International students are paying twice as much for public transport as Australian students in the same classes. It’s the same story across NSW, as regulations stop international students from getting the same travel concessions as domestic students – forcing them to pay full fare.
On top of this, the only ticketing option that provided discounts for international students will no longer be accepted from Monday
Jin “Echo” Shang is the president of the UOW Post-Graduate Association and she said she had to pay twice as much as Australian students on public transport.
“When I did my internship at Port Kembla I remember I spent nearly $4 each way while domestic students spent one or two dollars,” Ms Shang said.
The decision to exclude international students from travel concessions was made in 2006 by the NSW Labor government and the practice has been continued by the current Liberal government.
It’s a practice Ms Shang branded as unfair.
“Yes, because I’m an international student and we pay triple the tuition fee compared to domestic students, but we can’t just get the same concession as them,” she said.
Ms Shang said had she known when planning to study that she would not be eligible for a transport concession card in NSW she would have opted to study in another state.
“Transport fares are not a small amount of money when you have to travel every day,” she said.
International students did have access to a 90-day MyMulti ticket that allowed discounted travel – but it cost up to $465.
However, this ticket will no longer be accepted when all paper tickets are scrapped on Monday.
Is it time this archaic piece of legislation is reviewed and overhauled?
Picture: Robert Peet
Story first published by the Illawarra Mercury.