AHN: Preferred Homestay Provider for the University of Newcastle

The Australian Homestay Network is the preferred homestay
provider for the University of Newcastle

Opening your home to an international student gives you the opportunity for an unforgettable and rewarding experience.

Homestay allows you to meet new people from all over the world and learn about different cultures, languages and food all from the comfort of your own home! Students are excited to experience the Australian way of life and your warm welcome improves their chances for academic success and cultural acceptance.

As Australia’s leading international student homestay provider, AHN receives thousands of requests for homestays every year from individual students, study tour groups and education partners. Our local teams use AHN’s unique preference-based placement process to connect hosts with guests who will be a good match for the household and you will be reimbursed for providing a clean room, meals, utilities and a welcoming home.

Become an AHN host today!

APPLY NOW

About Australian Homestay Network

AHN has placed over 100,000 students
from 185 countries in homestays
across Australia

We conduct training, in-home interviews and background checks for hosts to ensure students are in safe hands

Full support for students, host and schools from a local homestay co-ordinator backed by a network of nationwide staff and a 24/7 hotline

How much AHN hosts can earn

The Australian Homestay Network operates in a number of regions across Australia. Each location has host reimbursement rates specific to the living costs and services available in that region. Host reimbursement rates include the use of internet, laundry facilities and utilities (e.g. power, water). All hosts who successfully complete the host certification process to accept AHN guests are automatically covered under AHN’s insurance policy. For reimbursement rates specific to Newcastle, please click here.

Apply to join as a host

The Process

If you answer “Yes” to these simple questions, you should apply to be an AHN host:

Do you have a spare room?
Do you live near public transport?
Would you be a good mentor for a new visitor to Australia?

Once you’ve answered those questions, it’s time to start the process!

Hosting with AHN is easy, just complete these simple steps:

Submit our one page application form.
Complete your AHN profile. Host profiles are used to match the best students to your home/ family.
One of our friendly local staff will conduct interviews and a house inspection. A background check is also necessary for safety and security purposes.
You’re ready to host!

Why become an AHN host?

Hosting is EASY
AHN hosts provide a clean and furnished bedroom for their guest. This includes items like a bed, desk, wardrobe, chair and a study lamp. The visiting student will need to have access to bathroom and laundry facilities and hosts can choose a range of AHN options in regard to meal inclusions.

Create memorable experiences
Enjoying everyday activities with your visiting student, like:

showing your student around your community
guiding them on the basics of Australian culture
teaching them some basics like organising a phone, buying public transport tickets, where the local shops are, how to access banking and personal safety tips
take part in everyday conversation and teach ‘Aussie’ words and phrases
visiting local attractions, parks and restaurants

Learn New Cultures
One of the great experiences offered through hosting an international student is learning about another culture as you get to share your own. Students will share their traditions, meals, and beliefs with you, and it is expected that you will include them in yours.

Lifetime Relationships
Students are excited about learning English and experience Australian lifestyle and culture and your warm welcome improves their chances for academic success and cultural acceptance while far from home. Many students stay in touch with their host families long after they have finished their study. We’ve even had host parents visit students they have hosted in their home country.

When you apply as a host, it costs you absolutely nothing, and there is no obligation on your behalf to accept a student when offered.

Apply to join as a host

What our hosts and students say

Our homestay hosts and students have some great things to stay about their experiences. From trying new food, going on adventures with their homestay families, improving their English and feeling safe and comfortable – our hosts and guests are happy to share their experiences.

Hosting can be a very enjoying experience, and communication is the key to success. We have been able to assist with varied emotional experiences helping our girls adapt to life in Australia.
Paul and Kay
Host

We enjoyed our Homestay Hosting and had amazing connections with our students. We were their Australian Mum & Dad. We have welcomed their friends celebrated birthdays and Christmas. Our First Homestay were 2 Rohingyan for 6 weeks. One of the Rohingyan’s still rings after 7 years. Thank you AHN for the opportunity to participate in they’re developing young lives and seeing their dreams begin to materialise.
Judy B.
Host

Our students loved our safe, family life and enjoyed the personal attention they received. We involved our family and it was always a treat to experience the new culture. It was important to us that the students experience the Australian way of life.
Judy B.
Host

Such a great experience being a homestay host. Learning different cultures and different languages and making new friends. We regularly keep in touch with many of our students who have stayed over the last 4 years.
Colin C.
Host

