Spotlight on Insurance

All Homestay families should confirm that they have adequate insurance cover for their home by checking with their own Insurance Company. Most insurance companies refer to Homestay students as a ‘non related resident’. Hosts should ask for a Certificate of Currency to verify students are covered.

There are two types of insurances that affect international students in Homestay; • Public Liability Insurance • Contents Insurance

Public Liability Insurance

If you own your own home and have buildings insurance, Public Liability insurance is usually included in this policy. If you live in a unit, the strata insurance usually includes Public Liability. However, you should verify this. If you are renting property, there is an obligation to advise the landlord who will reside in the home. If you fail to do this, then the landlord’s insurance provider may not cover students for public liability.

Contents Insurance

Students can sometimes be covered for theft of their belongings under existing home contents policies. For this to occur, the name of the student must be listed on the home contents policy and it can mean a higher premium in some circumstances. In this instance, when a student moves out and another student moves in, the policy has to be updated.

Internships

Oz Homestay is working in partnership with a new organisation to look at the possibility of placing international students into Internship arrangements (unpaid supervised work experience). Many graduates find that by travelling to an overseas destination and participating in programs such as these, they are given an advantage when seeking full time employment back in their home country.

Wanted: If you work for or have a business that would be willing to participate in hosting a student through an internship program, we would be very happy to hear from you. Participation length is 3-6 months as the intern generally travels to Australia on a working holiday visa. The intern holds their own insurance cover for health, travel and personal liability. Students are seeking experience, guidance in their work areas and a reference at the end of their placement with the company. The work they are given should be meaningful and beneficial to both the intern and the company.

At this stage we are just calling on expressions of interest, with further information to be provided in the near future.

Northern New South Wales Homestay

Oz Homestay traditionally has focussed on placing students in the Greater Sydney area, but we have now been asked to recruit families in the Northern areas of NSW. We are particularly looking for families located in Kingscliff, Byron Bay and Ballina. If you have any relatives, family or friends living in those areas and they could be interested in becoming a host family for our European or South American students attending these high schools, we would love to hear from them.

Homestay Hint – Communication

Communicating and interacting with your student is essential. Talk to them, ask questions, and give them time to answer. If they ask you a question you don’t understand, ask them to repeat it. If they ask you if they can do something and you say no, then you should explain why to make sure they understand. It is really important to eat the evening meal together as a family on most occasions, as this is when general conversation about everyone’s day, school etc occur. Including the student in these conversations makes them feel a part of the family. During the first few weeks ‘Culture Shock’ is the most common cause of misunderstandings and also communication difficulties. However, if you have any concerns you should always contact us.

24 Hour Emergency Contact

Oz Homestay operates an out of hours mobile telephone service for GENUINE emergencies, which is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Please note that this is for emergencies only.

Examples of an Emergency

• Student needs hospitalisation, is in a life-threatening situation or has been the victim of an assault.

• Student has not returned home overnight or within a reasonable time after they were expected, especially if this is out of character for the student

The following are NOT Emergencies – and can wait for business hours

• You have a vacant room and are looking for a new Homestay student.

• You are interested in registering as a Homestay host.

• You wish to discuss your student not keeping their bedroom tidy.