A Mental Health Guide For International Students

Written by Zeineb BelHout

UQLS Diversity & Wellbeing Subcommittee Member

Studying at UQ is meant to be an exhilarating experience and a time when you will learn and experience new things, develop skills, meet new people, and find your way as an independent adult. However, this can also be challenging and sometimes lead to stress and anxiety from time to time, which is a normal part of any student's life. It does not necessarily mean that something is wrong with you and that you need to worry. Still, keeping an eye on some of the signs and symptoms below is essential to prevent them from becoming more severe. Seeking help at the right time is critical to ensure issues do not spiral out of control and impact your studies. It is essential to keep yourself safe and healthy during your time overseas. Importantly, do not forget that help is always there, and you can still sort out things.

These are a few common alerting signs that any international student could experience, and should be aware of, along with some helpful support services:

1.    Feeling unsocial for no real reason

From time to time, we all feel unsocial, need our space and would rather stay home or have 'me time’ rather than hang out with family and friends. However, if you are actively cancelling plans and meetups with friends, avoiding all kinds of social situations or have lost interest in the hobbies you are usually passionate about, it may be time to seek support.

2.    Not eating or sleeping properly

If you find it hard to fall asleep, wake up or lose your appetite without reason, it may be a mental illness symptom. For example, many people with depression have trouble getting out of bed in the morning and might sleep more than usual.  Also, people with anxiety often report waking up throughout the night and struggling to get to sleep with so much on their minds and commonly grind their teeth or clench their jaw while sleeping.

3.    Difficulty in thinking clearly and concentrating

When you are preoccupied with pain and distress, you may find remembering things and concentrating more difficult. It can also be hard to think clearly, form thoughts, focus, and/or remember when experiencing a mental health problem. Your mental state will start to impact your day-to-day productivity level and make you more easily distracted than usual resulting in difficulty performing well in your academics.

4.    Feeling uninterested in your life

Most people facing mental health challenges feel removed from day-to-day life and their surroundings. It may also be accompanied by a sense of being unable to look forward to things or be fully present in the moment. For example, you could be sitting in a group meeting at university and feel unable to participate and engage with people. Or you might feel like you're not there at all. 

5.    Decreased ability to get things done

Lack of concentration, fatigue and tiredness affect your ability to work productively and proactively respond to situations. These symptoms can sometimes result from most types of mental illnesses. If you notice dramatic changes to your work ethic or enthusiasm, it might be worthwhile to speak to someone and reach out for help .

6.    Emotional meltdowns

If you feel regular or constant irritability, anxiety or rage generating sudden explosive behaviour, it may be a potential sign of a mental health issue, for example, disorders that cause serious mood swings. 

7.    Nervousness

It might result in feelings of restless, uneasiness and serious panic, with an inability to sit still. Nervousness can also can cause symptoms like heavy sweating, rapid breathing, twitching, trembling and a rapid heart rate.

8.    Too much drinking 

University is generally labelled a notoriously heady time, with heavy intoxication and experimentation accepted almost as a rite of passage. Unfortunately, sometimes students turn to abusing alcohol to help cope with mental health symptoms, not knowing that it can make things worse and that the misuse of substances can exacerbate existing disorders and lead to new ones.

9. Support services

What support is available?

Wondering whether you should seek help? Some people do not ask for support because they feel embarrassed; however, if you are experiencing something that is affecting you regularly, then speaking to somebody will help. 

In an emergency

In case of a medical emergency call: 

• Emergency telephone number: 000

• Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 851 998

• UQ Campus Security: 3365 3333

• Student Counselling & Crisis Line (24 Hours): 1300 851 998

• Student Services (8am-5pm): 3365 1704

Friends and family

If you feel comfortable, try to speak to someone in your immediate network of friends; they may give you the reassurance and guidance you need. 

University counselling service 

UQ has targeted support for all students' wellbeing and mental health; It also has a confidential in-house counselling service and offers 10 free counselling sessions each year that you can access, and you can get in touch any time with the support team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service  Counselling and Crisis line. 

Other services

Beyond Blue

1300 22 4636

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

Kids Help Line

1800 55 1800

https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Lifeline 

13 11 14

https://www.lifeline.org.au/

Embrace Multicultural Mental Health

Multilingual information about mental health

The UQ Law Society has a Diversity and Wellbeing portfolio.

Email: diversityandwellbeing@uqls.com

Finally, "It is Okay not to be Okay" you do not have to pretend, put on a mask, or deny what is happening with you. It is not okay to leave things at that point. Recognising you are not coping is just the start. Stay safe and healthy, and enjoy your UQ journey.

