14 November 2025

International students and the Australian community

| By National Library of Australia
Four men and a woman in conversation while wearing business attire.

Image courtesy of the National Archives of Australia. NAA: A6180, 28/8/72/59.

Join Dr Anna Kent for a discussion about her recent Fellowship research focused on Australia’s international education history.

Attend in person

Entry to this event is free but bookings are essential.

Watch online

The presentation will also be available online. Please make a booking and the Library’s Events team will send you a direct link to the livestream event via email. Or you can join anytime through the Library’s YouTube channel.

About Dr Anna Kent’s Fellowship research

In 2025 educational institutions in Australia must have professional staff to provide pastoral care and welfare support to international students. But before 1990, international students in Australia were supported by and in the community, through organisations known as Co-ordinating Committees for Overseas Students. Australian and international students also worked together to provide support and advocacy through the Overseas Student Service (part of the National Union of Australian University Students). These efforts enmeshed students with parts of the Australian community.

Dr Kent’s research has been focused on understanding how these organisations operated and worked with international students. This project aims to understand an important element of Australia’s international education history. It also examines the impact of the breakdown in formal links between international students and Co-ordinating Committees.

Dr Anna Kent is a 2025 National Library of Australia Fellow, supported by the Stokes family.

Learn more about National Library Fellowships.

About Dr Anna Kent

Dr Anna Kent is the Executive Coordinator and Project Coordinator for the Centre for Contemporary Histories. She has extensive teaching experience in a variety of Deakin University history units.

Her research includes international education, international development and foreign policy with a special focus on where these three elements intersect. International development scholarships are one of those intersections and they were the subject of her PhD.

The Details

What: International students and the Australian community
When: Tuesday 2 December from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Where: National Library of Australia
Cost: Free. Registrations essential.

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