Student Overseas

Each year, Australia welcomes an increasing number of international students from more than 140 countries to study in Australian universities, institutes, colleges and schools. By the beginning of 2009, there were in excess of 500,000 enrolments by full-fee paying international students in Australia on a student visa. This represented an increase of 20.7 per cent on the previous year. The majority of these students (almost 70 per cent) undertook courses in the higher education and vocational education sectors.

 

Health requirements

Health examinations can be completed before you lodge your visa application, but no more than six months before your course starts.
See: Health requirements

Health insurance

You must have health insurance while in Australia. Obtaining Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), which provides medical and hospital insurance can provide health insurance.
See: Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)

Exceptions: You do not need OSHC if you are:

  • a Norwegian student covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme
  • a Swedish student covered by the National Board of Student Aid or by Kammarkollegiet.

Course enrolment, attendance and progress

You must remain enrolled in a course registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).
See: CRICOS

You must maintain satisfactory attendance in your course as required by your education provider. You must make satisfactory course progress for each study period.

The table below outlines the work entitlements for you and your dependent family members if you have Permission to Work.

Type of Applicant

 

Work Entitlement

 

Students with Permission to Work

You can work a maximum of 20 hours per week when your course is in session and unlimited hours when your course is not in session.
You cannot undertake work until you have started your course in Australia.

Note: A week begins on Monday and ends on the following Sunday.

Dependent family members with Permission to Work

You can work a maximum of 20 hours per week throughout the year. A week begins on Monday and ends on the following Sunday.
Exceptions: Family members of the following students can work unlimited hours once the student starts their main course:

  • Students enrolled in Masters by coursework (visa 573)
  • Students enrolled in Masters by research or Doctoral degree (visa 574)
  • Students studying a Masters by coursework, Masters by research or Doctoral degree, sponsored by AusAID or Defence (visa 576).

You cannot undertake work until the primary student visa holder has started their course in Australia.

Australian Values Statement

If you are aged 18 years or over, you must declare that you will respect Australian values and obey the laws of Australia. For this visa, the values statement is included in the general declaration section of the application form. See: Australian Values – Overview

Financial requirements

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have enough money to support your family members while they are in Australia.
See: Financial Requirements

Students under 18 years of age

If you are under 18 years of age you must maintain your accommodation, support and general welfare arrangements for the duration of your visa or until you turn 18.

See: Student under 18 years of age – additional requirements

Eligibility

Before applying for a student visa, students must have been accepted for full-time study in a registered course in Australia.

See: CRICOS

Permission to work

Permission to work arrangements for student visa holders changed on 26 April 2008. Student visas granted to students and their dependent family members on or after 26 April 2008 already have Permission to Work automatically included with their visa.
See: New permission to work arrangement for student visa holders (58KB PDF file)

Daylight Saving

Daylight Saving Time is observed in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory and has been synchronized across these states. Queensland and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight saving.

For more information please visit:

International Call

Are you considering coming to Australia and need to contact Hostels, potential employers or Relatives? It can be frustrating trying to figure out what numbers to dial. First you dial the access code to make an international call.

In the US and Canada that is: 011
In the UK, Ireland, India, Germany that is: 00
In Japan that is: 010

From the US: 01161 and then the Aussie number starting with Area Code. Example 01161 4 XXXX XXXX (Cell Phone)

  • From Other Locations: click Here
  • To call from Australia to Overseas: Click Here

Example: to call Sydney from the US, dial 01161 2 XXXX XXXX

Area codes for The Australian States:

  • South Australia (Adelaide): 8
  • Northern Territory (Darwin): 8
  • Western Australia (Perth): 8
  • Queensland (Brisbane): 7
  • Tasmania (Hobart): 3
  • New South Wales (Sydney): 2
  • All Cell Phones: 4
  • ACT (Canberra): 2
  • Victoria (Melbourne): 3

Special Note: Australian telephone numbers including area code can have as little as 5 and as many as 15 digits

Airlines into Australia

Airlines traveling from other countries into Australia include:

Major International Airports

Major international airports are at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin, however facilities for international flights do exist at some other airports.

Within Cities

Sydney

Sydney’s public transport system consists primarily of a train network, buses, and ferries on Sydney Harbour. There is also a tram line and a monorail operating around the city centre. Trains and buses serve the airport.

Melbourne

Melbourne’s public transport system consists of a train network covering most areas, a tram network in the inner city and suburbs, and buses. Special airport buses and infrequent suburban buses serve the airport.

Brisbane

Adelaide

Perth

Hobart

Driving

You can use your overseas license, as long as the information contained on it clearly indicates the types of vehicles you are licensed to drive in your home country.

For those from non-English speaking countries, it is probably best to obtain an International Driving Permit – this will be a translation of what is on the license.

Alcohol limits

In some states, those with overseas licenses are subject to special blood alcohol limits – for example in NSW, this is 0.02 (compared to the normal limit of 0.05).

Toll roads

Sydney: Toll roads in Sydney include the Harbour Bridge, Harbour Tunnel, and many motorways.

Melbourne: There are three toll roads in Melbourne run by Transurban, under the name “City Link”. These are the Monash (south-eastern) and Tullamarine (north western) routes, plus the Exhibition Street extension..

Money

Australian currency comes in coins of 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, $1 and $2. Notes come in $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100.

The Goods and Sales Tax is 10%. Normally the price displayed includes this tax – it is not added at the register.

Bank Accounts

To open a bank account, identification is required. This is based on a points system, with different weighting for existing cards, passports, etc. The rules are more lenient for visitors from overseas, provided they open the account soon after arriving.

Banks with branches throughout Australia are:

ISP trial offers

The biggest ISPs, which offer Points Of Presence nationally, are:

TV/Video/DVD

The television system used in Australia is PAL-B/G. For media (eg taking video tapes), this is compatible with the versions of PAL used in most of Europe, but is incompatible with the NTSC system used in North America and Japan. Note that there are problems transferring PAL equipment (video recorders and TVs) between Europe and Australia, in particular with the sound system.

Emergency

In a life-threatening emergency, dial 000. This is a free call from any phone. You can also dial 112 from a GSM mobile phone. The operator will ask if you want police, fire brigade or ambulance.

Water

The tap water in Australia is safe to drink, though in some areas it might not taste the best.

Doctors

You can generally walk into any General Practitioner’s surgery and get treatment. Some GPs may prefer if you ring ahead. The fee for a normal consultation is around A$40.