AMS Abroad

Student Agreement | Enrolment | Insurance & Safety | Medical | The Law | Political Issues

Student Agreement and Responsibilities

All students who are undertaking their AMS unit overseas or participating in international fieldwork as a part of their AMS unit are required to complete a student agreement form. This form needs to be completed and returned to the AMS Administrator at least six weeks prior to departure. Students travelling overseas are also required to submit a travel itinerary, travel insurance details and emergency contact numbers to the AMS administrator prior to departure.

In addition to the responsibility of paying for all associated (living) costs, students undertaking international placements need to ensure that they:

•  are eligible for the relevant visa
•  have adequate travel insurance (NOT supplied by the University)
•  have all of the necessary medical requirements/ immumisations
•  have researched the political stability/safety of the destination (information can be found on the Department of Foreign Affairs website: www.dfat.gov.au )

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The University of Melbourne has detailed policies regarding environmental health and safety. It is in reference to some of these policies that we have developed some Safety Information regarding basic procedures, guidelines and recommendations for both AMS students and supervisors. Please carefully read through the information provided. Remember that if you feel unsure about the safety of any activity you are involved in, don't hesitate to speak to your supervisor immediately.

University Insurance: All students enrolled in The University of Melbourne are entitled to the following insurance cover:

1. personal accident insurance
2. public and professional indemnity insurance

To be eligible for this cover, students must be on official university business, and AMS-related activities are considered as such. Details of The University of Melbourne insurance is located at:
http://www.unimelb.edu.au/insurance/students/trav_ins.html .

The Insurance certificate for students may be viewed here: http://www.unimelb.edu.au/insurance/policy/index.html

Students are not covered for travel insurance by the University, unless students apply for the limited travel insurance policy now offered, as detailed here: http://www.unimelb.edu.au/insurance/students/trav_ins.html. It is recommended that students travelling more than 50km outside of Melbourne take out travel insurance. Students travelling overseas also need to take out adequate travel insurance. Those students travelling to Canada or the United States of America may also wish to consider additional coverage, especially in terms of professional indemnity if there is likely to be clinical contact.

Personal Travel Insurance: Check out any requirements that your host country/host institution has for student's health insurance (the USA are particularly strict in this area). If specific coverage is required, institutions often have tailored insurance packages available.

Shop around for a good, comprehensive insurance deal that includes both travel and medical insurance. It can be arranged by the travel agency providing your flight bookings or by an insurance broker and normally includes the provision to change flight dates if you are sick and reimbursement for baggage loss or damage during your journey, as well as doctors fees, emergency services and hospital costs for the duration of your stay overseas. Go for good quality insurance that offers comprehensive cover for a "worst case scenario". Unlike Australia , many overseas countries do not offer free medical services even in emergencies. Health care can be very costly, and it is in your interests to ensure that you are covered for every eventuality.

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A major part of ensuring your safety is being able to provide adequate and appropriate supervision. To assist you with this, all AMS students will be required to complete and submit an online Contact form prior to the commencement of semester 6. We also request that students fill out a medical information form (Medical Information form) if necessary, letting the AMS office know of any current medications, known medical or physical problems or any other problems of which student supervisors should be aware. Where a potential problem is identified, we will provide AMS unit coordinators with the necessary information.

Things to remember:

•  Talk to your doctor about immunisation requirements for your host country (and any other countries that you plan to visit).
•  If you have any vaccinations, take a copy of the vaccination certificate with you.
•  Have a general medical check-up and visit the dentist before you go.
•  If you wear contact lenses/glasses, take a copy of your prescription with you in case you need to get them replaced while you are away.

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Students need to be aware that laws vary between countries, and that behaviour that is perfectly legal in Australia may be a punishable offence elsewhere. Ignorance of such laws is no excuse, and considerable problems may therefore result from students' failure to observe, for example, the legal drinking age in the United States (21) or from lack of knowledge of basic road rules. Remember, too, that each country embraces different cultural norms or behaviour patterns that you should endeavour to respect. All students need to research these issues prior to departure. This sort of information can usually be found in good travel guidebooks.

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The AMS Task Group reserves the right to withdraw approval for overseas travel if the country concerned becomes politically unstable, or another situation arises in which there is a threat to student safety, even if you have already bought your ticket. Please read through the University Travel Policy www.unimelb.edu.au/rmo/travel/7_3.pdf

Students who propose to undertake their AMS year in a country where there is a risk of such a situation arising are advised to have alternative AMS units in mind. Where approval is withdrawn, students are required to provide the AMS Administrator with a list of five alternative AMS units in preferential order. The AMS Administrator will then attempt to place the student in their next available preference.