We have been blessed to have Yuri as our homestay guest since August 2017. Yuri has become part of our extended family and it will be sad to her return home when her stay ends in June/July 2018. Her parents traveled to Australia from Japan at Xmas to celebrate the festive season with her and joined our whole family for Xmas lunch and loved every minute.
Karen A.
Host

Having an internstional student has certainly changed our perception of Japanese culture and it will be difficult to say goodbye when her stay ends. We have had no problem in overcoming any barriers during her homestay.
Karen A.
Host

Steven has become such an integral part of our family, we all love him to bits. He easily settled in with us, and we all enjoy our “family dinners”.
Toni L.
Host

I was hesitant about taking a student from Saudi Arabia, but I will never prejudge any student again. He was polite, spoke great English, respectful and so helpful. I keep in touch with him, his wife and his two children and he calls me his Oz mum. I was even the first person to find out that he passed the first component of his PHD. I currently have a student from Saudi Arabia although some 15 years younger he is also wonderful.
Victoria H.
Host

The most rewarding thing about becoming a homestay host is getting respected and numerous fiends all over the world and they treat you like their second mum.
Victoria H.
Host

You need to be prepared to ‘go the extra yard’ to help. When they arrive they need to buy a travel card for public transport, open a bank account and buy a phone card to call their parents. You need to know where to buy these.
Sharyn M.
Host

Our family have been hosting for AHN for many years and have found hosting to be one of the most rewarding gifts that just keeps on giving! Homestay is not just an opportunity to share our home and the Gold Coast, but hosting students provides a unique opportunity to learn about their country, their people and culture.
The Baker Family
Host

I have a great relationship with all my homestays. I still keep in touch with them through Facebook, Instagram, Wechat and meals out with the students.
Victoria H.
Host

Fish has been here since the birth of our 3rd child, she still comes to over to play with the children or babysit them. We ask her to house sit our new home, the cat and the students at present when we go on holiday. We taught her how to drive, welcome her boyfriend into our family and the children call him “ Chips”. She has stayed with my husbands’ family in Europe. Her parents have come to Australia and invited us out for dinner and met up the last 3 years for a Boxing Day leftovers afternoons.
Selena H.
Host

We have thoroughly enjoyed our homestay experience. We have learnt a lot from our students. We have made some lifelong friends and have acquired some ‘daughters’ since we became homestay parents.
Brad and Claire R.
Host

Sho was an excellent student. Actually almost all your students are top notch respectful people. We miss their presence in the house.
Simon N.
Host

Seven years ago, we accepted our first homestay student. We originally decided to become homestay parents to put some additional funds into our mortgage, however we quickly discovered that like most things in life, the more you put in, the more you get back.
Brad and Claire R.
Host

Our student enjoy the more friendly, secure lifestyle of staying in homestay compared to small confined units.
Paul and Kay
Host

We have laughed with them and talked with them at length enjoying our during and after dinner conversations. We have celebrated birthdays. I am pleased that my cooking has been acceptable to people with very different diets to us. We have learnt much about the cultures of Vietnam, Russia, China and Hong Kong and keep a large map marking their home towns. We have learnt to tolerate cultural differences at the dinner table but one thing I still have not been able to master is the use of chopsticks.
Sharyn M.
Host

I believe by staying in Homestay instead of just room, gives them a more homely comfortable feel that there is someone around to help – even answer a question, if they need it.
Paul and Kay
Host

We have done homestay for 9 1/2 years and had some awesome experiences and shared amazing memories with our students.
Selena H.
Host

I could feel my hosts commitment to help students in their transition to living in Australia. I felt very comfortable and although I still had some limitations with my English, the experience living with them helped me a lot. My host parents supported me not only financially, but also boosting my English and making my transition easier. I consider them as my family. Living with them allowed me to make friends with other students too, from different cultural backgrounds. It was nice to experience and learn from them and from my host family. I also had the chance of sharing to them my culture.
Alvaro E.
Student

For me, living in a host family is a very happy experience in this year. I will never forget Brad and Claire, I I hope I can keep in touch with them, like friends, like family.
Bella
Student

While I had a great time living in my homestay accommodation, I believe a homestay arrangement would be best suited to students who are either quite young, or those who would like to live in an accommodation that was more family oriented and structured. I am grateful for AHN to have placed me with such a lovely family; I will never forget my experience with my homestay family.
Emily Y.
Student