A Complaint Letter of Homestay Service

To : Education Bureau of Australia

Dear Sir:

Re: A Complaint Letter of Homestay Service

I am an international student from Hong Kong. I am writing to complain about the homestay service.

As everyone knows, education is an important industry of Australia. Thousands of students study here per year. They spend plenty of money and a lot of time to study abroad. Most of the students live with the homestay families. So students usually get the first impression of Australia from the homestay family. It is pity that my experience is bad. My schoolmates have similar situations as well. Thus this is not an individual event, but a common phenomenon.

First of all, the host family did not provide me enough food to eat. They only prepared a few pasta with sauce for dinner many times when they went out. There are limited biscuits and milk for breakfast. So far I had not got any lunch box prepared by the host family since my arrival.

Second, the homestay service agency should give an agreement to both parties, the host family and the students. This enables us to know the rules in details. However, I have not received such an agreement, so I cannot know what my rights are. The lack of the agreement causes a lot of misunderstanding.

Moreover, a schoolmate told me that the homestay family did not give her the house keys so she is not able to return home until the host family comes back. Some students were not allowed to access the internet. The reason is : there is limited time for accessing the internet . Do you think it is reasonable? The students are staying in Australia alone, who can help them?

In my opinion, the Education Bureau of Australia should make procedures to supervise the homestay services in order to improve the international image. I have the following proposals:

1) Every student should get the agreement. Both parties should follow it.

2) The agency should provide students a questionnaire. After the students left the family, the agency should collect the students’ suggestions and evaluate the families. If the service of a certain family does not reach a satisfactory standard for several times, then it should be blacklisted.

3) The government should provide a homestay service hotline or email for international students and let them access easily. Then the students can get assistance at once if they are in trouble.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to hearing your prompt reply.

Yours sincerely

Shun Ho Chung
International student from Hong Kong