General Homestay Guidelines
Hosts should read and understand the following homestay guidelines before applying with us
Caring for any student is a high priority. We need to make sure these students are safe and secure in their new environment. For many students, the Homestay experience is their first impression of Australia. Our aim is to ensure that this experience is a positive one.
Below are our guidelines for hosting students, to help you understand your responsibilities
The first 48 hours
Accommodation
All Homestays provide the following:
A standard size (Single or larger) bed and bedside table. Please see the below table for standard Australian bed sizes
| Bed Type | Measurements |
| Single Bed size | 92 cm x 187 cm |
| Single Extra Long size | 92 cm x 203 cm |
| King Single size | 106 cm x 203 cm |
| Double Size | 137 cm x 187 cm |
| Queen Size | 153 cm x 203 cm |
| King Size | 183 cm x 203 cm |
| Super King Size | 203 cm x 203 cm |
Adequate wardrobe and drawer space, for the sole use of the student (Please do not store your own clothes or belongings in the student’s room)
a decent size desk (approximately 1m x 0.5m or larger) with a lamp, and a chair for private study
Clean and presentable bed linen and towels. These should be changed and laundered every week and replaced when starting to look worn.
Toilet paper, soap, laundry detergent
The bedroom should be adequately secured for students to feel confident enough to leave their valuables there.
The student is usually responsible for keeping the bedroom clean and tidy. You are responsible for ensuring that the student has all the necessary equipment to do this (vacuum cleaner, duster etc), and is aware of how to use this equipment. The room should always remain in a tidy and clean condition. Please remind and assist the student to clean their room on a regular basis.
The room should be adequately heated and cooled. Hosts should understand the needs of overseas students, who may not be acclimatised to our weather and may require more heating or cooling than usual.
Smoking is only allowed in the house with your approval. Families may wish to kindly instruct students who smoke to smoke outside the house.
Bathroom, toilet & laundry
There should always be sufficient hot water for a bath or shower once a day. Please be reasonable in setting any time limits for this activity.
Bathroom habits vary from family to family as well as country to country and you are advised to explain the “house rules” about bathing and washing and to explain clearly the normal arrangements for the disposal of sanitary towels/tampons and the fact that toilet paper should be flushed away. The student should leave the bathroom and toilet as clean as when they entered them. Please be patient, and instruct the student how you would like the bathroom to be left when they are finished.
Please show the student how to use your laundry facilities, and remind them to wash their clothes on a regular basis. If you do not want the student to use your laundry, please include their clothes in your normal family wash.
Telephone & internet access
Students will normally purchase a SIM Card for their mobile phone at the airport when they arrive in Australia. They should use their own mobile phone for all phone calls.
All students will require internet access. We highly recommend you have an unlimited internet plan, and make sure that the students have good wifi connectivity from all parts of your house. If necessary, install Wifi boosters in areas with bad connectivity.
Meals
We want to ensure that our students stay healthy and eat properly. Government health guidelines suggest that in order to maintain a well-balanced diet, we should try to eat at least one item from each of the following groups every day:
- bread, rice, pasta or cereals
- milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter or margarine
- fresh fruit and vegetables
- meat, fish, eggs, lentils or nuts and beans
Bearing this in mind, all students should be provided with:
- A substantial breakfast every day (this may be self-catering).
- A nutritious, cooked, evening meal including meat, poultry or fish (individual arrangements are made for those with special dietary requirements) sufficient to the needs of the student.
- Light lunches on Saturdays and Sundays.
Special catering requirements will be confirmed on student placement. We recommend that you include some dishes from the student’s home country, to make them feel more welcome.
Please be sensitive to your student’s taste, conscience and religious beliefs. For example, in the month of Ramadan, Muslims must not eat between sunrise and sunset and special arrangements should be made at this time.
Please make an effort to have your evening meal with your student/s and engage in conversation. Remember, it is precisely this social and cultural interface that differentiates a Homestay from a Boarding House with Meals.
Punctual attendance at the college is compulsory for all students and you are requested to provide breakfast during the week at a time that will ensure the student reaches the college in time for the first lesson.
Students are expected to attend meals punctually or telephone if they are going to be late. It is recommended that the evening meal should be served around 6.30pm to 7:00pm.
Sharing family life
Study Vision students should live as full members of the home, sharing the same meals and living rooms as the host(s), and be made to feel ‘at home’. Study Vision hosts should treat students as a member of their own family and students are expected to respect reasonable family rules. However, you should not assume that students will know or understand these rules or be familiar with our basic customs and habits.
You should take an active interest in the student(s) you are hosting and encourage conversation at every opportunity. The language spoken by the student(s) and members of the family should always be English.
Students should always inform you of where they are going and when they will be back. If they are late or their plans change, they should telephone and explain the situation. With older students, greater flexibility is required, although the student is clearly expected to adapt to living in an Australian / New Zealand home and not treat their host(s) as if they were staying in a hotel.
All students should be provided with a door key, and the code to any necessary security systems.
It is always a good idea to keep the student’s mobile telephone number should you need to contact them.
Inviting people to stay overnight
Your student’s friends should not spend the night with them at your house without your permission. If necessary, Study Vision can speak to your student to make them understand this.
Health insurance and hospital
All students will have Overseas Student Health Care (OSHC) cover. This is your student’s responsibility under the terms of their student visa. If the student does not understand this cover, please ask them to speak to their school/university. They can attend any public hospital by showing their OSHC card. The student will need to pay any fees or charges and can claim it back from their OSHC cover.
Please notify Study Vision by email of any student’s injury or illness, unless it’s an emergency, in which case, call our office number (02 9669 5225, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday) or our 24-hour Emergency line (0410 691 761).
Talking through issues
It is best for students and homestay hosts to work through issues directly with each other. Communication is a challenging but important part of being a homestay family. When you need extra help, please feel free to contact Study Vision by email or on our office number (02 9669 5225, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday).
Student Arrivals
Please ensure that someone is home on the day of arrival to greet your student(s).
On arrival, students will either be brought to your house from the airport by Study Vision-arranged transport or will make their own way. We will inform you of the approximate time of arrival, if known, but please appreciate the difficulties we have in providing exact information when the student is making their own way. If an expected student has failed to arrive or contact you within three hours of their expected arrival, please contact Study Vision for advice.
For anyone coming into a new environment, the first 48 hours leave a lasting impression. Following are some ideas for making your student comfortable and will help to minimise the “culture shock” they may experience: