Australia guide 路 verified 2026-07-04
After You Land in Australia: First-Weeks Checklist
After you land
Australia's post-arrival admin is lighter than some European systems, there is no mandatory municipal address registration, but a first-week checklist still exists: enrol/confirm attendance, activate OSHC, open a bank account, and get a Tax File Number as soon as any paid work or interest-bearing account is involved.
Complete enrolment / confirm attendance
Attend orientation and complete in-person enrolment steps the university requires (ID card, timetable confirmation, sometimes an in-person document check against the CoE). Universities must report non-start or early withdrawal to Home Affairs via PRISMS, so keep enrolment status current from day one.
You get: Student ID + confirmed enrolment.Open a bank account
RecommendedMajor banks (Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac, NAB and others) offer accounts for international students, generally requiring an Australian residential address and passport/visa evidence; some let you start the process online before arrival but finish in person once here. Having an account makes rent, bills, and part-time-work pay straightforward.
Apply for a Tax File Number (TFN)
Apply online through the ATO once in Australia (you cannot complete the TFN application from overseas as a temporary visa holder). A TFN is needed to work without being taxed at the highest emergency rate, and it is commonly requested when opening some bank accounts or paid work. It is free and typically issued within about 4 weeks.
When: As soon as possible after arrival, and before starting any paid workCost: FreeYou get: A TFN letter from the ATO.Get a local SIM and set up the local transport card, budget for full adult fare in most states
OptionalA local SIM (prepaid is simplest at first) makes bank verification, food delivery, and transport apps easier. Set up the state's public-transport card (Opal in Sydney, myki in Melbourne, go card in Brisbane/SEQ, metroCARD in Adelaide, MyWay+ in Canberra), but do not assume a student discount applies. In NSW, international students pay full Adult Opal fares; the concession Opal card is restricted to Australian citizens/permanent residents plus a short list of scholarship holders (Endeavour, Australian Awards, RTP). Queensland is the opposite case: SEQ Translink fares are a flat 50 cents per journey for every passenger, so the concession question doesn't really arise there. Victoria and the ACT sit in between, see the callout below.
Cost: NSW: full Adult Opal fare (no international-student discount, bar named scholarships). QLD (SEQ/Translink): 50c flat fare for everyone, made permanent by the Queensland Government. VIC: up to 50% off via the International Student Travel Pass (ISTP), for eligible full-time undergraduates at participating universities. ACT: tertiary concession fares on MyWay+ are generally open to full-time students at an Australian university/CIT campus regardless of citizenship, confirm current criteria when registering. SA: concession metroCARD is stated as being for students with a valid ID from an SA-accredited tertiary institution; confirm current international-student eligibility with Adelaide Metro before budgeting on it.- Public transport concessions for tertiary and TAFE students, Service NSW
- 50 cent fares, flat fare for every passenger, every journey, Translink (Queensland Government)
- International Student Travel Pass (ISTP), Transport Victoria (Victorian Government)
- Concessions, MyWay+ tertiary student fares, Transport Canberra (ACT Government)
- metroCARD, concession cards for tertiary students, Adelaide Metro (South Australian Government)
Keep OSHC and visa conditions current
MandatoryConfirm OSHC remains active (renew before it lapses if the course runs longer than the original policy period) and keep track of the visa's work-hour condition (48 hours/fortnight in session) from the first pay cheque.
Lodge the rental bond through the state's official bond authority
ConditionalRenting privately (rather than staying in university/PBSA housing) almost always requires a bond up front, commonly capped at 4 weeks' rent (e.g. NSW). The bond is not paid to the landlord directly and kept in a drawer: it must be lodged with the state's statutory bond body, Rental Bonds Online (NSW Fair Trading) in NSW, or the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) in Victoria, which holds the money in trust and pays it back only when both tenant and landlord agree (or a tribunal orders it) at the end of the tenancy. New arrivals with no Australian rental history and no local references often find this the hardest part of the market, expect requests for extra proof (bank statements, an offer letter, or a guarantor) and factor several hundred to over a thousand AUD in for the bond alone, on top of the first period's rent paid in advance.
Cost: Bond: typically up to 4 weeks' rent (NSW cap); protected via Rental Bonds Online (NSW) or the RTBA (VIC) rather than held privately by the landlord.
Australia does not require registering your address with a local authority. The functional equivalent risk is enrolment: universities are legally required (under the ESOS framework) to report non-enrolment, course variation, or extended non-attendance to Home Affairs through PRISMS, which can put the visa at risk. Treat 'attend orientation and confirm enrolment promptly' as the must-not-miss first step.
A genuine surprise for first-time arrivals: in most Australian states, being an international student does not by itself qualify you for discounted public-transport fares. NSW and (on current guidance) SA restrict concession cards mainly to citizens/permanent residents and named scholarship holders; budget on the full adult fare unless a specific exception applies. Victoria has a dedicated International Student Travel Pass giving eligible full-time undergraduates up to 50% off. Queensland sidesteps the whole question with a flat 50-cent fare for every passenger. Always confirm the current rule for the specific state and institution before quoting a transport budget.
Sources
- TFN application, foreign passport holders, permanent migrants and temporary visitors, Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), Study Australia (Australian Government / Department of Education)
- ESOS framework, frequently asked questions (CoE, PRISMS), Department of Education (Australian Government)
- Public transport concessions for tertiary and TAFE students, Service NSW
- Rental Bonds Online for tenants, NSW Fair Trading / NSW Government
Where this fits
This is one step of the full Australia journey: admission, tests, application, visa, money, arrival and stay-back, every figure cited to an official source.
More on Australia
Bramica is independent and takes no commission from any university, recruiter or agency. This page is information, not immigration advice. Rules, fees and thresholds change; confirm the current requirement on the official source before acting on it.