Estimated Living costs:

International students in Australia can expect to spend around $400 to $500 per week on accommodation, food, clothing, entertainment, transport, travel, telephone calls and other costs. The amount an individual will spend will, of course, vary according to factors such as lifestyle, the type of accommodation they choose, and the type and location of the course they study.

Australia offers not only world-class education, and a relaxed and easy lifestyle but also affordability. Both living and university costs are typically lower than in the USA and UK. A study conducted on the cost of Big Macs around the world highlights the lower prices in Australia.

The cost of a Big Mac (in US dollars) in July 2007 was:

• $2.95 in Australia
• $4.01 in Britain
• $3.41 in the US.

Figures were taken from the Finfacts Ireland website, last viewed 31 July 2007.

In addition, the Mercer Human Resource Consulting 2007 Cost of living survey found that only one Australian city, Sydney, appeared on the list of the top 50 most expensive cities to live in, whereas three UK cities (London – second most expensive city in the world, Glasgow, and Birmingham) and two US cities (New York and Los Angeles) appeared on the list.

Working in Australia:

A new permission to work arrangement for student visa holders has been introduced in Australia. Students granted student visas on or after 26 April 2008 will receive permission to work with their visa grant. This means that most student visa holders will no longer need to apply separately for permission to work.

Previously most student visa holders paid a total of $490 - $430 for their visa application and $60 in Australia for permission to work. Now student visa holders will pay one charge of $450 for the combined visa application and permission to work.

For more information on the changes read the fact sheet from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship .

International students are restricted to a maximum of 20 hours work per week during semester (so that you have enough time left for studying!) but are able to work unlimited hours during semester breaks. You need to get an Australian tax file number before you start - you can find the application information on the Apply For Tax File Number Online

The benefits of working in Australia:

There are several benefits of part time work in Australia

• Course-related work is an advantage in the graduate labor market
• Casual work provides useful income for students
• Opportunities to practice your English language skills, meet new people and develop useful contacts

Your rights while working in Australia:

Before commencing paid work in Australia you should be aware of your rights and responsibilities as an employee. Here are some things to watch out for after starting work in Australia:

• Make sure you are being paid at or above the minimum rate of pay, as set out by the Fair Pay Commission
• Think carefully about doing unpaid ‘trial work’. You should be paid for all work you undertake (unless you are volunteering or undertaking work experience arranged through your education provider)
• Take time to carefully read through any contract or Australian Workplace Agreement you are asked to sign

Student visas:

Australia is a great country to live and study. It provides high-quality courses, a fantastic lifestyle and a welcoming environment for international students. Once you have been accepted into your Australian course, the next step is to organize your student visa.

Applying for a student visa:

You do not need to apply for your student visa until you are accepted by your Australian education provider and have received formal proof of offer or Enrolment. You can apply once you receive either a letter of offer or a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE). However, if you submit only a letter of offer your visa cannot be granted until the CoE has been issued. You will need a student visa for the whole time that you study in Australia.

You can apply for your student visa in person at your local Australian embassy or by mail. If you are a citizen of India, Indonesia, Thailand or The People’s Republic of China you also have the option of applying online through a migration agent. Other countries do not have the option to apply online e.g., you may not apply online for visa from Pakistan.

Student Visa Requirements:

Before you apply for an Australian course you should contact the Australian embassy in your country to find out if you will be eligible for a student visa, how to make your application, and what your document requirements will be. There is a list of Australian embassies on this website.

There are different visa requirements depending on ‘what type of study you are enrolled in’. Student visas are divided into seven subclasses that depend on the type of study you have enrolled in.

Your country of origin:

When applying for a student visa, carefully check the country assessment level for your home country. The visa assessment levels depend on where your passport was issued and your visa subclass.

General and other student visa requirements:

Regardless of visa subclass or assessment level, there are a number of general requirements that international students must meet in order to be eligible for a student visa. These include requirements relating to:

• Health
• Character
• Health insurance
• Debts to the Commonwealth
• Custody, accommodation and general welfare arrangements for students under 18 years of age.
• Other student visa requirements may include academic, age and career requirements, English language and financial requirements.

Guardian - Parents of students living in Australia:

If you are the parent or legal guardian of a child under 18 who is moving to Australia to study, you can also apply for permission to live in Australia as a student guardian. Student guardians can live in Australia for the duration of their child’s course or until the child turns 18.

