When Adriana moved from Brazil to Australia three years ago she was sold: a world-class education, nice weather, good pay and a prosperous life.
Adriana is among the more than 315,000 international students living in NSW to undertake vocational or tertiary study.
But since arriving she has been unable to secure purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) due to high costs and overwhelming waiting lists, and has also been rejected for more than 50 private rentals.
Her situation pushed her towards ShareSorted, one of four major furnished accommodation providers which operate within a housing "grey area" using a head tenant model where renters sign occupancy agreements.
Sean Stimson, a senior solicitor at the Redfern Legal Centre's International Student Legal Service, said these agreements can include elements of multiple pieces of legislation that essentially allows landlords or proprietors to "contract themselves out of their legal obligations".
He said he quite often has students come to him with contract terms that are "unconscionable and unjust".
"It's a vicious cycle, in order to get a tenancy you need to have a renting history, in order to have a renting history you need to be a certain type of person, which unfortunately most students aren't," he said.
"The mindset in the broader community is that an international student is well-funded, that's not the case."
Read the full article published by ABC News on December 1 2025
