$500,000 in community grants for international students to make a splash

We’re funding the Study Melbourne Inclusion Program to deliver support and wellbeing projects for international students.

This year’s program provides almost $500,000 in funding to 16 organisations for projects and workshops for Victoria’s international students.

One recipient is Life Saving Victoria. They are using the grant to deliver a water safety education program for international students. The program will address critical gaps in water safety knowledge.

International students will have water safety demonstrations and educational activities on beaches across the state, and on-campus.

People from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, including international students, can be at greater risk of drowning due to a lack of education around water safety. Tragically in 2023-24, there were 54 fatal drownings in Victoria, 21 of which were members of CALD communities.

Other Study Melbourne Inclusion Program 2025 recipients include education providers and community organisations. Their programs cover a range of topics including:

• learning to drive
• food security
• community sport participation
• finance management.

Since it began in 2015, the Study Melbourne Inclusion Program has funded 162 projects to the value of $7.3 million. It has supported over 235,000 international students.

Victoria is the ideal place to study, work and live. It is home to the nation’s top universities, internationally recognised sporting and cultural events and rich multicultural networks. In 2024, Melbourne retained the title of Australia’s best student city by global higher education ranking specialist Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), and 5th best in the world.