ISANA

David Bycroft, Peter Spolc, Chris Everson, Sylvia Lewohl

Homestay is a wonderful, educational experience that provides an ideal opportunity to learn about another
culture. Each year both Australia and New Zealand open their doors to thousands of new international
students, many apply for homestay, believing it to be the very best way to experience a new environment.
Each student must have a safe, supportive place to live and each student must be made sufficiently aware
of dangers and hazards in their new surroundings. One of the most complex issues is the care and
monitoring of students in homestay, especially those under eighteen years of age and it is in the education
provider's best interest for Homestay providers to have good policies and procedures in place and function
under good practice guidelines. Unfortunately this has not always happened.
In Australia a group has got togther to solve the problems associated with Homestay by forming The
Australian Homestay Network and have produced an online, fully compliant, management system which
is extremely easy to use and gives both the student and host access to orientation material, interesting
articles and chat lines. Each student and host is fully insured and has access to telephone assistance
twenty four hours a day seven days a week.

Download Abstract