Questions

Home
Up
About Us
Services
Fees & Conditions
Student Application
Important Links
Photo Gallery
Contact Us

Home Requirements Guardianship Questions

1.  How will I be paid the fees for hosting a student?

For students, other than Pittwater House students, Oz Homestay will transfer funds into your account directly, or send by Cheque, 4 weeks payment, less our service fee of $20 per week.   These funds will be sent 5 working days after the arrival of the student.  

For Pittwater House Schools, the student will pay you directly upon arrival on their first day for minimum 4 weeks, we will invoice you for our service fee of $20 per week (on a monthly basis).  Alternatively, we will send an invoice to the student and have the student pay us directly for their on-going accommodation and we transfer the funds into your account.  For our record-keeping, please advise our office if the student is discontinuing after 4 weeks so we can give you another student if available.

2.  Do I need to pay tax on the fees I receive as a homestay host?

If you are only hosting one or two students at any one time, then you do not need to declare these fees as taxable income.  However, if you are hosting more than two students we strongly suggest that you contact your own accountant and determine what your legal requirements are.  For further information see the Australian Taxation Office website and search for homestay.

3.  What do I do if I am having problems with the student?

The most important thing to do in the first instance is to communicate with the student and see if you can resolve the problems.  If the problem continues contact us and we will see if we can mediate ourselves, or involve the students parents and/or agent if necessary.  The last option is to move the student in to another homestay.

4.  What should I do if the student goes home for the holidays and asks me to store their belongings and keep their room available for them?

Students who wish to have their belongings stored for them and their room kept available while they go away on holidays must pay the homestay family half rent for the period that they will be away. 

5.  The student is eating huge amounts of food, yet is still hungry all the time - what should I do?

This is actually one of the most common issues faced by our hosts when teenage students are involved. Below are some ideas as to how you can help with this situation:

bullet Make sure you have carbohydrates as the main part of the student's meal - rice, pasta, potato etc.  As students have very different foods back at home, they tend to over-eat when it comes to Western meals. 
bulletLike many Aussies travel with a jar of Vegemite - Chinese students feel a meal is not complete unless it includes rice!   A rice cooker is a good investment when hosting Asian students.  Its easy to cook up some rice to go with your evening meals.      
bulletTry not cooking any more food than what is required for a meal for the family.  Sometimes students eat more because they think that they are paying a lot of money to stay with a family.  The cost of food is next to nothing in China, so they think that they need to eat a lot to get their money's worth from the hosts.
bulletTry to get the student to eat slowly and also encourage them to improve their table manners.  Often the students eat alone rather than "as a family" back in China.

6.  Is the student eligible for concession travel on public transport?

Unfortunately International students are not eligible for any travel concessions.  Please make sure that your student understands that they must pay the adult rate for all transport, otherwise they will be fined if they are caught travelling on the incorrect ticket. 

 

Send mail to info@ozhomestay.com.au with questions or comments about this web site.
View our Privacy Policy Here
Copyright © 2008 Oz Homestay
Last modified: 25-09-08