Press Release from the Office Of The Australian Homestay Network
For Immediate Release
18/05/10
AHN Highly Commended In Latest Senate Inquiry
The findings of a senate inquiry into the welfare of international students have commended
the Australian Homestay Network (AHN) on its dedication to ensuring appropriate industry
standards are met.
AHN is be the only national network of homestay and is responsible for the largest trained
homestay host pool and homestay placements in Australia.
The Inquiry also ran in conjunction with an Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS)
legislation review released in February.
The industry was found as requiring higher regulation of benchmarks in fields including
accommodation, safety, insurance, orientation and induction.
The push for these types of reviews and inquiries has come after numerous incidents,
including recent raids by the Brisbane City Council in which police discovered numerous
international students living in overcrowded and sub-standard conditions.
In one such instance, 37 students were found living in a single Sunnybank house in Brisbane
during a raid by the Brisbane City Council.
CEO of AHN, Bryan Vadas said he was not surprised by the find, as AHN has been made
aware of numerous situations of this kind.
“We are in a period of great change, whereby a largely unregulated and traditionally cottage
industry allowed operators to conduct business with little requirement for compliance to
standards of Student welfare.
“Homestay providers were allowed to post details of Host families for students to contact
directly with little regard for their safety and general welfare,” said Vadas
Groups such as AHN have been working closely with education institutions and industry
networks in order to improve these benchmarks and tighten industry standards.
Damian Haber, owner of The Pad Management, one of the largest student accommodation
service providers in Brisbane, Queensland, feels that the key concern is that whilst much of
the focus to date has been on attracting students to our educational institutions to
undertake study, there has been a corresponding marked increase in the demand for
suitable accommodation.
This has lead to undesirable outcomes in some cases for the industry due mainly to a lack of
adequate tailored management services as well as anomalies that exist in the current
regulatory framework.
“Our market research shows that the cost of accommodation is typically the next largest
component to a student’s overall budget behind tuition fees and affordability or value for
money as well as diversity of housing choice is something that students are demanding
more of to better experience the Australian culture,” said Haber
“In this regard, whilst location, standard and facilities are important to a prospective
student tenant, the rental cost remains a high priority.”
The AHN system has successfully bridged the gap in communication and processes for hosts,
students and education institutions by providing a professional, fully accountable and
auditable system for all involved, as per the ESOS requirements.
“Our program is one in which hosts are interviewed and thoroughly checked out prior to
going live on our system,” said Vadas.
“The on line system is a state of the art tool which allows full auditing for the protection and
well being of both Hosts and Students.
“All of this is provided with full 24/7 telephone support and comprehensive insurances to
cover the concerns and possible incidents that may arise from time to time.”
ENDS
For more information, contact
Bryan Vadas
AHN CEO
bvadas@homestaynetwork.org
07 5591 3322
NEWS 
