In its first year of operation, the newly formed federal Overseas Students Ombudsman has been swamped with close to 600 complaints from angry students unhappy with the education provided by their institution.

The Melbourne professor Chris Nyland of Monash University, an advocate of the plight of international students, said Australia was witnessing an emerging field of legal action against education institutions.

Professor Nyland said students paying high course fees were viewing education institutions as service providers and increasingly expected a return on their investment.

''A lot of the students believe they are buying an advantage and they want something for their money,'' he said.

''The [tertiary providers] have consistently acted like businesses and the government has encouraged them to do so by telling them to go out and fund themselves.

''As with any other business, you get dissatisfied customers.''

Walsh Halligan Douglas solicitor Jack Power said the area had not yet been tested in Australia, but a precedent set in Britain in 2000 could offer an insight into the future.

''It could be regarded as a bit of a sleeping giant but you don't want to scaremonger,'' he said.

''If we follow the English model, we'll start seeing some successful cases, but they'll only be the ones where there's a clear negligence.

''There's been a lot of litigation [in Britain] since the 2000 precedent but the flood gates haven't opened.''

He said both the public and private sectors were vulnerable to legal action, with disgruntled students able to pursue action for breach of contract, discrimination, negligence or violation of the Trade Practices Act.

Mr Power said most cases in Britain were settled out of court.

The federal government has already moved to bolster benchmarks to be met by education institutions, from which litigation attempts could be measured.

In 2010, the Baird Review - an independent review into education by former federal member for Cook, Bruce Baird - found as many as one in five private international education colleges were failing to meet basic educational standards.

The Overseas Students Ombudsman was formed to investigate complaints about problems that foreign students may have with private education and training in Australia.

Mr Nyland said: ''It puts the expectation back on the students and is a move to stop the slide in standards and ensure that when you buy a degree you're actually getting what you want for your money.''