Things I Wish I Knew Before Moving to Australia

When you picture moving to Australia you picture beaches, sunshine and a job that pays properly. What you do not picture is six weeks of paperwork, a super fund you never chose, and being completely baffled by a parking sign.

I have been here long enough to know which of those things actually matter. These are the things I wish someone had sat me down and told me before I got on the plane, most of them pulled from the tips chapter of my ebook.

The Admin Takes Longer Than the Flight

Your first month is not a holiday. It is a queue.

• Tax File Number. You cannot work properly without one, and it is free to apply for through the ATO. Do it in your first week.
• Bank account. Set up what you can online before you land so your first pay has somewhere to go.
• MyGov. One login that eventually links your tax, Medicare and super. Get the app, because you will use it more than you expect.
• Medicare, if you are eligible. Australia has reciprocal health agreements with 11 countries: New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Slovenia. Enrolling means posting or emailing a Medicare enrolment form with your documents, and people in the Facebook groups report waits of one to two months. Start it early rather than the week you get sick.

If your passport is running out, renew it before you go. Anything that changes your passport details has to be updated against your visa, and you do not want to discover that at an airport.

Nobody Explains Super, and It Costs You

Superannuation is the Australian retirement system: your employer pays a percentage of your pay into a fund on top of your wages. It is your money, but only if you keep track of it.

I did not. My fund gave me bad advice, I missed money I should have had, and I ended up in a class action against my own super fund. So pick a low-fee fund deliberately rather than accepting whatever form your first employer hands you, and if you change jobs, check whether you now have two accounts. If you leave Australia for good you can claim it back through the ATO as a departing Australia superannuation payment, but only once your visa has expired or been cancelled and you have actually left.

More on the mechanics in my guide to managing your money in Australia and tax returns on a working holiday.

Your First Trip Home Is Harder Than You Think

Nobody warns you about this one. Going home the first time can leave you wondering why you ever left.

Remember that a trip home is a holiday, and holidays always look rosier than real life. People make an effort to see you, everything is familiar, and the version of home you are comparing Australia to does not really exist. If you find yourself romanticising it, write the pros and cons down and look at them honestly instead of making a decision from a bad week.

Sydney Is Not a Cheap Place to Live Anymore

The guidebooks have not caught up with this. Sydney is a brilliant city and you have to be rich to live in it now. Rents have moved far beyond what most new arrivals budget for, and plenty of people who came for a year end up in a share house an hour from the beach they came for.

The good news is that the weather is the quiet superstar: stable, warm but not brutal, and good all year. If you want the beach lifestyle on a normal wage, look at Perth, Brisbane or a smaller coastal city before you sign a Sydney lease.

Learn the Beach Before You Swim In It

This is the tip I would put on the front of the plane.

• Swim between the flags, where lifeguards can actually see you.
• If you are not a strong swimmer, swim at patrolled beaches and nowhere else.
• Rips are real and they are fast. If you get caught in one, do not fight it. Float, stay calm, and swim parallel to the beach until you are out of it.
• Check the surf report before you go, not once you are standing on the sand.

Australian beaches are as good as everyone says. They also drown people who treat them like a swimming pool.

The Money Wins Are Small and Constant

You do not need a spreadsheet to live well here. You need a handful of habits.

• Grocery clearance stores. Every state has them: NQR, Cheaper Buy Miles, Beyond Best Before, Crazy Don's, TBones, Silly Solly, Cheap as Chips. The stock changes daily and the discounts are serious. See where I actually shop.
• Cashback sites. ShopBack, Cashrewards and TopCashBack all pay you a slice back on online purchases. Sign up before you book anything expensive.
• Restaurant discounts. First Table and Last Table sell the first or last table of the evening at half price at places you would otherwise skip. EatClub does the same idea for empty tables at short notice.
• RSL and Leagues clubs. Returned and Services League clubs are everywhere, they do cheap meals, and they support veterans. Not glamorous, genuinely good value.
• Birthday freebies. A lot of chains give you something free on your birthday if you joined their free club beforehand. Sign up in your first month, not the week of.

House Sitting Beats Hostels

Hostel rates add up faster than anything else in your budget. House sitting and pet sitting cost nothing and you get a kitchen.

The sites worth knowing: Aussie House Sitters, Mindahome, Happy House Sitters and TrustedHousesitters, plus the Facebook groups. Build a profile with a photo and references, be flexible on dates and locations, and start with short local sits to collect reviews. Reviews are the whole game.

The Things That Do Not Make Sense

A few that caught me out, and still do:

• If a suburb name is followed by "Hotel", it is almost certainly a pub, not a place to sleep.
• Drinking in public is regulated by local councils. Parks, beaches and CBD streets are often alcohol-free zones, and the fines are real.
• Tipping is appreciated, not expected. Nobody is chasing you down the street.
• Parking signs are a law unto themselves. Read every panel before you walk away, because the fine arrives whether or not you understood it.
• Bring ID that is not your passport on a night out. Bouncers are strict, and RSL clubs and most bars ask.

Cars are expensive here compared to the UK and Ireland, so a lot of people rent or share instead of buying. GoGet, Popcar and No Birds are the names to look up, and they are far cheaper than a fortnight of hire car.

Work Will Not Find You

The job market is tighter than it was a couple of years ago. More competition for entry-level roles, more layoffs, and fewer employers willing to take a chance on someone who just landed.

Lock something in before you arrive if you can, and if you cannot, treat the first month as a job in itself. Apply the day a role goes up. Walk into venues with a printed CV. Register with a couple of agencies. My Ultimate Australia Working Holiday Guide covers the visa side and 88 days of regional work covers the farm work most people end up doing.

Do Not Skip the Boring Free Stuff

Free events, cheap tickets and public holidays are where the good weeks come from.

Time Out lists free and cheap events city by city. Today Tix does discounted show tickets. ClassPass lets you try gyms and studios without joining one. And the single best money hack in Australia is booking annual leave around public holidays, so a handful of leave days becomes a proper break.

So, What Do You Actually Need to Know Before You Move to Australia?

You need a TFN, a bank account and a super fund you chose on purpose. You need to start Medicare early and learn how a rip works before you swim near one. You need to budget for the Australia of now, not the one in the brochure, and you need to plan your first trip home with your eyes open.

Everything else you can figure out once you land. That is what the first year is for.

Keep reading:

• Best Apps for Backpackers in Australia
• What a Week Actually Costs in Australia
• The Ultimate Australia Working Holiday Guide
• How to Make Friends in Australia