5 Common Obstacles that Women in Law are Still Facing

Written by Charlene Ko

UQLS Diversity & Wellbeing Subcommittee Member

The most recent 2020 National Profile of Solicitors report conducted by Urbis concluded that female law practitioners make up 53% of the entire legal profession in Australia, yet several studies still suggested that they face obstacles while practising law.

The report demonstrated an overview of the legal profession in Australia and examined different factors such as gender, age, and geographic distribution (Urbis, 2021). There are 44,581 women and 39,052 men in the Australian legal profession as of October 2020. The number of female lawyers upsurged from 46% in 2011 to 53% in 2020 (Urbis, 2021). This is certainly a significant increase that could potentially encourage even more women to join the legal profession in the future.

However, an increase in the number of female lawyers does not mean that gender issues have been resolved. Women in law are still facing several obstacles, such as gender inequalities, sexual harassment, discrimination, underrepresentation, and the gender wage gap.

Gender Inequalities

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2020) has proven that overall, women are more likely to provide primary care during their employment. Arguably, female lawyers might still be subjected to expectations to occupy gendered roles as carers for family members. A recent study has indicated that harassment, bullying and unfairness against women who adopt alternative working arrangements due to family commitments is one of the major reasons why female lawyers left the legal profession (JB Solicitors, 2017). When they are temporarily away from work for family commitments, there might be amendments in the law or advanced developments in technology, and it might also cause them to fall out of contact with their professional network. These factors place them in a disadvantageous position and cause further discrimination to continue working in the profession (JB Solicitors, 2017).

Ms Francesca Bartlett, an Associate Professor at the TC Beirne School of Law, indicated that there are strong cultures of working long, excessive hours in the office in the legal industry. Clients, or even courts, presume lawyers to be available 24/7. The COVID-19 pandemic has even changed the working environment. Firms have adopted flexible working arrangements which imply there are expectations that lawyers can be reached and be able to work at any time. This has brought up general concerns about unhealthy work, which leads to further gendered implications. Although large companies are required to report their policies and outcomes to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, and various Fair Work Agencies have monitored and evaluated excessive work practices, Ms Bartlett pointed out that some may argue that corporatized environment still creates cultures that favour the ‘benchmark male’ worker who can work any time for a sustained career to produce the highest profits.

Sexual Harassment

Women in the legal profession are also struggling with discrimination and sexual harassment. The International Bar Association (2019) conducted a final report and concluded that 47% of female lawyers have been sexually harassed, as compared with 37% globally, and 13% of male lawyers, as compared to 7% globally. The Women Lawyers Association NSW (2019) surveyed that 71% of practitioners have experienced sexual harassment, however, only 17% made a formal complaint, as a majority of the respondents (64%) were in fear of negative consequences. 38% responded that their complaint was disregarded, and a further 29% answered that they were being treated unfairly after filing the complaint. The National Attrition and Re-engagement Study (NARS) Report conducted by the Urbis (2013) established that 1 in 4 women reported experiencing sexual harassment. Lastly, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2012) found that 24% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment and a further 11.6% reported that they were conscious that sexual harassment has happened to other female lawyers in their workplace in the last 12 months.

Discrimination

Ms Bartlett suggested that women in law might also experience unconscious bias where they are given stereotypical assumptions about their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, they are thought to be better in certain areas of law and have poorer performance at advocacy and negotiation than male lawyers. Also, affinity bias might be present in the law industry where it might be that men hire men because they feel more comfortable working with the same gender. These kinds of discrimination not only determine who gets hired, promoted, or briefed, but also potentially shake the confidence of women who are subject to these criticisms about their abilities or the possibility of promotion. However, Ms Bartlett also noted that often discrimination is done unconsciously, based on their inherent feelings or beliefs.

Underrepresentation

Thus, it is often argued that if more women are getting into senior positions, it could support other women in law and potentially create a cultural shift in the legal profession for gender equality (Shams, 2021). However, they would not be able to retain a senior position if they do not receive equal opportunities to demonstrate their abilities. Thus, there is still a lack of women in senior roles due to under-representation. This is a loophole that leads to other obstacles faced by women lawyers.

