Living with insecurities during COVID-19: The impact of hard restrictions on South Asian international students in Australia

The outbreak of COVID-19 exacerbated the structural vulnerabilities of marginalised populations globally. In Australia, international students experienced various forms of hardship due to state-mandated public health restrictions. In this exploratory study, we discuss the impacts of hard restrictions on South Asian international students studying at universities in Melbourne. Visa temporality, limited work rights, concentration into precarious and low-paid work, obligations to pay costly higher education fees, and exclusion from social security and universal healthcare contribute to the long-term structural vulnerabilities of international students in Australia. With restrictions in Melbourne leading to widespread job loss in the hospitality and accommodation services sectors during 2020-2021, the state response to pandemic caused further marginalisation of internaitonal students. We show how the public health response to the COVID-19 worsened, rather than protected or improved, self-reported health and wellbeing outcomes for our participants. By centring the lived experiences of South Asian international students, our research contributes to a growing body of evidence detailing how the public health response to pandemic has further subordinated temporary visa holders in Australia. In the future, we recommend inclusive, equitable public health responses which universalise key protective measures such as social security support, regardless of citizenship or visa status.