Australian Federation of International Students (AFIS) asked colleges and universities to provide the details of the deaths after federal government revealed that 51 foreign students had died in the 12 months to November 2008, 34 of which are from unknown causes.

"Is it murder? Is it suicide? Because those are very important things that need to be addressed," Wesa Chau from AFIS said, adding "it was important to find the root causes of the deaths."

"In regards to the information provided to the international students, it's not enough, or information provided during orientation time which has basically information overload to international students. For example, regarding safety, a lot of international students are not aware of the spots that may be dangerous to them," he said.

'The Age' newspaper, however, reported that about 54 overseas students, nearly half of them Indians, died of various causes in Australia last year, but coroners were trying to suppress the details of the deaths.

The report, which comes amid a series of racial attacks targeting Indian students in Australia, claimed the toll is higher than the federal government has admitted.

The recent attacks on Indian students here has prompted universities to draw up an action plan on students' safety and a Senate inquiry is looking into the welfare of international students.

"In 21st century, a country like Australia, that lack of data and detail is just not acceptable," opposition's immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone was quoted as saying by ABC.

"It's a need for that follow-up, initial reports at the Department of Immigration that an ongoing need for the institution or the state authority to later inform the Department of Immigration as soon as it does have the data from coronial inquiry as to the cause of death," she said.

"At the moment, I've seen perhaps a legacy of many, or earlier days when we didn't have so many students, but this hasn't been properly sorted out," she said.

There is no legal requirement for the Immigration Department to receive reports of deaths or injuries of international students. But the Department does facilitate travel for bereaved or concerned relatives.

Glenn Withers from Universities Australia said it is not anecdotally clear if the problems which foreign students face are bigger than those which domestic students face.

"So, despite them being in a strange country, it does twist a little more to these issues of accidental deaths in hiking, or beaches, and less road deaths because they don't have as much car there ownership as the locals," he said.

"But, they're the twists we'd like to look and help with, but overall it is a problem of young people getting out and about and doing things," Withers said.

He said there was definitely a lack of information about the deaths of foreign students.

"It's been an issue now that's been raised and one of those, one of the many issues that are being considered before the taskforces in the various states," he said.

"Senate inquiries are in place, there's also a national security taskforce, and this is one of the issues they'll be looking at. But it is a complex issue because the way in which data is recorded is subject to important privacy issues, very important non-discrimination issues and I think we work through that in a measured way," he added.

He said universities already do a lot to ensure the safety of international students.

"We do a lot of course, as large organisations, and that includes information provided prior to departure, which just about all universities are involved in, then information on arrival, then of course updates and ongoing information, including things like mentoring with local students," he said.