International student safety | Murdoch University

Murdoch University is one of the first universities in Australia to arrange specialist 24/7 multilingual emergency, safety and wellbeing off-campus support for international students with eligible Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). This OHSC is brought to you by Allianz Care Australia, Murdoch’s preferred OHSC provider, in partnership with Sonder Australia.

Stay safe with Sonder

As an international student arriving in Australia, you may feel both excited and anxious. The prospect of arriving in a new country where you may have no friends or family nearby can be daunting, particularly the thought of what you would do if you were involved in an accident or fall seriously ill.

Sonder Australia aims to lessen that worry by providing an Australia-wide, multilingual rapid response network, available on-demand 24/7 via a mobile app.

If you’re feeling unsafe, lost or stranded, ill or injured off-campus, the Sonder mobile app can immediately connect you with a professionally-trained specialist, who will assist you over live chat, on the phone or in-person.

Sonder complements, not replaces, existing Police, Fire & Ambulance emergency services. Please call 000 (Triple Zero) if you need urgent assistance from these Emergency Services. For other safety and wellbeing concerns, please contact Sonder.

How Sonder works

The Sonder app has unique safety features including a 24/7 Help function, journey tracker, ‘Check On Me’ function and 'Safety Alerts'. When required, Sonder can also work with Murdoch to provide further wellbeing support.

24/7 help

In urgent situations, the Help button automatically sends an alert to the Sonder Support Centre. Sonder immediately geolocates you, establishing your exact location. You’ll get immediate support and, if required, a Liaison Officer will be sent to you for in-person assistance.

Check on me

If you’re meeting someone new or going to an unfamiliar destination, you can set a time for us to contact you regularly to make sure you’re OK. You can set a ‘Check On Me’ duration from 30 minutes to over 8 hours and Sonder will use geolocation technology to monitor you.

Track my journey

The ‘Track My Journey’ app feature helps you navigate to your destination while we track your progress, to ensure your safety at all times. This is particularly useful when travelling alone, late at night, or in an unfamiliar environment.

Safety alerts

Our 24/7 Sonder Support Centre monitors minor and major events which could impact your safety. If we detect a safety or security incident occurring nearby, we’ll give you details and ask you to report as ‘safe’ or ‘not safe’. If you report as ‘not safe’, we’ll take immediate action to ensure you get the help you need.