Organised factions of Chinese international students are dominating elections at Australia's major universities, beating the established political parties at the same time as national authorities warn about foreign influence.

The phenomenon is most pronounced at Sydney University, the country's oldest, where two of this year's four candidates for president of the Students' Representative Council are mainly backed by international students.

Last year nearly one in four of all students enrolled at Sydney University were Chinese. Credit:Fairfax Media

Earlier this year, Chinese international students scooped elections for the university's postgraduate body, SUPRA, leading to its first executive consisting entirely of international students, according to student newspaper Honi Soit.

They have also dominated elections for the board of the University of Sydney Union, a separate student organisation, polling in first place for three years in a row.