NZ Police Ethnic Services Teams supporting international students with local safety advice

Over the past twelve months, Aotearoa New Zealand has seen a welcome return of international students to our communities and our education providers.  NZ Police Ethnic Services teams around the country, including in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and at Lincoln University, have been busy engaging with international students in a variety of ways.  

In Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Ethnic Liaison Officers, Constable Takashi Endo and Constable Kevin Deng, have been delivering presentations to secondary and tertiary international students on a range of safety related topics - informing them and supporting them to have a successful time living and studying in their host city.  

The team has seen a great response to the presentations and due to the high demand, has also developed a “Train the Trainers” programme, designed to equip education providers themselves to deliver introductory safety training to their students. The first ‘Train the Trainers' session was recently delivered by Constables Endo and Deng to staff from over 20 education providers in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The session covered a range of topics including personal safety, road safety, family harm, hate crime/incidents, alcohol/drugs and water safety. 

Constable Endo said that he was encouraged to see so many school representatives at the training session and they were very interested in the topics covered, following up with many useful questions.  

He also said, "This training session is not going to be a one-off, and we will also continue to visit schools and speak with international students when required. Our aim is to ensure students and school staff have a greater understanding of safety and safety issues here in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.’ 

Following the training day, both constables will attend education provider seminars as observers to ensure staff are supported and equipped to deliver these safety sessions. 

Melody Hao, International Coordinator – International Business/Student Support at Unitec Insitute of Technology, expressed the gratitude of her team to the Ethnic Services Team following their presentation at Unitec’s International Orientation Day on Wednesday 19 July.  

“The session delivered by Constable Endo was well-received by the 220 people that attended. In our post-orientation survey, 97.5% of respondents said they really enjoyed or enjoyed this presentation.  

"Feedback from the student audience included that the session was full of useful safety information and that it was delivered in a fun and interactive way. Thank you to the team for such a wonderful presentation and for being so supportive to our international students as they embark on their international student experience with us here in Aotearoa New Zealand," added Melody.  

Another recent safety initiative was delivered by Constable Deng alongside Massey University student representative, Jun Jiang.  Together they delivered a ‘safety’ livestream via Education New Zealand’s Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) NauMai NZ WeChat mini programme in July.  NauMai NZ WeChat livestreams are an important channel where experts and students themselves address a range of topics relevant to Chinese students living and studying in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Faymie Li, ENZ's Senior Advisor, Student Experience said that the safety of our students is always front of mind.   

“Looking after our students and equipping them with useful information that supports them during their time with us here in Aotearoa New Zealand is really putting into practice, Manaakitanga – the Māori value of hospitality, kindness, support, respect and care for others.  

"These sessions conducted by the NZ Police Ethnic Services Teams are an important tool in helping ensure our international students have a positive experience while studying with us. The livestream had 186 people tuning in and since then it has been watched over 170 times. This demonstrates that such sessions are of great value to our students,’’ said Faymie.  

The recording of the livestream is hosted on the mini programme and can be accessed by scanning the QR code below.  

 

Further information on the Tāmaki Makaurau Ethnic Services Team

The team works in partnership with ENZ, local consulates, education providers, the New Zealand International Students’ Association, and other student representatives, to support the wellbeing of international students in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.  This partnership ensures information is shared, potential issues are anticipated and responded to where possible, and shared work initiatives delivered where appropriate.