International student accommodation and changing foreign policy alignments in 1950s Australia

Abstract

Australia’s popularity as a study destination increased markedly from the 1940s, with growing demand for tertiary education in postcolonial Asia. The advent of scholarship initiatives, including the Colombo Plan’s Technical Cooperation Scheme in 1951, further increased interest in Australia as an educational provider for both sponsored and privately funded students. This article explores the print media’s commentary on international student accommodation shortages in the 1950s. While Australian housing availability was impacted by wartime cessation of construction and postwar immigration, print media coverage generally attributed international student accommodation shortages to discrimination within the rental market. Overwhelmingly, this alleged discriminatory treatment was condemned within the print media, with the dual rationale of moral and diplomatic objections prominent in newspaper discourse. This media censure is examined within the context of shifting foreign policy alignments, growing national and international condemnation of the so-called ‘White Australia policy’, and the broader political agenda of Australian Colombo Plan involvement.