How things actually work in Australia
Hello Oz explains how everyday things work in Australia, in plain words.
This site is for people who are new here. It explains simple, practical things: study, work, health, renting, money and transport, in short sentences you can read on a phone.
What this site is, and what it is not
Hello Oz is a plain guide to daily life in Australia. It is written for people who have just arrived, or who are about to arrive. Many readers are reading in a second or third language. So we keep sentences short. We explain words that may be new. We try to say things once, clearly.
We are not a migration agency. We are not lawyers. We are not doctors or accountants. We do not give migration advice, visa advice, legal advice, tax advice or medical advice. This site does none of those things.
We also do not tell you what your visa allows or does not allow. Visa rules are different for different visas. They also change. If we printed a rule today, it could be wrong next month, and acting on a wrong rule can hurt you. So instead we show you how to find the current official answer for your own situation, from the government body responsible.
What we do is simpler. We explain how ordinary systems work. What a bank account is for. What a payslip should show. What a bond is when you rent. Who you can ask for help without paying. Think of it as a friend explaining the basics, not an expert making decisions for you.
Your first month, in practical steps
The first weeks are busy. Most people do a small number of the same tasks. You will probably need a place to stay, a bank account, a phone number, a tax file number if you will work, a way to travel around, and a way to see a doctor if you get sick.
You do not have to do everything at once. Some tasks depend on others. For example, many jobs will ask for a bank account and a tax file number before they can pay you. So it helps to start those early. Other things, like a long term rental, often take longer, and that is normal.
Keep your documents together in one place. Passport, any letters from your education provider, any letter about your visa, and your qualification documents from your home country. Take a photo of each one and keep the photos somewhere safe on your phone or in an email to yourself. People lose paper. Photos help.
Write down the date you did each task, and the reference number you were given. If something goes wrong later, that number is the fastest way to fix it.
Work and pay
In Australia, most workers are paid a minimum amount per hour set by law, and many jobs are covered by an industry agreement that sets a higher rate. Rates are different by job type, age and hours. We do not list rates here, because they change. The government workplace body publishes current rates and has a free service that answers questions.
Before you start a job, ask for the details in writing. What is the hourly rate. How many hours. When are you paid. Who is your manager. A real employer will not mind giving you this.
When you are paid, you should get a payslip. A payslip should show your name, the employer name, the pay period, the hours you worked, the rate, the total before tax, the tax taken out, and the superannuation paid for you. If you never get a payslip, that is a warning sign. If you are asked to pay money to get a job, that is a warning sign too.
You may hear the words cash in hand. That means being paid cash with no records. It can leave you with no proof of your work and no superannuation. If you are worried about your pay, the free government workplace service can look at it with you. You do not need to pay anyone to ask that question.
Whether you can work, and how many hours, depends on your visa. We cannot tell you that. Check your own conditions with the official government source before you accept work.
Study and getting your qualifications recognised
If you already studied in another country, you may want that study recognised here. Recognition means an assessment of how your qualification compares with an Australian one. It does not always mean your qualification is accepted for every purpose.
There are two different questions, and people often mix them up. The first is general recognition: how does my qualification compare. The second is licensing or registration: can I do this specific job here. Many jobs, especially in health, teaching, trades and building, have their own body that decides who may work in that job. That body has the final say for that job, not a general recognition report.
So the useful first step is to find out which body decides for your job. Then read what that body asks for. Usually it is your certificate, a transcript listing your subjects, a translation if the documents are not in English, and sometimes an English test. Getting certified copies and translations early saves weeks later.
If you plan to study here instead, look at what the course leads to before you enrol. Ask the provider directly: what qualification do I get, how long does it take, what does it cost in total, and what jobs do people do afterwards. Ask whether you can get credit for study you have already done, because sometimes you can, and it can shorten the course.
Take your time before signing anything. A good provider will let you read the agreement and ask questions. If someone pushes you to sign today, slow down.
Health and everyday services
Australia has a public health system called Medicare. Whether you can use it depends on your situation, and we cannot tell you if you are covered. The government health body can tell you, and asking is free. Many people who are not covered by Medicare have private health cover instead, and some visas require it.
For ordinary illness, most people see a general practitioner, often called a GP. You usually make an appointment. Some clinics charge you a fee, some do not, and it is normal to ask about the cost when you book.
For a serious emergency, such as chest pain, heavy bleeding or someone who cannot breathe, call triple zero, which is 000, and ask for an ambulance. It is a free call from any phone. Ambulance transport itself is not always free, and rules differ by state, but do not let that stop you calling in an emergency.
