Newcomer guides
Guides for settling in Australia
Clear, friendly guides for your first weeks in Australia. Money, housing, meeting people, and finding your feet in a new city, written by people who made the same move.
Guides
Opening a bank account in Australia
What ID you need, which banks to look at, and how to open your first account after you arrive.
Read the guideGetting a Tax File Number (TFN)
What a TFN is, who needs one, and how to apply online for free once you arrive.
Read the guideRenting your first home in Australia
Inspections, applications, bond and leases, plus how to apply with no local rental history.
Read the guideMaking friends after moving to Australia
Practical ways to meet people and build a social life when you are new to the country.
Read the guideGetting a Medicare card in Australia
Who can enrol, what you need to bring, and what Medicare does and does not cover.
Read the guideGetting an Australian phone number
Prepaid or plan, which network covers where you live, and what ID you need to activate.
Read the guideFinding your first job in Australia
How Australian resumes differ, where jobs are actually advertised, and what you are owed at work.
Read the guide
By city
New in Sydney
Getting around, where newcomers live, and how to meet people in your first months.
Read the guideNew in Melbourne
Trams and getting around, where newcomers live, and how to find your people.
Read the guideNew in Brisbane
Getting around, where newcomers live, and how to settle into a warm, growing city.
Read the guideNew in Perth
Getting around, where newcomers live, and how to meet people in Australia's sunniest capital.
Read the guideNew in Adelaide
Getting around, where newcomers live, and how to meet people in Australia's most affordable capital.
Read the guideNew on the Gold Coast
Getting around, where newcomers live, and how to meet people along the surf coast.
Read the guideNew in Canberra
Getting around, where newcomers live, and how to meet people in Australia's capital.
Read the guideNew in Hobart
Getting around, where newcomers live, and how to meet people in Australia's smallest capital.
Read the guideNew in Darwin
The two seasons, where newcomers live, and how to meet people in Australia's tropical north.
Read the guide