Australia to counsel Indian students following attacks

Hyderabad, July 8 : Australian authorities will counsel Indian students on the 'dos and don'ts' to be kept in mind while pursuing higher studies Down Under following the spate of attacks on students there, Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy said here Wednesday.

McCarthy assured the Andhra Pradesh government that his country would take all steps to protect Indian students. He said they would be counselled for their safety and security.

The Australian high commissioner said while some of the attacks on Indians could be racial, most of the incidents were crime-related and the attacks were for money.

'Any city in any country has certain problems in dealing with crime and Australia is no exception. Like in any other country, Australia too has unsafe areas and unsafe hours,' he told a news conference after holding talks with Andhra Pradesh's Minister for NRI Affairs D. Sridhar Babu and other officials.

The high commissioner is heading an Australian delegation that is visiting various Indian states to allay apprehensions among students and parents in the backdrop of recent attacks.

The delegation, including officials from Australia's education department and representatives of various universities, will meet some students planning to go to Australia and their parents Thursday.

The Andhra Pradesh government has already voiced its concern over the attacks in Australia. Two students from the state were among the Indians who were attacked in in the country during the last few weeks.

McCarthy said there were three different sets of guidelines for Indian students coming to Australia. The first set of guidelines were formulated by the Indian High Commission in Australia that would enlist the dos and don't for Indians.

The Australian government has also brought out a guide book for foreign students that would be given to all students entering Australia and the third set of guidelines would be provided to students by the institutions where they would be studying.

The students would have certain legal obligations to fulfil in the universities for their own security, he added.