If you need an interpreter to speak with a doctor or a government office, ask for one. Free interpreting is available in many settings, and you are allowed to ask.
We do not give medical advice on this site. If you are unwell, speak to a health professional, not a website.
Everyday words you will hear
Australians shorten words and use local terms constantly. Here are some you will meet in your first weeks. Knowing them makes forms and conversations much easier.
- Bond
- Money you pay at the start of a rental, held as security and normally returned at the end if the property is left in good condition.
- Lease
- The written agreement for renting a home, which sets the rent, the length of time and the rules.
- Payslip
- The record your employer gives you each pay showing hours, rate, tax and superannuation.
- Superannuation, or super
- Retirement money your employer pays into a fund for you, in addition to your wages.
- Tax file number, or TFN
- Your personal number for the tax system, which employers ask for so your pay is taxed correctly. Applying for it is free.
- Medicare
- The public health system. Whether you can use it depends on your situation, so check with the official body.
- Bulk billing
- When a clinic bills the health system directly and you pay nothing at the visit. Not every clinic does it, so ask when you book.
- GP
- General practitioner, the usual first doctor you see for ordinary health problems.
- Centrelink
- The government office that handles payments and support for people who qualify.
- Triple zero, or 000
- The emergency number for ambulance, police and fire.
- Concession
- A cheaper price for people in certain groups, often used for transport fares.
- Public holiday
- A day when most shops, offices and schools are closed, and pay rates for work can be different.
- Arvo
- Afternoon.
- Fortnight
- Two weeks. Many people are paid fortnightly.
Free help, paid help, and how to tell the difference
This is the most important section on the site. Please read it slowly.
Many things in Australia are free. Applying for a tax file number is free. Asking the government workplace service about your pay is free. Community legal centres and migrant support services give free help. Many councils and libraries run free English classes and free settlement support. Interpreting is free in many services.
People are sometimes charged for these free things. Sometimes that happens because someone is dishonest. Sometimes it happens because a business genuinely does extra work and charges for it, which is allowed. Either way, the answer is the same: check before you pay. Ask one simple question. Is this free if I do it myself, and where is the official page.
Some warning signs are worth remembering. Someone guarantees a visa or a job. Someone asks for cash with no receipt. Someone tells you not to speak to anyone else. Someone wants your passport to keep. Someone rushes you and says the offer ends today. Someone tells you to write something on a form that is not true. None of these are normal, and you are allowed to walk away.
We do not say that any particular business is bad, because we cannot know that. We are saying something simpler. Slow down, ask for the price in writing, get a receipt, and check the official source yourself. If you feel pressured, that feeling is information.
Also be careful with advice from social media groups and messaging apps. People mean well, but rules differ by visa and by state, and advice that was right for someone else may be wrong for you.
How we work
We try to be careful, because getting this wrong costs readers money. Allegations are not reported as findings. If someone tells us a business behaved badly, that is a claim, not a proven fact, and we say so.
We do not name any individual because a complaint has been made about them. A complaint is the start of a process, not the end of one. We report regulatory action only after the responsible body has decided the matter and published the outcome.
When we get something wrong, we fix it and we add a dated note saying what was wrong and when it was corrected. We do not quietly change the words and pretend the mistake never happened.
The company that publishes this site also does other work. Where a page touches that work, we say so on the page, so you can judge it for yourself.
We are also careful about what we do not do. We do not tell you what your visa allows, we do not tell you what tax you owe, and we do not tell you what medicine to take. For those questions we point you to the official body or to a qualified professional.
Where to get free help
You do not have to work this out alone, and you do not have to pay to ask a question. Start with the official government website for the topic you need, because that is where the current and correct rules are published. Government sites explain visas, tax, work rights, health and payments, and many pages are available in other languages.
For local help in person, community and migrant support organisations exist in most cities and many regional towns. They are often funded to help newly arrived people for free. Local councils and public libraries can usually tell you which ones operate near you, and libraries themselves are free to join and often run classes.
For work and pay problems, use the free government workplace service. For legal questions, look for a community legal centre or legal aid service in your state. For health, speak to a clinic or a health service. If you need to talk in your own language, ask for an interpreter.
One last thing. Asking questions is normal here. Nobody expects a new arrival to know how everything works, and asking twice is better than guessing once.
If something on this site is unclear, that is our fault, not yours, and we would like to know.