So, you’ve decided to move abroad and do a working holiday visa in Australia. Congrats! The decision to make the leap and actually go is often the hardest one you’ll make. If you’re planning on moving to Australia on a WHV but are overwhelmed with what comes next, or aren’t sure what you need to do to move, I’ve got you covered. Here’s a guide for how to start your life in Australia on a working holiday visa!

Step 1: Apply for the Australian Work & Holiday Visa (462 or 417)

Your first step will be actually applying for the working holiday visa. There are two different subclasses of this visa, subclass 462 and subclass 417. Your nationality will determine which WHV you should apply for – American citizens will apply for WHV 462, while Brits will apply for WHV 417, for example.

While my application was processed almost instantaneously (I was granted the visa within one minute!), yours might take longer. This is especially true if you need to undergo medical exams, which will take time to book in advance. Give yourself plenty of time before you’re wanting to depart for the visa application process. You’ll have one year from the date the visa is granted to enter Australia, so there’s little risk in applying early!

Step 2: Decide if you’ll do your 88 days

The “88 days” is a common term for doing farm/regional work, which qualifies working holiday makers for a second year on their visa. I recommend deciding early on (before you even leave for Oz) if you think you want to give yourself a second year. It’s much better to do the 88 days and become eligible for an extension, then to decide later in the year you want to stay a second year – and then scramble to get a job and complete the work before your visa runs out. If you plan on doing your 88 days, I recommend finding a job that qualifies and doing them as soon as possible. You’ll have a much more relaxed and enjoyable year once they’re completed. Deciding whether or not you want to do the 88 days will determine a lot of the other factors about moving to Australia and starting your life down under! So, it’s important to think about it early on in the process.

For me personally, I never planned on doing my 88 days as I knew I didn’t want to spend two years in Australia. As I’m 30 years old and will be too old to qualify for a second year WHV anyway, it’s now not my decision to make. The visa requirements mean I’m ineligible to extend my visa now, so I never planned or worried about doing my 88 days.

Step 3: Decide if you want to travel first or work first

This will likely come down to how much savings you have. If you have a good chunk of savings, you might want to travel around Australia first, and then settle down to work. If you’re low on funds, and need to save up some money for traveling, then you’ll need to work first. Most people tend to start their Australian adventure by flying into a major city and taking some time to get settled, look for a job, and start working. But if you’d rather travel first – the seasons and weather might be a big factor in this decision, too! – you’ll want to plan things differently.

Step 4: Choose where you’ll fly into and book your flights

Assuming your visa has come through, the next step will be deciding where in Australia you want to start off your adventure! The big cities are the most common entry points: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Cairns, etc. It all depends on what you want to do first in Australia (work or travel) and where you want to be. I had two friends living in Sydney, so that was an easy decision for me to book my flight to Sydney! I use Skyscanner to find the best flight deals.

For my year in Australia, I have a year-long travel insurance policy. If you aren’t eligible for Medicare (Australia’s healthcare system, see Step 9), you’ll want to figure something out for insurance during your time in Oz. Considering travel insurance for your trip? World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.

Step 5: Book your first week of accommodation before arriving

Most people land in the country with no set plan, and find a job and somewhere to live after arriving. You should book your first week of accommodation before you arrive. Hostels are a great way to meet people, make friends, and save money by staying in dorms. You don’t want to be stressed and scrambling for somewhere to stay, while also doing loads of moving abroad/life admin and potentially looking for work!

I’m so incredibly grateful that I had two friends in Sydney, one of whom I stayed with for nearly 2.5 weeks when I first arrived! Not only did she help me so much with important things like getting a phone plan and bank account, but just seeing a friendly face in a new country meant so much to me. It definitely made my transition less stressful, and made me feel like Sydney was “home,” even if it was for just a brief time. Thanks Julia!!

Step 6: Set up an Australian bank account

This may be a Catch 22, as I needed an Australian phone number to open my bank account (but I needed an Australian bank account to get my SIM card/monthly phone plan)… But you’ll want to set up a bank account in Australia as soon as you land. You won’t be able to get paid until you do so! I chose Natwest for my bank, as they don’t have a minimum monthly balance or minimum monthly deposit required. As I knew I’d be traveling first and not working, this was really important for me! Other common choices for banks are Commonwealth and ANZ (a good choice if you’re planning on going to New Zealand after Australia).

In order for me to open a new bank account with Natwest, I needed my passport, my visa grant notification (proof that I’m in Australia legally, with working rights), and my plane ticket from when I arrived (and activated my one-year visa). I also needed my BRP from the UK, as I’d been living there and not the US. Additionally, I needed an Australian phone number to activate my online account (I used a friend’s phone number and she thankfully sent me all the security codes via WhatsApp!). Keep in mind you’ll need to give an address when you open the account – I used my friend’s, but typically you can put down a hostel address and that’s fine.

I highly recommend opening an account with Wise and transferring money from your home currency to Australian dollars (AUD). I’ve been using Wise on a regular, monthly basis for over 5 years now. It’s fast and easy. Send yourself some money so you’ve got AUD in your new Australian bank account!