In order to be eligible, parents or legal guardians must meet the requirements listed above, relating to health, character and financial status. It is especially important that a guardian shows that he or she is equipped to provide for the welfare of the student.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship can provide more details about eligibility and the application process for the student guardian visa. Visit the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website.

Help with your visa requirements:

The best way to find out your specific visa requirements is to visit the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website. You can also contact an education agent or the international office at your intended Australian education provider for advice and help with your visa application.

Fees and charges:

A non-refundable visa application charge of AUD $450 including AUD $60 for permission to work applies to most visa applications, with the exception of secondary exchange students and students sponsored under Commonwealth approved programs.

In addition, there may be other expenses associated with your visa application, such as costs for medical examinations, police checks, and the translation of documents into English (if required).

How Much Money Shall I Carry?

Many students overseas are not sure how much money shall they bring with themselves while coming to Australia. If it is your first time to Australia then I shall suggest you to come prepared. It’s better to bring enough money with you because initial expenses tend to be more. Once you are settled and know everything then you can get quite a hold on your expenses.

Many universities arrange a free airport pickup for their students. If your university do not provide any such service and also you don’t have any friend or relative then you may need to hire a taxi or have to use some other transportation facility.

If you are staying temporarily in a university arranged accommodation, hotel, back packer or have already arranged through some friends or relative here then in all cases you have to pay your rent in advance, also may need to pay bond/security that will be refunded. In hotel etc., they won’t ask you to pay more security but some amount equal to your rent. But if you have got accommodation and are going to pay rent then most probably you have to pay equal amount as security also.

Obviously, you are allowed to carry limited luggage so you may need to do some shopping in start. Like you may need a pillow, mattress, in winter you may need a blanket, quilt. Also you may need to buy a computer if you didn’t bring any laptop; so your expenses may vary for these basic necessities.

You have to buy ticket that may be daily, weekly or monthly. I suggest you to go for a weekly ticket because you need to be familiar with surrounding and also have to go to university and searching for accommodation so you have to travel more. Also if you get an opportunity to do training for some job (which you can do without a work visa) then you have to travel to job place.

While applying for Work Visa, you have to pay some fee; I think it is $60 for that. It may be paid in advance using credit card or at the time of appointment using cash or debit card.

You mobile phone will surely work here but still you have to buy a SIM card that you can put in your mobile and can use it. The cost of connection may vary because mobile companies provide various kinds of plan and you may need to do payment monthly.

I think AUD $2000 will be enough to carry on, you can easily live here for at least 2 months what ever your situation is. The main money hungry thing is rent and travel expenses. If you are staying with some friend and paying rent around $200 - $250 then this amount will last for more than 3 months covering all of your expenses including bills, food, travel charges etc., On the other hand if accommodation is provided by university, or room rented in hotel then it will cost you too much.

Some students use to bring AUD $3000, its better to be on safe side because things may go wrong here. May be for some reasons you lose your accommodation or some other bad things happen to you, so its better to be on safe side.

There may be other expenses which I didn’t mentioned and an other thing is that it’s not easy to get a job straight away so you have to use your budget carefully and this budget is what ever amount you have brought with your self. Once you get a job then everything will go smoothly and the extra amount of money that is left will go to your savings, use it later on.

International Students Facing Racism In Australia:
Students are coming to Australia to get some quality education and if they are competent enough then most probably get a good job after completing studies. Australia has made immigration rules that if students complete their education and prove that they can work in the market then are eligible for applying for permanent resident status which can be later on converted to citizen status. Increase in immigration rate is some how not welcomed by local Australians because they are sharing the same resources with others (this is how some of them think). Am not going into details about racism but will only discuss how it affects a student life in Australia.

Life of a student is not only restricted to studies, he/she is a part of society. Student may need to meet other students, do group discussion with other local students. They may also work part time during study period to earn living expenses and can work full time in non-study period.

You can be a victim of racist comments while on work. Your boss may shout at you when it get busy even if you are working fast while another Aussie guy may be working slow but will be close to your boss. It mostly happens in labor jobs and other odd jobs where all credit goes to Aussie even though you work more.

International students also face a lot of problem while applying for accommodation only on the basis of Discrimination which make landlord not offering their property to students from certain nationalities.

Discrimination is also present in government sector, take example of Connex train service in Melbourne. Connex representative some times do inspection while you are on your way in train. They start checking valid tickets; if you are an international student and do not hold a valid ticket then I am 100% sure you will be fined around $160 for it and will be fined double if caught second time. But in the same carriage you will find an Aussie guy caught without a valid ticket and he will escape charges. Connex’s inspectors will only ask him to leave the train at next station. Trust me, it’s very common here and I have seen it many times my self.

