Melbourne, Oct 30 Following a spree of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has assured Indians that Australia is a safe place to study.

Violence against Indian students and subsequent protests in Melbourne damaged Australia's reputation; and Lee was in New Delhi as an ambassador for Melbourne's Deakin University to remove fears about travelling to Australia.

"It's up to us to get the message across now that people who want to study from here in India and come back to Australia and study - it is very safe," FOX Sports quoted Lee, as saying.

"I'm very happy to sit up publicly and say that. This is probably the only time I'll use my profile like this to get something, and that's to improve relations between Australia and India," he said.

Lee was trying to please the university he represented and the Indian media who asked him question about cricket, giving less importance to safety of Indian students.

There were also questions about his future, the form of Sachin Tendulkar, the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch and other cricket topics.

Lee said there was still a significant gap of cultural understanding between Australians and Indians, though cricket was bridging this.

He insisted Australia was a safe destination for Indian students and travellers alike, describing the ugly scenes in Melbourne as a "one-off". (ANI)