Australian families open their hearts and minds to international school students and become WEP host families for an array of reasons.

Hosting an international secondary school student gives Australian families the opportunity to share their life and culture with young people from around the world for a school year, semester or term. It is about discovering another culture, encompassing different traditions and practices, and supporting a new family member as they do likewise.

WEP’s host families are cordial, curious, open and tolerant. They are people who would like to discover another culture, another way of life and traditions, and be challenged by a different way of thinking. To be a WEP host family means opening up one’s door, heart and mind to an equally curious and enthusiastic international exchange student.

You will become a second set of parents to your student and they will adapt themselves to your routines and family rules. Day after day, you will have the opportunity to uncover the little differences that exist between our culture and that of another country.

Host families come from all walks of life. You could have children or not, you may have children older or younger than the exchange student, you may be a young couple or an older couple, or you may be single. You may live in a house, in an apartment, in a town or in the countryside.

Although hosting is not a requirement of your outbound program, it is rewarding to be able to provide the same hospitality and care to an international student as your international family will provide for you.