New Delhi — As racial attacks on Indian students in Australia continue — the latest victim was a 23-year-old student who was beaten up on Sunday — universities in Australia and the Indian government have expressed annoyance at the Australian government for not taking stronger action to protect Indian students, several newspapers reported.

Australian universities have laid out a 10-point safety plan that focuses on strong law enforcement, The Times of India reported.

Meanwhile, vigilante-like groups of Indian students have positioned themselves near train stations in Melbourne and Sydney in response to attacks on their compatriots, reported The Australian, which said the issue threatened to turn into a major diplomatic dispute between India and Australia.

The universities’ 10-point plan includes taking preventive measures to assure students’ safety and collaborating with local law-enforcement authorities to tighten security. “The increased visibility of police and security officers in locations where international students study, work, travel, and live is a must,” the plan states.

Australia earns around 15.5 billion Australian dollars, or about $12.3-billion (U.S.), from international students, and a substantial fraction of that is from Indian students. “We have created the third-largest export industry, and if we aren’t prepared to invest back in the infrastructure that is going to sustain that over the long term, then we aren’t going to have it over the long term,” said Daryl Le Grew, the University of Tasmania’s vice chancellor.

Mr. Le Grew, who was put in charge of the response to the crisis by Universities Australia, a trade association, urged the Australian government to finance an expansion of housing for students. Most international students in Australia cannot live near their universities and must commute to their campuses by train. The attacks on Indian students often occur outside or near train stations.

“We have gone overboard on the fear that somehow international students will be taking jobs away from Australians,” Mr. Le Grew said. “These kids do a whole lot of work that not many are prepared to do.” —Shailaja Neelakantan