Homogeneity, permanent residency and racism: experiences of Indian students at an Australian Sandstone University

The Australian university sector has undergone a number of transformations in the last two decades which have changed the nature and direction of tertiary education. The most revolutionary reform was the commodification of the sector through the introduction of tertiary fees, private funding of research and the export of educational services; thereby, making overseas student clientele a necessary source of income to sustain Australian universities. While international education is Australia's third largest export, a number of visible problems have arisen: most notably and publically, the targeting and race-based attacks on Indian students resulting in a number of deaths and the concern that universities had simply become 'permanent residency factories'. This paper explores issues related to international students in Australia that have polarised Australian society and created debate at all levels. The paper seeks to contribute to this debate through research into the educational and socio-cultural experiences of Indian students at a Sandstone University in Sydney. In doing so, this paper highlights a number of themes that have so far been neglected in the academic literature.