Future Gold Coast 2025: Critical accommodation shortages for international students, youth
Leading experts say the Gold Coast needs more affordable accommodation options for our 21,000 international students, who pump millions into our economy every year.
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The Gold Coast needs more affordable accommodation for international students and young people, leading experts say.
City council’s economic report, released in May this year, revealed it had 21,247 international students.
This is the highest number of international students for an Australian city with a population with fewer than a million people.
Experience Gold Coast executive director of education Jennine Tax said “large-scale, purpose-built, affordable accommodation” was key to supporting and growing the city’s international student population.
“But work needs to be done to make this asset class commercially viable for private investors,” she said.
“International students contribute greatly to the social fabric of our community.
“Not only do students add to the wonderful diversity of our region, but they provide a crucial pipeline of talent to serve the workforce needs of our growing city.”
A $120m on-campus student accommodation tower is currently under construction at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus.
It will have 459 new beds and is expected to increase on-campus living capacity to about 1000 students.
Construction is due to be completed by September next year.
Griffith University’s Global Vice President Marnie Watson said this would “certainly help” ease the pressure around the city.
She agreed it was important to continue conversations on affordable accommodation, not just on the Gold Coast but across Australia.
“These people (international students) have typically never lived in Australia before … there is a very real need to be looking after these students and housing is an immediate issue,” Ms Watson said.
Ms Tax said the Gold Coast was a “sought-after” destination for international students.
“But living costs are increasing across the board and in order to continue to attract students we need to ensure we have affordable housing options, along with being a beautiful place to live and study,” she said.
Experience Gold Coast offered a one-off $1000 financial boost to international students earlier this year to help with the cost of relocating and initial living expenses.
“These grants were snapped up within a matter of months, showing strong demand from international students seeking financial support on the ground,” Ms Tax said.
“International students are an irreplaceable part of the Gold Coast economy.
“(They) also create jobs for our residents and contribute over $1 billion per annum to our economy.”
Editor’s note: The Bulletin acknowledges the Future Gold Coast sponsors for supporting this important series and notes sponsors have no control over the content or views expressed.
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Originally published as Future Gold Coast 2025: Critical accommodation shortages for international students, youth
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