Stranded Temporary Visa Holders Strain Vinnies’ Emergency Relief Funds.

Temporary visa holders, including international students, stranded in Tasmania due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictive international travel bans, are turning to the St. Vincent de Paul Society and other charities, just to survive. 

St. Vincent de Paul Society State President, Mr Mark Gaetani, said that during a particularly cold and harsh winter, the Society distributed hundreds of blankets and warm clothes to seasonal workers who could not return to their home countries at the end of the picking season.

“There are around 26,000 temporary visa holders living in Tasmania, some of whom have had to call on Vinnie for support for the very first time due to COVID-19. From the beginning of April to the end of August we have assisted 459 temporary visa holders, with the significant number of these being international students and their families. 428 or 93 percent of the assistance has been provided in Hobart and surrounding suburbs. The Society’s other work has not decreased over this period, so our emergency relief services have been strained to the limit,” Mr Gaetani said.

“While the Tasmanian Government April announcement of $3 million to support temporary visa holders was both generous and welcome, realistically a one-off payment of $250, or up to $1,000 for families, did not go very far. Charities such as Vinnies and the good will of the Tasmanian community, filled the gap with financial support, food vouchers, blankets and clothing,” he added.

“There are an estimated 524,000 international students in Australia, 7,000 of them enrolled at the University of Tasmania. A growing number of these students have approached the Society to request assistance with rent arrears, food vouchers, and clothing because their jobs have disappeared.

“Many of these students have been supporting themselves with part-time or casual jobs while studying at UTAS, but with the hospitality industry in decline, many of these students are relying on charities and food banks to survive during the coronavirus pandemic.

St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Southern Regional President, Mr Pat Flanagan, said that international students and temporary visa holders are turning to Vinnies to help with food and clothing, while trying to complete their studies at UTAS and other colleges across Tasmania.

“Many students and temporary visa holders, who were made redundant due to COVID-19, are unable to maintain rental payments; some accumulating thousands of dollars in arrears. One example is an international student who had a rental arrears of $5,000,” Mr Flanagan said.

“International students are not eligible for JobSeeker and sadly, for many, financial support from their families overseas has ceased because they too have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

“Some international students are struggling to put food on the table. Other students have medical and pharmaceutical bills they cannot pay. Vinnies has even been asked for support by students, who are married couples studying in Tasmania, who are expecting babies; and who have little or no income support,” Mr Flanagan said.

State President, Mr Mark Gaetani added that numerous charities across the country are experiencing an extreme impact on their cash reserves from the cohort of temporary visa holders; and that the St. Vincent de Paul Society is extremely concerned about their financial, physical, and mental wellbeing.

“In a few respects, it’s a good thing that some temporary visa holders are stranded in Tasmania. These people may have lost their income, and they may be struggling with rent and to keep warm during our winter, but Tasmanians are always so supportive and generous when others are suffering. We desperately need this generosity to continue. We need cash donations to continue to support hundreds of Tasmanians in need, as well as doing as much as we can to help a growing number of temporary visa holders and international students who are desperate for assistance in, for them, a foreign country,” Mr Gaetani said.