Ms Bartlett stated that despite the increasing number of women in leading positions, such as the Chief Justice of the High Court and our Chief Justice of the Queensland Supreme Court, the trend is not consistent within the legal profession in terms of senior ranks. For instance, only 11 out of 131 senior barristers are women, which merely takes up 8% of the total number of senior barristers. The situation is better in the solicitors’ branch where there are approximately 30% of female partners in most large firms. However, it is still not considered gender parity. Women barristers are less likely to receive briefs in civil or commercial areas from solicitors, despite various initiatives such as the equal opportunity briefing policies which encourage legal practitioners to select and evaluate barristers based on their abilities and skills rather than their gender (Bartlett, 2008). The efficiency of these kinds of affirmative action to resolve the discrimination issue in Australia by assisting women barristers in receiving briefs remains questionable.

Gender-wage Gap

Lastly, with regards to the gender wage gap, Australia’s gender pay gap statistics concluded that the full-time gender wage gap in the legal profession is 23.8%. This indicates that women lawyers earn less income compared to their male colleagues (Workplace Gender Equality Agency [WEGA], 2022). In fact, numerous studies have shown that pay secrecy will intensify discrimination and unconscious bias, as male counterparts could have a greater opportunity to seek wage rises (Pender, 2021).

Although there is still a lot more left to work on improving the situation of women lawyers in the legal profession, it is clear that the situation is improving. Thus, women lawyers should not be discouraged, as all the hard work that women in law have achieved is being recognised.

“Women lawyers work as hard, are as smart, technically good, ethical and as brave and innovative as male lawyers. Don’t let anyone imply that isn’t true. It is up to you then to be a good lawyer. However, you may face obstacles in your career where assumptions are made about you because you are a woman. It is reasonable to find these experiences dispiriting, upsetting and infuriating. That is simply a normal reaction to an unfair reality. Find wonderful and supportive mentors and peers who will show you that it is not true, and work out a way to deal with and speak out about this,” ­– Associate Professor Francesca Bartlett

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Associate Professor Francesca Bartlett and Ms Jodie Wooldridge QC who contributed a great amount of invaluable insight into the common obstacles that women in law are facing.

Secondary sources

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2020). Gender indicators, Australia. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/gender-indicators-australia/latest-release#work-and-family-balance

Bartlett, F. (2008). Model advocates or a model for change? The model equal opportunity briefing policy as affirmative action. Melbourne University Law Review, 32(2), Article 351. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/2008/12.html

Bowie, C. (2021, July 15). Too soon to celebrate a win for female lawyers in Australia. LawyersWeekly. https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/sme-law/31942-too-soon-to-celebrate-a-win-for-female-lawyers-in-australia

Doraisamy, J. (2021, July 13). #Auslaw becoming bigger and increasingly more female. LawyersWeekly. https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/31914-auslaw-becoming-bigger-and-increasingly-more-female

International Bar Associated. (2019). Us too? Bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession. https://www.ibanet.org/MediaHandler?id=B29F6FEA-889F-49CF-8217-F8F7D78C2479

JB Solicitors. (2017, September 14). Gender inequality in the legal profession. https://jbsolicitors.com.au/gender-inequality-legal-profession/

Pelly, M. (2021). It’s official, women take over the legal profession. Financial review. https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/it-s-official-women-take-over-the-legal-profession-20210712-p588wn

Pender, K. (2021). Salary transparency and quotas: will they solve law’s gender inequality woes? LSJ Online. https://lsj.com.au/articles/an-act-of-parity-are-quotas-and-salary-transparency-the-solution-to-laws-gender-inequality-woes/

Shams, H. (2021, July 21). Female lawyers outnumber males, but advocates say more women are needed in senior roles. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-21/women-lawyers-australia-gender-equality-newlaw-law-society-/100309294

Smithey, J. (2017, January 13). Women and the legal profession: four common obstacles faced by female lawyers. Ms. JD. https://ms-jd.org/blog/article/women-and-the-legal-profession-four-common-obstacles-faced-by-female-lawyer

Unions NSW. (2019). National inquiry into sexual harassment in the Australian workplace. https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-05/submission_354_-_unions_nsw.pdf

Urbis. (2013). National attrition and re-engagement study (NARS) report. https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/docs/a8bae9a1-9830-e711-80d2-005056be66b1/NARS%20Report.pdf

Urbis. (2021). 2020 National profile of solicitors. https://www.lawsociety.com.au/sites/default/files/2021-07/2020%20National%20Profile%20of%20Solicitors%20-%20Final%20-%201%20July%202021.pdf

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission. (2012). Changing the rules: the experiences of female lawyers in Victoria

Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (2022). Australia’s gender pay gap statistics. https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/australias-gender-pay-gap-statistics

Settling Into University: For International Students

Written by Kathy Luong

UQLS Diversity & Wellbeing Subcommittee Member

Studying overseas can be a daunting experience, especially after leaving behind your home, family, friends and most importantly your comfort zone. So, with all of the effort of settling into a new environment, how do you get the most out of university experience? Here are some tips that might help you.

