Oz International Student Hub
Asha Ramzan
Sydney Community Forum
Oz International Student Hub is the first student led and civil society supported international student Hub in Australia.
What is OISH, what does it offer the international student community in Sydney & NSW, why does it matter & what difference does it make to the community of international students and stakeholders?
OISH grew out of a civil society response to the crisis facing international students as the country went into lockdown in March 2020.
Whilst the challenges and struggles facing international students in Australia isn’t new, the pandemic created what can only be described as a perfect storm as it was one of only two cohorts locked out of the pandemic relief packages and initiatives announced by the Australian Government – JobSeeker and JobKeeper.
So, what is OISH?
The Oz International Student Hub (OISH) is a central hub for international students in Sydney & NSW broadly to facilitate Welcome, Support and Justice outcomes for them. OISH exists to address social inclusion and belonging; access to housing and workplace rights; mental health support; government services; conversational English; pathways to employment and volunteering opportunities for the international student community.
The focus of the Hub is to grow connections to support services and build a sense of community – by students, for students, and provide opportunities to support the International Education sector in NSW to engage dynamically with the community and its partners.
The Hub is a partnership project between Sydney Community Forum (SCF) and Sydney Alliance through an initial community grant of AUD 100,000 from the City of Sydney. SCF has also been granted AUD 120,000 from Investment NSW to deliver the inaugural dedicated Intake, Support, & Referral Service for the international student community in NSW. The hub functions both onsite in a physical space, through an in-kind donation by Red Hill Education in Surry Hills in Sydney as well as online.
OISH is endorsed by over 40 civil society organisations across NSW and your organisation is invited to join the journey.
Asha Ramzan, Executive Officer, Sydney Community Forum
Asha Ramzan has been the Executive Officer of Sydney Community Forum since 2008. Asha has worked in a range of clinical and management roles in the Community Sector for over 30 years. Her current work focuses on community capacity building and systemic advocacy on social justice, inclusion and sustainability issues and concerns across greater metropolitan Sydney. Her work at SCF is grounded in the praxis of Community Organising – community capacity building and collective action for the common good. Prior to her current role as Executive Officer at SCF, Asha was the Executive Officer of the regional community forum in Newcastle & the Hunter for 6years (Hunter Community Council). In terms of her clinical training and practise, Asha trained in Narrative Therapy & Community Work at the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide in the 1990’s and worked as a Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Counsellor, as well as a Family Therapist and Adolescent & Family Counsellor for many years. She eventually realised that many of the clinical issues and concerns she was dealing with had their roots in systemic and generational disadvantage and structural inequality so she decided to devote her time, energy & skills to build the capacity of ordinary people in the community to change this instead of seeing a never-ending line of clients afflicted with personal pain and suffering that originated in the public arena of systemic injustice and structural inequality.