A damning report has found accommodation shortages at the Western Australian School of Mines are at crisis levels, with hundreds of students struggling to find housing while studying at the century-old Kalgoorlie campus.
The report by Curtin University’s Student Guild and Make Renting Fair WA claims students are couch-surfing for extended periods, sleeping in cars and, in some cases, staying in tents while trying to secure housing.
The report, released on Tuesday, also criticised conditions at Curtin University’s Bentley campus in Perth, calling for an immediate rent freeze, security upgrades and stronger maintenance standards.
Curtin University graduates from the WA School of Mines’ class of 2025. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
Curtin Student Guild president Dylan Storer said the 800-strong student cohort in Kalgoorlie faced “severe” housing shortages.
“Some students are paying for hotels until money runs out … sleeping in cars, sleeping in tents — that’s not good for their academic outcomes,” he said.
“It’s not good for Kalgoorlie, or Curtin … there is a clear shortage of housing and the solution is to increase the supply, and we believe Curtin has the resources and ability to do that.
“Realistically, they should have started this a while ago. They need to take this seriously and come out publicly with a timeline for when more housing is going to be built.”
Amol Chaudhari is the vice-president of the Curtin Student Guild. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
Student Guild vice-president Amol Chaudhari arrived in Kalgoorlie in July last year from Mumbai, India, to study for his master’s degree in mining engineering.
“I’ve had to change houses five times so far,” he said.
“Academic-wise it’s very good, but when it comes to accommodation … I can’t even express it in words.“
Student accommodation overflowing
The report comes nearly a decade after a $32 million redevelopment of Curtin’s student accommodation in Kalgoorlie, known as Agricola College.
Agricola College houses 228 students from the WA School of Mines, which was founded in 1902, and Curtin’s Rural Health Campus, which opened in 2021.
The redeveloped Agricola College opened in 2017 and provides accommodation for 228 students. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
According to the report, Curtin had an additional 38 beds through short-term leased properties.
But the report said those combined 266 beds represented just 32 per cent of the student population, and shortages were being “felt most acutely” by international and postgraduate students.
It said only 28 per cent of international students were in student accommodation, despite making up around half of the student cohort.
Curtin University students from the class of 2025 celebrate their graduation. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
Students required to move
According to the latest QS World University Rankings, which ranks more than 1,500 universities worldwide, Curtin University has slipped from second position to fourth globally among schools that teach mining engineering.
Mr Storer said third and fourth-year mining engineering students were required to relocate to the Kalgoorlie campus to complete their degree.
Curtin Student Guild president Dylan Storer is calling for more investment in student accommodation. (Supplied)
“The education experience at WASM is world-class, there’s no doubt about that, but the biggest problem is the lack of accommodation in Kalgoorlie,” he said.
“Undergraduates need to move in their third year to Kalgoorlie to get that WASM experience, while postgraduate international students are required to move directly into Kalgoorlie without any connections to the community.
“Having access to student housing is very often the preferred and only viable option for students to live and study at WASM.”
According to the Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA), the average rent in Kalgoorlie-Boulder during the March quarter was $695 a week, which had increased 6.9 per cent in the past 12 months.
The REIWA website on Tuesday listed just 43 properties available for rent in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
The Agricola College redevelopment cost $32 million, including $20 million from the state government’s Royalties for Regions program. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)
In a statement, Curtin University said it had a robust process for managing the waiting list at Agricola College, including supporting students with finding flatmates, completing rental applications and finding other appropriate rental accommodation.
“Reports of students experiencing significant accommodation hardship are deeply concerning,” the spokesperson said.
“We encourage the guild to share these cases with us or ask any such students to contact us directly so we can connect them with available support and assistance, including financial help.
“We remain committed to ensuring students have access to safe, affordable and appropriate accommodation while they study in Kalgoorlie and will share our plans for student housing in the region in due course.”
