Western Australia's main four universities; Curtin University, Edith Cowan, The University of Western Australia and Murdoch, respectively, all make the list. Roy said most, but not all the women he had met through the site in the past four years had been students and most were in their 20s. "I guess I've had two previous marriages that didn't work out and I didn't want the hassle or drama," he said. "I keep pretty busy with work and can't really commit to a relationship and I have the income to afford to do this. "In all intents and purposes, it's like dating, it feels that way.

"The money is not spoken about, only at the start when the arrangement is worked out and then it is usually just transferred into a bank account." Roy said the arrangement has been different with the different women he has spent time with. The woman who he had the longest arrangement with, which was two years, had a credit card in her own name which she could use as she pleased and also had her uni fees paid for. His current squeeze makes about $1000 a week but he said some arrangements had been worth $500 a week. "It depends on the individual circumstances," Roy said.

He pointed out that people spent money as part of being in a relationship anyway. The money is in return for hanging out with Roy, going to dinner and attending events together. He said he only organised arrangements with women who were interested in him and whom he was interested in. "If she feels some sort of obligation on her behalf, that's not what I'm interested in." Roy admitted he'd met a couple of women who appeared to be interested solely in the money and not in him, so he never took things any further.

He said sex usually came into the arrangement at some point, but the relationship always progressed naturally as in a "normal" relationship. "In one relationship it didn't happen for two to three months," Roy said. He said while his family did not know about his arrangements, select close friends did. "They think if it's okay if it works for me and the girl involved," Roy said. He said while at times it felt like a relationship, even in the arrangement he had for two years, he was not in love.

Roy did however say he did see falling in love and doing away with payments as a possibility one day. "I have heard of it happening," he said. SeekingArrangement spokeswoman Jennifer Gwynn said "sugar babies" stood to receive approximately $3000 a month in allowances and gifts from a willing Sugar Daddy to help cover tuition and living expenses. But she said it was not prostitution. "As you can imagine, we get this question a lot," Ms Gwynn said.

"The key difference between being a sugar baby and being a prostitute is the relationship. A prostitute is conducting a transaction between a customer. Our site is a dating website for people seeking a certain type of relationship. The two are completely different." Ms Gywnn said men and women engaging in these "sugar" relationships agreed on the terms of their arrangement up front, and in the case of users looking for educational support, that could mean payments for textbooks and other learning materials. "Sex is never required, though it may be aspired to," she said. "The reality is, most sugar relationships resemble a typical boyfriend-girlfriend type relationship, with an added financial component." Ms Gwynne said she thought the cost of a good education and getting by in life while you get an education in most nations was higher than it should be.

"While Australia is often applauded for its student loan program, the cost of living is still very high, and the job outlook low. It's a disconnect. Making an investment in your education doesn't always guarantee you a good job after all is said and done." Presumably, that's where another sugar someone steps in. - with Katherine Feeney



Where the sugar babies are:

1. The University of Sydney 137 2. The University of Newcastle 114 3. Deakin University 106 4. La Trobe University 99 5. Curtin University 94

6. The Australian National University 89 7. The University of Adelaide 85 8. Edith Cowan University 78 9. Monash University 77 10. Victoria University 74

11. The University of Melbourne 69 12. Australian Catholic University 64 13. University of South Australia 58 14. The University of Western Australia 53 15. RMIT University 51

16. The University of Queensland 45 17. Macquarie University 42 18. Griffith University 37 19. The University of New England 35 20. Murdoch University 33