comet555

Hi everyone,

My daughter, age 17, will be moving back to Oz around Oct this year (if all goes well). She is hoping to find a room to rent and a job to earn enough to just cover basic expenses. She will be headed to either Brisbane or Canberra for uni and will start in March 2022. She does have citizenship and we previously lived in Oz from 2007-2010.

Questions:

1. Given that she’ll be 17 when she arrives and will turn 18 a few months later, will she have any difficulties finding a a room to rent, signing up for Medicare, etc? She will only need a temporary place for about 5 months.

2. What is the job situation like for a high school graduate? She’s just looking to make enough to cover basic expenses so she can get settled before uni starts. She’d be open to a wide variety of jobs and I’m assuming she’d be at minimum wage.

The initial plan is for her to fly into Brisbane around end of September or October and work for about 5 months and play some ice hockey before uni starts. If she gets into ANU in Canberra she’d have to move down there, and if it’s Brisbane she’d need to move into on campus accommodation.

I’m just looking for feedback on the work situation in Brisbane and Canberra and if there is any other input in general. Thanks!

okonumiyaki

1. Her age isn't an issue (assuming she has cash for deposit) But the length may be - could be hard to find a room for that short term. Look on Gumtree etc. She might have to end up in a series of Airbnb

2. Very good. Because there is a jump in minimum wage at 21, many places only want 'juniors' Plus the lack of backpackers means lots of casual work around (cafes/ fast food/ fruit picking etc) Around 20 dollars an hour (pre tax).

comet555

Thank you! I was hoping she could rent short-term room at one of the universities, I know Griffith did have spaces they would rent to non-enrolled students on a short-term basis (this seems to be on hold now with the pandemic). I Will also check out Unilodge and see if there are openings there, I suspect there would be with so many international students not able to attend school. It's good to know that could be an issue though as I can do a lot of looking here to line stuff up before she arrives. She worked a couple of months last summer and will also have about 6 months to work here before she lives so she'll definitely have money saved up to last her a bit if needed. Preferably she'll be working right away though to pay for expenses rather than burn through her money for university!

I have a few friends in the Brisbane area (parents of her classmates from way back), so I can always ask around and see if anyone wants to rent a room out for a few months. Not holding my breath though, but it would be handy.

Happy to hear about the work situation though. Hopefully, she can find something quickly just to pay for rent and food.

rammygirl

Check out flatmates and flat shares apps. Often they are pretty flexible and it is also a good way to meet new people. My son manages to live independently in a house share with part time cafe work whilst at uni.

brits1

Just out of curiosity will your daughter be paying overseas student fees or has she not been away from Australia that long? Good luck with everything and I hope all works out for her.

comet555

From all of my research, she will be paying domestic fees provided she gets into a CSP (commonwealth-supported place). It sounds like all (or most) offers for undergraduate degrees are for commonwealth-supported places.

She's a citizen so it doesn't seem to matter if she's been away for a while. Also, not that it's relevant for university but her plan is to move back permanently and her degree is fairly specific to Australia and that's where her work will be.

comet555

Thank you! I had a look around and I'm feeling a lot better. There seem to be lots of affordable places and a bunch were even available on a shorter term as well.

brits1

That's great news I had just wanted to know if Australia did the "classed as an overseas student" and then have to pay international fee's if they had been out of the country for a period if time as they do here in the UK, I will forward that info on to a friend. Good luck to your daughter and I hope her plans work out

joeyballantyne

Hi - your daughter is an oz citizen so shouldn't have to pay any fees upfront - she will be eligible for the HELP (hecs) student loan - that's if she wants it, saves using her own money, won't have to make any repayments til she's earning around $900 a week, and will pay around a minimum of $10 a week, of course more if she wants to

ossigeno

I know going the other way, i.e. back to the UK, the student needs to have completed at least the previous 2 years in high school to be considered a domestic student even with a British passport.