1.       Travel around to new places

Travelling around Brisbane will help you get familiar with your new surroundings. There are great websites – Must Do Brisbane, Urban List, Broadsheet – that you can use to discover restaurants, events and entertainment across the city. In your first year, try new things and maybe you’ll find something you’re really passionate about!  If you want to get the most of your time in Australia, travelling around the country is one of the most memorable ways to understand its culture and heritage. Perhaps you could plan a trip interstate during the break between semesters! The first couple of weeks of each semester are usually a little relaxed since new students are getting to know their way around and familiarising themselves with uni life. Use this time wisely.

2.       Join a club or society

Once you enter university, it’s important to always get involved in group activities to meet like-minded people. Meeting more people increases your chances of finding people with similar interests and this will make your university life much more memorable. So join as many clubs and societies as you have interest in! There are four student societies specifically for law students, including the UQ Law Society. Market day at St Lucia has over 190+ stalls with clubs, societies, and programs for new and current students to get involved in! Attending market day is one of the best ways to meet fellow students like yourself. It is usually held in orientation week of both semesters.

3.       Interact with tutors

Tutors are there to help you, so don’t feel stressed when asking for help! Make sure to get the most by engaging with them. This can be done after a lecture, after a tutorial or during their office consultation hours – you may even see them walking around the law library. Interacting with tutors can remove any nervousness you have regarding a new subject. It will also improve and deepen your engagement with the subject content and its materials.

4.       Start your assessments early!

University is different and stricter than high school – nobody taps you on the shoulder to remind you of due dates! Don’t leave your assessments to the last minute and cram. Giving yourself enough time to do assessments is an important habit to form – it will put you in good stead for the rest of your university career. Leaving it to the last day can be really stressful, so using resources like a diary and assessment planner can help you avoid that last cramming session.

5.       Try a casual job

If you feel like university and club commitments are not enough to keep you busy, you can also try and take advantage of the 20-hour work limit on your student visa and apply for a casual job. This could be anywhere near campus, close to where you live, or anywhere you find convenient. Casual jobs can help with improving your conversational English skills and getting to know more about Australian culture.

6.       Set a routine

Setting a routine will help you finish your tasks and maintaining a balance between work and personal life. This will help you from having last minute stress about assessments and exams and will give you time to have everything sorted, in case something goes wrong. Being in a new place is already a struggle that international students face, so making a routine will help minimise uni workload stress.

7.       Backup is key

Making sure you have everything from home to university is crucial and getting in the habit of putting everything on iCloud or anything else similar is key to successful preparation. Make sure you have all your important documents, passport copies and confirmation on hand. This also includes making sure you backup all your files such as academic notes or assessments. Prepare for the worst - your laptop breaking down – by ensuring you can access these documents from elsewhere.

8.       Financial planning

Since you’re an international student, you should make sure you always plan ahead and save. You never know when you might need it! You cannot predict when something unforeseen in your personal life causes expenses. It’s important to calculate a budget that will let you live comfortably, and perhaps a casual job may help you support yourself.

9.       Look after your emotional and physical wellbeing

When you’re away from home, without loved ones nearby, it’s easy to feel lost and confused. Whenever possible try and stay in touch with family or friends to make sure your emotional and physical wellbeing is looked after. Don’t try to handle all the stress by yourself. The UQ Law Society has a Diversity and Wellbeing portfolio. They are available to discuss any concerns about your experience as a law student. They are contactable via email (diversityandwellbeing@uqls.com). The portfolio includes a graduate and international student representative, Kirsty Chen, who works with those cohorts of law students to improve their uni experience. Kirsty’s email is graduateandinternationalofficer@uqls.com. However, it is sometimes better to get help from a mental health professional. Fortunately, all current UQ students can access 10 free counselling sessions each year. You can find more information here: https://my.uq.edu.au/information-and-services/student-support/health-and-wellbeing/mental-health-and-emotional-support/counselling

10.   Ask questions

Asking questions is also a good habit to form. If you learn about someone else’s experience, then maybe you’ll gain some helpful information about Australian culture and the cultures of other international students. In the process, you might also make new friends at university too. If you are stuck and need help, you can always ask UQ’s student services for help in settling down better.  UQ student support is available, and can be accessed here: https://my.uq.edu.au/contact/student-central#support

You are now entering a brand-new chapter in your life, which is about to unfold. Good luck and have fun (of course, that includes doing well in university)!