If you’re thinking about making the move to Australia to study, you’ll be in good company. Not only is Australia one of the most popular international student destination in the world, 7 of the top 100 universities on the planet are in Australia* and 6 of the best student cities are located in Australia#.
Before you make the move down under, here’s some important information and steps you’ll need to take care of first.
First things first. Before you can start your studies in Australia, you’ll need to apply for a student visa. Make sure you understand all the conditions attached to your class of visa, including what health insurance cover you’ll need and details such as if you’ll be able to work while studying.
You’ll find detailed information about Australian student visas on the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs website.
A condition of all Australian student visas is arranging Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) before arriving in Australia. You can either arrange your OSHC through your education provider or choose it yourself from an approved OSHC provider. Your coverage needs to be for the entire duration of your study visa.
Find out more about health insurance for students.
You’ll most likely have a range of different accommodation options to suit your lifestyle and budget while you’re studying in Australia, including on campus accommodation, shared accommodation and homestays.
Many university and other educational providers are able to help with arranging student accommodation, so a good place to start is to take a look at their website or contact them directly.
In order to get an Australian student visa, you’ll need to be able to show evidence that you’ll be able to financially support yourself (as well as any dependents) while you’re studying. You can find out about the current financial requirements for student visas on the Home Affairs website.
With most student visas, you can work up to 40 hours per fortnight during term time and unlimited hours during course breaks. This not only gives you the chance to cover some of your living costs, but also an opportunity to make new friends and build different contacts.
It’s important that you know exactly what work conditions are attached to your visa.
Find out more about student visa work conditions.
One of the things you’ll need to do is sort out your banking in Australia. The good news is this is likely to be a lot easier than you’d think. Once you arrive in Australia, you can open up an everyday bank account online with Westpac and transfer money straight away into your new account.
You’ll then need to verify your ID in one of our local branches before you start using your new account.
*https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2018
# https://www.topuniversities.com/city-rankings/2018
This information does not take into account your personal circumstances and is general in nature. It is intended as an overview only and it should not be considered a comprehensive statement on any matter or relied upon as such.