Deakin students seek ’benefactors’: Who’s their daddy?

A US DATING website has ranked Deakin University third in Australia for students seeking “sugar daddies’.
SeekingArrangement.com listed more than 100 Deakin ‘’sugar babies’’ as keen to pair up with wealthy backers in return for payments to cover education and living expenses.
The website suggested the students could receive around $3000 a month under their “mutually beneficial relationships and mutually beneficial arrangements’’.
The dating site named University of Sydney its top Aussie “sugar baby college’’ with 137 signatories. University of Newcastle was second with 114.
The site also wrongly claimed that women in Geelong outnumbered men five to one, greatly increasing the odds of “sugar daddies’’ meeting a “sugar baby’’.
The average “sugar baby’’ was a beautiful, ambitious college student, aspiring actress or model or single mum, the site said.
“She works hard to get where she wants to be in life but doesn’t have a lot of extra spending money.”
The site has rejected accusations that sugar daddy arrangements amount to prostitution, arguing sex is never required although it might be sought.
Deakin declined to comment on the website but encouraged students struggling financially to contact the university’s student financial assistance office.
“The university provides a wide range of advice and information to help our students deal with financial pressures they might be facing, from advice on budgeting to direct financial assistance, such as scholarships, student loans, rental assistance grants and food vouchers,’’ Deakin Student Life executive director John Devereaux said.
“Any student who finds themselves in a difficult personal situation may also benefit from the university’s free legal advisory service and the free and confidential personal counselling service.”
Deakin Union of Students Association president David Joyce said he was unaware of any “sugar daddy’’ relationships involving the university.
He said emergency welfare kits were available at all campuses for students facing financial difficulties.
“We’d definitely point them in the right direction for advice and assistance from the university.”