Plan Your Move To Australia
Starting a new chapter of your life at university is challenging enough as it is, not to mention moving to a new country – plan ahead and save money, time and energy. Make your first weeks in Australia a stress-free enjoyable experience. Your plan must include arrangements of your student visa, health insurance, phone and internet plan, transport, accommodation, banking and health and safety. You’ll also find some local tips about culture and customs.
Visa
Have you organised you health insurance?
Health Insurance
Have you made preparations in case you fall ill or an accident happens?
Communications
Have you researched or organised your phone and/or internet plan?
Transport
Have you booked your flight? Do you know how you will get from the airport to your accommodation? Do you understand the public transport system?
Accomodation
Have you organised a short-term or long-term stay?
Banking
Have you started opening an Australian bank account?
Money Transfer
How will you exchange currencies or send money from home? Do you have money prepared for initial expenses?
Health and Safety
How will you exchange currencies or send money from home? Do you have money prepared for initial expenses?
Culture and Customs
Some things you might want to know
Student Visa
Applying for your visa can sometimes be a lengthier process as you will need to apply with the appropriate documents, that will then be processed.
Health Insurance
As an international student you must obtain “Overseas Student Health Cover” (OSHC) which includes basic medical cover. This is only offered by government approved insurance companies below:
Additionally, as OSHC is a basic cover, it does not cover costs for treatments such as dental, optical or physiotherapy. Therefore, you may decide to get additional coverage.
Phone and Internet
The biggest providers in Australia are:
The advantages of using major broadbands in Australia are coverage and speed. If you wish to travel around in Australia this may be something to consider – some areas have no coverage and others are only avaible to one provider.
Smaller companies such as catchconnect and lycamobile sometimes have cheaper rates and will use the networks of larger providers.
Transport
Airport Pickup
Make your travel to Australia as relaxing as possible by organising pick-up from the Airport. You may consider an uber, a taxi or request the services of one of our mentors(linked here).
Public Transport
In most larger Australian cities there is a combination of light rail, trams, buses and trains.
Larger cities in Australia have transportation cards on which you can load credit, which allow you to use public transport. In some areas, you cannot pay for the transport fare by cash. Below are the names of the transport cards in some major cities. The websites are linked to the transport card names.
Student accomodation
University accommodation is convenient and makes it easier to make friends, but is not necessarily cost efficient and sometimes sacrifices privacy. It is a good idea to find temporary accommodation to search potential places which you like.
You may decide to stay at a place for a few weeks to familiarize yourself with the area, reduce stress and possibly save some money. Another option could be to use our mentoring service to view accommodation with information from locals while you are still in your home country.
Temporary:
Long-term:
Banking
You will need to have an amount of money for initial expenses such as food or the bond for your long-term accommodation.
Australian Major banks have student bank accounts available that offer zero monthly fees, access to ATMS etc. When making your choice, consider the ATMs available around your university campus. You can start opening the bank account while still overseas using the temporary accommodation address (check with your host whether you can use the address) and it is a good idea to pick up the card personally at the bank branch upon arrival. You will need to bring two official photo ID documents with you.
Biggest Australian Banks and their student accounts:
Westpac
Commonwealth Bank
International Currency Transfer
Exchanging currencies for money can be expensive. Consider using international money transfer services such as xe or torfx rather than international bank transfers as you might get a far better exchange rate with zero transferring fee. You should plan to transfer money less frequently whatever method you may decide on to save money.
Health and Safety
Use sun protection as the sun is quite strong (sunscreen, sunglasses, T-shirt, hat etc.)
Swim in between the red and yellow flags at the beach (these are the safest water conditions and is where lifeguards will be)
If you get bitten by something, do not touch the wound, try to take a photo of what you got bitten by so that the poison can be identified.
If you decide to travel around Australia or go hiking, bring a first aid kit with pressure bandages and plenty of water
Customs and Culture
Quick facts:
- Australians are quite laid back and friendly (if you’re a little lost, don’t be afraid to ask for help)
- The most popular sports in Australia are AFL (Australian Football League), Cricket and NRL (National Rugby League)
- Australia is diverse (there are people of many nations who live in Australia)
- Public outdoor barbeques can be found at beaches and parks which you can use
- If you’re in invited somewhere, it is considered polite to bring something whether it be flowers, a salad etc.
- Australians dress quite casually, feel free to dress as you please (In some higher end restaurants and hotels they have dress clothes for example wearing enclosed shoes)