policy tells us to, but because it reflects the kind of people we aspire to be.
Recently, We Are Australia received support through the Merri-bek City Council Community Participation Grant. The funding will help create opportunities for international students to build friendships, participate in community life and develop meaningful connections. What excites me most about this initiative is not the funding itself. It is what the funding represents: a recognition that connection matters, belonging matters and international students deserve more than a qualification. They deserve a community.
That same philosophy has inspired initiatives such as Safe & Sound, a storytelling and music project built around the belief that people connect most powerfully when they share their experiences, their humanity and their stories. Because at its heart, engagement is not about services. It is about people.
Somewhere tonight, in cities all around the world, parents are saying goodbye to their children and placing their trust in Australia. They are not simply trusting a university, a government department or a support service. They are trusting us.
If my own child were studying overseas, I would hope somebody would notice if they were struggling. I would hope somebody would invite them to dinner, check in on them, encourage them and help them feel at home. I would hope somebody would treat them with the same kindness and respect I would want shown to my own family.
Why should international students in Australia deserve any less?
International students have been choosing Australia for decades. They have trusted us with some of the most important years of their lives, and in doing so have become part of our national story. Perhaps it is time we stopped asking what international students can do for Australia and started asking what Australia can do for them.
Because long after the degree is framed, the visa expires and the journey home begins, one thing will remain: the way Australia made them feel.
Adrian De Luca is the Founder of We Are Australia.
