PHOTO: International students in Melbourne are struggling to make ends meet. Photo: iStock
The number of international students seeking legal help for tenancy issues has doubled as they struggle to make ends meet during Melbourne’s stage 4 lockdown.
Student legal services across the city have reported shocking instances of international students at breaking point, still forced to pay rent on properties they haven’t lived in since March.
RMIT alone has reported a 105 per cent increase in legal assistance between April and June this year, with a huge leap – 165 per cent more – in queries related to credit and debt.
“We’ve had an absolutely ridiculous amount of students get in touch,” senior community lawyer with RMIT’s Student Legal Service James Tresise told Domain.
“Some students are stuck overseas and are reaching out because they have been paying rent since March and then contact their landlord about breaking the lease,” Mr Tresise said.
Many were being told they are unable to do so, and threatened with legal action, he said.
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