Moving to Australia – an overview

Australian citizens can move freely. New Zealand citizens are usually granted a Special Category visa on arrival, which lets them live and work here. Everyone else needs a visa to live, work or study, and an ETA or eVisitor is only for visits. The main routes are employer-sponsored work (Skills in Demand, subclass 482), points-tested skilled migration (subclasses 189 and 190), working holiday visas for young adults (subclasses 417 and 462), study, and partner or family visas. See Visas for living and working in Australia.

• Documents: bring originals of passports, birth and relationship certificates, qualifications, references and driver licences, with English translations where needed.
• Health cover: if you will not be covered by Medicare, arrange private health insurance that starts on arrival and meets your visa condition. See Medicare and health care in Australia.
• Money: budget for temporary accommodation, a rental bond of up to 4 weeks' rent and rent in advance. In April–June 2026 the median weekly rent for new bonds in Greater Sydney was $780. Some banks let you open an account shortly before you arrive.
• Work: check whether your occupation needs registration or a skills assessment, and start early.
• Children: check school enrolment and, for temporary visa holders, whether school fees apply.

• Save 000 and the other emergency numbers.
• Start using public transport with a contactless card or an Opal card.
• Apply for your tax file number online once you are in Australia (free; it arrives by post within about 28 days).
• Open a bank account and verify your identity in a branch.
• Create a myGov account and link the ATO and, if eligible, Medicare.
• Enrol in Medicare if you are eligible.
• Check your visa conditions in VEVO.
• Find a long-term home, lodge your bond with NSW Fair Trading and complete the condition report.

See Your first 30 days in Sydney for a step-by-step checklist.

• Learn your rights at work: the National Minimum Wage is $26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026, and visa workers have the same workplace rights as everyone else.
• Your employer pays super of 12% of qualifying earnings on top of your wages.
• Lodge your first tax return after the financial year ends on 30 June.
• Eligible migrants can learn English free through the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), and people settling permanently can have personal documents translated free through the Free Translating Service.
• Temporary residents may later apply for permanent residence; permanent residents can usually apply for citizenship after 4 years living in Australia, including 12 months as a permanent resident.

Call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) on 131 450 and ask to be connected, through an interpreter, to the organisation you need; the Fair Work Ombudsman, LawAccess NSW and NSW public schools all point newcomers to this service. TIS National also delivers the government's Free Interpreting Service, and people settling permanently can have up to 10 personal documents translated free through the Free Translating Service.