For international students thousands of kilometres from home, studying at university can be a scary and isolating experience. Cultural-based community events can help to combat mental health challenges, according to student leaders.

Research shows 93.3 per cent of international students studying in Australia experience levels of loneliness.

Murdoch International Student Association vice president Tenzin Aki Diyali says joining an international student group has helped her find a sense of belonging.

“It’s a new and scary place and you’re expected to start your life from rock bottom in this new surrounding and environment,” Ms Aki says.

MISA runs a number of community events, including potlucks and coffee catch ups, focused on creating connections for international students.

“MISA helped me find community and the fact that I’m facing the same struggles as all these other people, you can talk to each other about it and create these connections makes you feel less lonely,” she says.

Senior Lecturer and academic chair for contemporary mental heath at Murdoch University Dr Eric Lim says international students face a “new racism” that can be “very subtle”.

Dr Lim says international students face a discrimination bias before people have even interacted with them.

“The way you talk to international students by overpronouncing and emphasising certain words is new racism because you are assuming they aren’t going to understand,” he says.

International students may feel like they are “second class” due to racial discrimination says Dr Lim.

“This will have a significant impact on your mental health because you will feel like your self-esteem, your self-worth, your capability, everything is not at the level that you are expected to be at.”

Dr Lim says these community spaces can validate students’ feelings and help them to understand they are not alone.

“You feel scared, intimidated and alone and sometimes you don’t know where to go to get help.”

Tenzin Aki Diyali

Dr Lim says while these groups can help international students maintain a sense of belonging when away from home, it is a band aid solution to a greater problem.

“While these groups are not having a big impact on the whole university, it has good value for people who are experiencing racism,” he says.

Dr Lim says universities should listen to the lived experiences of international students to help address this issue.

“We’ve got to build trust that goes both ways.”

“We have created friendships I hold so close to my heart and I assume the others do as well,” Ms Aki says.

“We just want to make everyone feel at home and create a community.”