International student, Get the basics on arrival

Orientation

Orientation is a very important part of your journey in Australia. When you miss orientation, you feel lost while your mates seem to have some direction or awareness of what’s happening. Please ensure that you show up to your school on arrival for orientation.

Sim card

Australia has various mobile service providers; namely; Optus, Telstra, Vodafone, Lebara, Lyca mobile. You can buy a sim card on arrival at the airport. When you buy one, you shall need to activate it and load it with credit to be able to make calls. International calls are costly hence, it is always a good idea that you use online message apps such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to contact your family and friends. Having a sim card active on your phone on arrival makes it easy for you to get around the city by using google and google maps.

Transport card

The public transport in Australia is safe, reliable and efficient. Each city has smart cards that get charged every time a passenger boards (or is exiting - NSW) a train, tram, bus or a ferry depending on the city they are in. These cards are named differently in each state. See below: 

• New South Wales: Opal card

• Victoria: Myki card

• South Australia: Metro card

• Queensland: Go Card

• Western Australia: SmartRider

• Northern Territory: Tap & Ride Card

• Tasmania: Green card

• Australian Capital Territory: MyWay

A bank account

Some education agents such as Options Education have established a relationship with Commonwealth bank, to be able to open a bank account for students during the pre-departure briefing. If this is the case for you, all you need to do is go to the nearest Commonwealth bank near you with your passport and ask for them to activate your account. While at it request for a debit card to be ordered and in the meantime request to be shown how to withdraw money without an atm card. It is called cardless cash. 

If you did not open an account while offshore, then find a bank close to your university or where you live and ask to open an account. You need to show your passport and a CoE or student card so that they open a no-charges student account for you.

An Australian photo ID

I highly recommend acquiring an Australian general ID card on arrival into Australia because if you keep carrying around your passport, you run the risk of losing it which can be quite troublesome to replace. This will be useful for general identification in your state of residence and around other Australian states. Each state has these cards named differently find yours. Details below: 

• ACT- Proof of identity card

• NSW- Photo card

• NT – Evidence of age card

• QLD – Photo identification card

• Tas – Personal information card

• Victoria – Proof of age card

• SA – Proof of Age card                      

Shopping places

You will find that shopping will be very convenient. There are shopping malls short distance to most residential accommodations. When you need to buy groceries, there are two major supermarkets in Australia that you will find nation-wide, which are namely; Coles and Woolworths. For clothes and other house utilities, you can easily find them at Kmart, Target or Big W. Any that tickles your fancy.

Find out the the steps to take to acquire some part-time work in Australia.

Please note that some of this information is in no way exclusive or limited only to the suggestions I have mentioned above. I encourage you to explore as many options for what most suits your needs.