What should you sort out in your first year to study in Australia?

Direct answer: You need a subclass 500 student visa, health cover bought before arrival, and proof of English, such as a passport from an exempt country or an approved test result. Visa application charges change over time, so confirm the current charge before you budget.

Study Australia (n.d.-a) lists the conditions of the student visa, among them keeping OSHC "for the required period, unless an exemption applies" and giving your provider your residential address "within seven days of arriving". The same page tells applicants to confirm the current visa application charge, because charges change. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2026) is blunt about timing: you must buy OSHC before you arrive and keep it for the whole time you study in Australia. Most first-year problems start from skipping one of these three items, so treat them as a short pre-departure list rather than paperwork to sort out later. The table below puts the first-year items in order, with the source that sets each one.

Source: Study Australia (n.d.-a); Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2026); Commonwealth of Australia (1994).

Direct answer: Not always. You must show English proficiency, but a valid passport from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand or Ireland can serve as proof. Otherwise you need a certificate from an approved test, and at-home or online versions of those tests are not accepted by Home Affairs.

Study Australia (n.d.-b) says that to prove your English level you must provide either proof that you are a citizen of, and hold a valid passport issued by, one of those five countries, or a certificate from one of its approved tests. British National (Overseas) passports are not accepted for the passport route. The approved list includes IELTS Academic, IELTS General Training, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, Cambridge C1 Advanced, CELPIP General, LANGUAGECERT Academic, the Michigan English Test and OET. The page also warns that the Department of Home Affairs does not accept scores from "at-home" or "online" tests. A UK applicant with a British passport can therefore skip the test for the visa, although the university may ask for a score of its own for admission. If you are unsure which exam suits you, read how PTE Academic compares with IELTS or what the new TOEFL iBT bands mean for admission, then check the minimum score on the Home Affairs page for your course level.

Direct answer: The honest answer is that no single figure applies to everyone. The financial capacity you must show is set by the Department of Home Affairs and changes with your family size, so check its page rather than a blog or agency number. The visa application charge changes, so confirm it.

Search results for this question are full of round numbers, and that is the problem with them. Study Australia (n.d.-a) tells applicants to confirm the current visa application charge because charges change, so look it up rather than trusting an old figure. Everything else depends on your course, your city and who travels with you. OSHC is a legal condition and must be paid before arrival (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2026). Tuition varies by university and level, so the only usable figure is the one on your offer letter. Work income cannot be counted on in month one, because Study Australia (n.d.-a) says you cannot work before your course starts unless you hold another visa that allows it. Add up the visa fee, the first year of OSHC, tuition, flights and a deposit for housing, then compare the total with the capacity figure Home Affairs publishes for your situation. If your total sits close to the line, plan for more, not less.

Direct answer: Four conditions do most of the damage when missed: 8202, 8501, 8533 and 8105. They cover full-time enrolment, health insurance, telling your provider your address within seven days, and the fortnightly work cap. Read them once in the regulation itself, because summaries often drop the detail.

The Migration Regulations (Commonwealth of Australia, 1994, sch 8) set each condition in plain terms. Condition 8202 requires the holder to be "enrolled in a full - time registered course". Condition 8501 says the holder "must maintain adequate arrangements for health insurance while the holder is in Australia". Condition 8533 requires a student who was outside Australia at grant to tell the education provider their residential address within 7 days of arriving, and to report any change of address within 7 days of the change. Condition 8105 limits work, and subclause 2A applies the 48-hour figure to subclass 500 holders in place of 40. Students often treat address updates as a courtesy to the university, yet a missed update is a breach of a visa condition. Move house in week six, and you have a seven-day clock again. Put the address deadline in your phone calendar on the day you land, and check the change rule every time you sign a new lease.

Direct answer: While classes are running, the cap is 48 working hours in each fortnight, and scheduled breaks carry no cap. Count fortnights from a Monday. Employers owe you the same legal protections they owe local staff, so ask about pay slips, rates and trial shifts whenever something looks wrong.

Home Affairs (n.d.) states that from 1 July 2023 student visa holders can work no more than 48 hours a fortnight while studying, defines a fortnight as "a period of 14 days starting on a Monday", and says the limit equals about three days per week. Students who start a masters degree by research or a doctoral degree can work more than 48 hours a fortnight. The Fair Work Ombudsman (2026) adds that you keep the same entitlements and protections under the Fair Work Act as other employees regardless of your visa, and that you cannot be penalised or have your visa cancelled for asking about pay. It lists not being given a pay slip, which you should receive within one day of payment, and unpaid work trials longer than needed to show the skills required, as things that are not acceptable. A shift that pays cash with no slip, or a trial that runs for several unpaid days, is worth questioning early. The Australian Taxation Office also notes that a tax file number is free to apply for, so sort out your TFN early using the ATO link under Tools & resources.

Direct answer: Registered providers must offer reasonable support at no extra cost, name at least one staff member as the official contact for overseas students, and give you information on, or access to, an orientation program. Services can include English and academic support, counselling, housing advice and financial help.

The Department of Education (n.d.) factsheet on Standard 6 of the National Code states that providers "must offer reasonable support to overseas students to enable them to achieve expected learning outcomes" and that "there must be no additional cost to the overseas student for this support." The factsheet says services may include English and academic support, tutoring, study skills centres, counselling and mental health support, career services, housing and tenancy services, financial support and health and disability services. Go to orientation week with a short list of questions rather than waiting to see what is covered. Ask who the designated contact is, where the academic skills service sits, and how to book counselling. Students from systems that expect self-study often wait until a grade arrives before asking for help, but a provider's duty to support you starts at enrolment, so use it early. A study abroad SOP consulting session can also help you frame questions about course choice and next steps with an adviser.

Direct answer: Keep attendance and course progress satisfactory, because providers must monitor both under Standard 8 of the National Code. Build contact with other students early too, by joining one club or study group in the first few weeks, since a pandemic-era study of first-year students found domestic students lonelier than international ones.

Standard 8 of the National Code requires providers to monitor an overseas student's course progress and attendance, and Home Affairs (n.d.) tells visa holders they must still ensure satisfactory progress and attendance and maintain their enrolment while working. Social connection is part of that picture. Dingle et al. (2022) studied 1,239 first-year students at a metropolitan Australian university, 30.4% of them international, and reported: "Contrary to expectation, domestic students were lonelier than international students across all cohorts" (Dingle et al., 2022, p. 146). The sample is general first-year students during the pandemic years, so do not read it as proof about international students alone, yet it supports a simple habit. Join one club or study group in weeks one to three, because belonging is easier to build before assignments start piling up.

Direct answer: Sometimes, but rarely and only through specific schemes. Australia Awards Scholarships cover full tuition fees and OSHC for eligible students from developing countries, mainly in the Indo-Pacific. Universities also offer merit scholarships, and the UK has the Northcote Postgraduate Scholarship. Rounds open periodically, so check dates.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade describes Australia Awards Scholarships as full-time undergraduate or postgraduate study at participating universities and TAFE institutions for people from developing countries, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Benefits include full tuition fees and OSHC for the duration of the award. Rounds open periodically and a past round may already be closed, so check the DFAT dates page rather than relying on an old calendar. Study Australia's scholarship page adds that Australian providers regularly offer scholarships to qualifying international students on academic merit, and that the Northcote Postgraduate Scholarship is aimed at UK students taking a higher degree at an Australian university for up to three years. A 100 per cent scholarship is the rare outcome, so plan your budget on the assumption that you will pay at least part of your costs.