Sponsering a foreign student
 

Not here i might add , but Aus , and a zimbabwean student

Would you take this to mean you are basically responsible for all their out-goings and ANY extra finacial and possibly other calamitys that might arise ??

I thought sponsoring a student involved providing accomodation and meals for them, everything else is their responsibility.

Not 100% on that though, just how I always thought it worked

Duncan, education provider may have some set definition and formalities in order to define/regulate/accept sponsorship for an individual, group or an organisation. Look at this link for example: Student Financial Information | Vancouver Island University (VIU)

You can ask that Australian education provider for how they define the sponsorship within their guidelines. That should help. Its usually main essential expenses (not any extra spending) that comes into "sponsorship" context.