Whether you’re planning on travelling to Australia to study or are already an international student studying in one of the capital cities, safety should be an important consideration that you make. This is because students travelling abroad can be particularly vulnerable to safety and security concerns, whether be it due to not knowing the geography of a city well enough or because of some of the unique concerns it might represent. In this article, we examine a few important safety tips to keep in mind as an international student.
1 Understanding Australian safety protocols
The first thing you should know as an international student, whether you’re outside or in your student accommodation in Melbourne, is that emergency services should be contacted if you feel you are in any danger. Regardless of where you are in Australia, Emergency Services can be contacted on 000, and police, fire, or ambulance departments will respond to your circumstances accordingly. If you’re from overseas, it can be very useful to have this number stored on your phone in case the number slips your mind at a key moment, particularly as most countries have different numbers for emergencies. Australia is full of beautiful beaches, so if you’re an international student and the city you’re studying in has some close by, it’s always worth spending the time to work out the proper swimming procedures. This is because those unfamiliar with Australian beaches can very quickly find themselves overwhelmed by especially powerful currents and tides. If you’re not a very confident swimmer, it’s a good idea to check if the beach you’re planning on going to have dedicated lifeguards, and if they don’t, it might be good to find one near you that does.
2 Basic safety considerations you should make
Emergencies are thankfully not too common in a safe country like Australia; though, there are quite a few general tips that you can keep in mind to ensure your safety. The first of these is ensuring you always use the pedestrian walkways and obey all of the relevant signage, as coming from overseas you might get confused with who has right of way and from what direction. There are also a lot of basic safety considerations you should be making while you’re on the university campus as well, such as knowing where the campus security office is located or taking advantage of campus security escorts and bus services when they are offered. It’s also never a bad idea to take a little bit of time to work out what the security guidelines are at your university, as this is the knowledge that you might need to take advantage of off the top of your head.
3 Take safety steps wherever possible
Although there are a few things that you might need to know about safety in relation to Australia, most of the common sense stuff still applies, and it is often through abiding by these that you’ll be able to have a fuss-free time here. Ensuring you do things, like be careful or limit altogether travelling at night on your own, lock doors and windows before leaving your accommodation, and do not leave your personal belongings unattended, can all help prevent you from running into any unnecessary problems while studying in Australia.