Step 7: Get a SIM card/phone plan

There are two main networks in Australia: Telstra and Optus. Telstra is more expensive, but they service much more of the country – you’ll have reception in more remote/rural places if you choose Telstra. If you think you’re going to be living somewhere remote or doing lots of traveling in the outback, sign up with a Telstra plan from the get-go. I’m on Circles.Life for my phone plan, which runs through the Optus network. If you sign up with Circles.Life, you’ll get $10/month off for 6 months! Use code LGDOJ41W for the discount. I originally got a plan with very low data, but have upgraded twice since then and now pay $45/month for 100GB of data. Whatever plan you choose, set this up right away when you arrive in Australia.

Step 8: Apply for an Australian Tax File Number (TFN)

Once you’ve arrived in Australia, you’ll want to get an Australian Tax File Number (TFN). This allows you to work and be taxed the correct amount by employers. It’s easy to apply online and it won’t take long. I received my TFN in the mail about a week after I’d applied – you do need an address to receive it in the mail.

Step 9: Apply for Medicare (if eligible) and get any prescriptions you need

Australia’s healthcare system is called Medicare. It doesn’t provide completely free healthcare, but if you’re able to get onto it you should. Some countries around the world have reciprocal healthcare arrangements with Australia, and their citizens are eligible for Medicare when in Australia. While the UK has a reciprocal agreement with Australia and British citizens are eligible for Medicare, unfortunately American citizens are not. So even though I’ve paid UK taxes for over 6 years (which is the basis of the reciprocal arrangement), I don’t have a UK passport so I don’t qualify for Medicare. This is why I took out a year-long travel insurance policy, to cover me if anything goes wrong. Applying for Medicare is apparently a very long, drawn-out process which can take months. You should start it right away, as soon as you land in Australia.

How to get birth control in Australia without Medicare

If you have any regular prescriptions back home, you’ll probably need to get them at some point in Australia. While you might get lucky and be able to take your entire supply with you for the duration of your time in Australia, it’s not always doable or practical. I was only able to take 5 months of my birth control prescription with me, so I had to get a new prescription while I was here. There is very little information online, and the entire process can be very overwhelming and confusing if you don’t know how the systems work!

In order to get a prescription for birth control, you’ll need to visit a doctor. If you don’t have Medicare, you’ll need to pay out of pocket. Travel insurance doesn’t typically cover things like routine medical appointments or prescriptions (at least mine doesn’t). I recommend researching GPs near you in advance so you can find one with a lower charge for an appointment. Usually, GPs that offer “bulk billing” tend to have lower out-of-pocket costs. You’ll also need to check and make sure they can offer an appointment at a time that’s convenient/doable for you! I paid $70 (AUD) for my GP appointment so she could write me a prescription for birth control. I brought in my exact pills that I take in the UK, and asked her to find me the closest equivalent in Australia.

With my prescription in hand, I simply went to the pharmacy and gave them my prescription. They needed to order my pills in, as they didn’t have any in stock, and I picked them up the next day. Without Medicare, my pills (Madeline) were actually really expensive! $30 per month – so an annual supply would be $360! I guess because I got my birth control from Planned Parenthood in the US, and through the NHS like normal in the UK, that I took for granted how important free birth control is. It was a bit of a nasty shock. But there wasn’t much I could do about it.

How to buy contact lenses in Australia

I wear daily contact lenses, so I knew I’d need to stock up on my supply of contact lenses in Australia. I think I left with about 6 months of lenses. When I got to my last month, I ordered my next supply of contact lenses through LensWorld. While shipping has been a nightmare (Australia Post actually lost my order, when I was down to my last few pairs!!), the site is easy to use and has lots of common contact lens brands. You just need your contact lens prescription to order the exact lenses you need.

Step 10: Decide if you’ll buy a car

This is a big decision, and one that you should make early on during your Australian adventure. You don’t want to suffer without a vehicle, only to decide to buy one with just a few months left before you sell it. If you’re only planning on being in Australia for one year, I recommend deciding within the first month if you want to buy a car. A few things to consider: are you planning to live in city with good public transport? Will you be looking for farm/regional work soon? What types of trips do you want to do on your Australian travels – are you happy to fly and use Greyhound buses, or do you want to drive around? How much savings do you have to spend up front on buying a car? These questions will give you a good idea as to whether or not buying a car is right for you.

Buying a used car as a backpacker in Australia

It’s a bit of a minefield – I’ll be publishing a whole post about buying a used car in Australia soon! But if, like me, you don’t know much about cars and the idea of buying a car on your own in a foreign country is very intimidating, know that you can do it. I bought a 2003 Nissan X-Trail, put a mattress in a back so I could live in it, and started road tripping and driving up the East Coast within a few days. It can be done!

Once you’ve got yourself settled in, it’s time to enjoy experiencing life down under! Moving abroad to a new country is complicated, stressful, and overwhelming. People often think life abroad is all sunshine and rainbows, but I’ve spent over 7 years blogging to show that that’s not always the case. If you’re planning on moving to Australia on a working holiday visa, you’ll have lots of decisions to make and things to sort out besides just the basics – work and accommodation. I hope this post helps anyone with planning a move abroad to Australia and settling in down under!

Have you moved abroad on a working holiday visa? Where did you go and what was your experience like?

You might also like my posts:

Surprise – I’m Moving to Australia!

How to Get a Work & Holiday Visa (WHV 462) for Australia in 2023

Australia Budget: Month 1 (April 2023)

Australia Budget: Month 2 (May 2023)

Australia Budget: Month 3 (June 2023)

Australia Budget: Month 4 (July 2023)

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