Many students after completing their education and getting higher grades are still not able to get a professional job. The reason put forward can be that companies don’t want to leak their privacy as international students may leave Australia because of visa expiry, so they are no good to company. But on the other side racism is other factor. Even though an Asian guy holding Australian passport will get a good job in a company but will still suffer e.g., lack of promotion. Mostly you will find Aussies at managerial position in any kind of company and other workers with different nationalities working under them.

In June 1998, One Nation, an Australian nationalist party in Queensland won 25 percent of the votes with their main lines at fighting immigration by non-whites. This was made possible where unemployment was been high and where it was easy to convince the people that immigrants were taking their jobs, as it would serve to be a convenient excuse and avenue to vent frustration. In a speech the party leader said that Australia was “in danger of being swamped” by Asians and she also questioned the special welfare benefits for Australia’s Aborigines.

References:
http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Racism.asp#RacisminAustralia
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22566647-5007146,00.html

There are always some good and bad features of a society. In Australia, I have seen many people who don’t care about human diversity. Don’t think that people will insult you in public; it will only happen if someone is drunk. These are some real and hard facts that are why I have mentioned it, otherwise nothing such happen to me or any of my friends so far. But one thing is for sure that you may face problems in getting accommodation and may not be treated good while working in an environment where your fellows are white, only in case of odd jobs.

How To Differentiate Between Halaal And Haraam Food:

In Australia, there is a vast majority of Muslims from various parts of the world including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Lebanon and Sudan. With increase in Muslims population, availability of Halaal food has also progressed. Numerous shops have started in various suburbs selling Halaal meat, Halaal chicken and other Halaal items, even though price is a little bit higher then Haraam meat but doesn’t matter that much. You can find Lebanese Khubz (Roti) from Halaal shops and many other Indian groceries shops.

Halal And Haram Food Additive:

The Islamic Jamaat of Western Australia has complied a list of food products, which are Halaal, Doubtful (?) and Haraam(x). This was done in conjunction with the department of Chemistry Centre (W.A), Australian government analytical laboratories and the Jewish Rabbi of Eastern states. The new additive code breaker was also used for guidance. This was done for the benefit of the Muslim Community so that they may become aware of the food products that they consume, as this is our religious obligation.

It’s not easy for me to post the full list including additives that are Halaal and also is not easy for you to memorize all of them. So, I will only post Haram and Doubtful additives and the rest which I leave are all Halaal.

Haraam Additive:

Doubtful/Not Sure (I suggest you not to buy):

Where To Get A Printed List Of Additives:

You can easily find a printed copy of this list in Australia. Just go to any Mosque and request them for a copy of Halaal and Haram food Additives and hopefully they will provide you.

How To Check For Additives:

When ever you buy a product, you will find ingredients on the wrapper. Certain codes will be printed their instead of full names and search for the codes/numbers which I have posted in above list. If there is no match then it means this food is Halaal. If you find a single match then do not buy it.

What Food Can Be Haraam?

You can find Halaal and Haraam additive in almost all kinds of food products except vegetables. Haraam additives are most likely present in majority of biscuits, chocolates, oils, ice creams, burgers, breads. Always make sure that you screen a particular product before consuming it. Once you have enough experience then you will know what you should eat.

Price Estimation Of Halaal Food:

Well Australian manufacturers do not care for Halaal and Haraam food. A single product won’t be available in Halaal form, if existing one is Haram. Or in other words if you buy a biscuit ABC from a company XYZ and it is Haraam then don’t expect that that company will also make Halaal version of that biscuit.

But you will never find any company selling Halaal meat or chicken. In this case, you must go to any Halaal meat shop or don’t eat meat. Halaal meat will be available at a little higher price like $1-2 difference per kilo as compare to Haraam meat in other shops.

Estimated costs Of Meat/Chicken/Beef:

1Kg Beef Curry - $ 6.0

1Kg Beef Diced - $ 8.0

1Kg Beef Minced - $ 6.50

1Kg Beef Rump streak - $ 10.0

1Kg Chicken Drumstick - $ 4.0

1Kg Chicken mixed - $ 5.0

1Kg Lamp Curry - $ 7.50

1Kg Goat Curry - $8.0

Estimated costs Of Spices:

100 gram spices around $ 2.0

100 gram black pepper for $2.0

1kg Red chili for $ 8.0