KATHMANDU, Dec 22: Mental health challenges among Nepali students in Australia are emerging as a growing concern, with community organisations reporting a rise in depression, suicide and other preventable deaths among young migrants.
More than 75,000 Nepalis currently live in Australia, most of them students aged between 23 and 30. While many travel abroad seeking quality education, financial stability and better prospects, community leaders say the realities of student life often prove far more difficult, pushing some into severe mental distress.
Nepali organisations in Australia have helped repatriate the bodies of at least five Nepalis who died by suicide in the past two months alone, underscoring the seriousness of the crisis.
According to Hemanta Kafle, a member of the International Coordination Council of the Non-Resident Nepalis’ Association (NRNA), unrealistic expectations and mounting financial pressure are key contributors to deteriorating mental health.
Mental Health and Human Rights
“Families usually support students only for the first six months. After that, students are expected to manage tuition fees, rent and living expenses on their own, which becomes overwhelming,” he said.
Kafle added that some students who manage to earn money later fall into drug abuse and gambling. “Marijuana is easily available, and addiction affects studies and visa status. When the risk of deportation arises, many youths fall into deep depression, fearing social stigma and family disappointment back home,” he said.
Health workers have also identified early marriage and rising divorce rates as additional stress factors. Australia allows international students to bring spouses on dependent visas, leading many Nepalis to marry in their early 20s.
“Balancing studies, work and daily survival makes it difficult to sustain relationships. Divorce rates among young Nepali couples here are extremely high, and the absence of parental support further worsens mental health,” said Gyanendra Poudel, a Sydney-based health worker and president of the Gambier Nepalese Community.
Poudel said hospitals are seeing a growing number of Nepalis seeking mental health support, a trend he described as alarming.
Community leaders also noted that some parents in Nepal send children abroad hoping to correct behavioral issues such as drug addiction. “This assumption is largely wrong. Such youths are even more vulnerable abroad, and their risk of mental health problems increases,” Kafle said.
Apart from mental health-related deaths, drowning has emerged as another major cause of fatalities among young Nepalis in Australia. The bodies of four Nepalis who drowned—mostly in the ocean—were sent back to Nepal over the past two months.
“Even good swimmers tend to underestimate ocean conditions, which are very different from rivers or swimming pools,” Kafle said.
