Know before you go: Australia

Quick answer: Most visitors need an ETA or eVisitor (both cheap or free, valid for stays up to three months) applied for before departure, Australia runs on the Australian Dollar with near-universal card acceptance, and the safest, most comfortable months to visit are the shoulder seasons of March–May and September–November. Always confirm entry rules on the official Home Affairs site before you book, since requirements change.

Visa & entry

Nearly all foreign nationals need a visa or electronic travel authority before boarding their flight to Australia. There are three main pathways for short tourist or business trips:

• ETA (subclass 601): an electronic authorization that allows eligible passport holders to travel to Australia for tourism or business purposes, linked electronically to your passport and valid for multiple visits over a 12-month period, with each stay limited to three months. It is available to passport holders of Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States, as well as several European passport holders. You must apply through the official app; there is no Visa Application Charge for an ETA, but there is an application service fee of AUD20 to use the Australian ETA app.
• eVisitor (subclass 651): a free visa for multiple visits to Australia for tourism or business purposes for up to three months at a time within a 12-month period, available to passport holders from a number of European countries; it cannot be extended.
• Visitor visa (subclass 600): this visa allows you to visit Australia for tourism or business purposes and is open to all nationalities. Generally a period of stay of up to three months is granted, but up to 12 months may be granted in certain circumstances, and it carries an application fee.

Watch out for scam websites: be aware that third-party websites purporting to be associated with the Department of Home Affairs charge exorbitant fees, and ETAs can only be applied for using the official ETA app. Overstaying is taken seriously: if you overstay your ETA or any other visa, even for a few days, Australian immigration can detain you, deport you, and ban you from returning.

Because eligibility lists, fees and processing rules can change, always confirm your specific requirements on the Department of Home Affairs website before you travel.

Getting around

Australia’s cities each run their own transit smartcard, and cards generally do not work across cities: every major Australian city uses a different smartcard system, Opal in Sydney, Myki in Melbourne, go card in Brisbane, SmartRider in Perth and Metrocard in Adelaide, and none of these cards work in other cities. The good news for visitors is that contactless payment is spreading fast: Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth now accept contactless bank cards directly on readers, letting you tap your debit or credit card without a transport card, while Melbourne remains in final testing. Regardless of city, the golden rule is the same everywhere: always tap on and tap off, since forgetting to tap off results in the maximum fare being charged, and every city has daily and weekly fare caps that limit spending once you travel frequently enough.

Cash is essentially obsolete on transit: Australian public transport is entirely card-based, with almost no cash accepted on buses, trains, trams or ferries. In Melbourne specifically, contactless bank cards are rolling out in 2026, with Victoria in final testing of a tap-and-go system, so until it fully launches you should use a physical Myki or Mobile Myki. A nice perk for visitors: Melbourne’s entire CBD tram network is a Free Tram Zone, so no tapping is required within it. In Sydney, riding the ferry to Manly is both practical and scenic, using the same Opal fare as other transport modes.

Between cities, domestic flights, long-distance coaches and the famous scenic rail journeys (like the Ghan and Indian Pacific) cover Australia’s vast distances, while hire cars are useful for national parks, wine regions and the Outback, where distances between towns can be very large.

Money & costs

The official currency is the Australian Dollar (AUD), and Australia is highly card-friendly, with Visa, Mastercard, and contactless payments widely accepted. Still, it’s advisable to carry some cash for small purchases, local markets, and remote areas. For withdrawing cash, the best approach is usually withdrawing directly from ATMs using a travel card, since exchange booths at airports may offer lower rates, and it pays to compare fees before using international cards.

Tipping is not part of local culture the way it is in North America: hotels and restaurants do not add service charges to your bill and tipping is always your choice, though in upmarket restaurants it is common to tip waiters around 10 per cent of the bill for good service.

Prices you see are prices you pay: Australia has a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 10 per cent, and it is built into displayed prices rather than added at the till. Departing international visitors can potentially get some of it back: you may be able to claim a refund for the GST paid on goods if you have spent AUD$300 or more with a single business, no more than 60 days before departing Australia, with Tourist Refund Scheme facilities located in the departure area of international terminals. For budgeting, a useful mid-range benchmark is roughly AUD 220 to 380 per person per day for a mid-range trip, excluding international flights, with Sydney, reef trips and remote routes costing more. Card surcharges are also changing: surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa is being removed from 1 October 2026, though some businesses may still add a disclosed surcharge before that date.

Best time to visit

Australia’s size means “best time” depends heavily on where you’re going. In the temperate south (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania), the best all-round time to visit is autumn and spring, specifically May and September–October, because these periods coincide with the dry season in the tropics without being too cold in the southern cities. More broadly, in the south, spring (September–November) and autumn (March–May) offer great weather and smaller crowds than summer.

In the tropical north (Darwin, Kakadu, Cairns, the Kimberley), seasons run in reverse to what southern visitors expect: the dry season, from May to October, is characterized by clear skies, lower humidity and comfortable temperatures, making it the ideal time for outdoor activities and tourism, while the wet season, from November to April, brings heavy rainfall, high humidity and the possibility of cyclones, which can lead to road closures. Summer (December–February) is peak beach season in the south but also the hottest and most crowded stretch: summer is peak tourist season in Australia, and from December to February crowds enjoy hot, sunny days, with coastal hotels filling up fast. For wildlife-focused trips, note that May to November are the best months to see manta rays and July to November are great for sightings of humpback whales and dolphins.

Emergencies & safety

Triple Zero (000) is the primary emergency telephone number for Australia, overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority and intended only for life-threatening or time-critical emergencies requiring police, fire or ambulance. If you’re calling from a mobile, you can also dial the international standard emergency number 112, which will direct you to the same Triple Zero (000) service, though 000 is the only emergency number that can be dialled from fixed lines, including public payphones. Importantly for North American visitors, calling 911 will not direct you to emergency services in Australia, since it cannot be re-routed to Triple Zero. All emergency calls are free: these calls are free from any kind of phone. It’s also worth knowing you cannot contact 000 or 112 by text message. The Emergency+ smartphone app can help by sharing your GPS coordinates with operators if you don’t know your exact location.

On the health side, overseas visitors to Australia are required to pay for their treatment costs in hospital unless they hold a valid Medicare entitlement or a reciprocal health agreement covers them, and ambulance services are not covered by Medicare, so travel insurance with medical and ambulance cover is strongly recommended.

Day-to-day, Australia is considered very safe for tourists, with the main risks being environmental rather than criminal: Australia is one of the safest countries in the world for travellers, with violent crime targeting tourists extremely rare; the main safety considerations are environmental, including sun exposure, ocean rips at beaches, wildlife awareness in nature areas, and road hazards if driving at dawn or dusk. Always swim at patrolled beaches between the flags, use high-SPF sunscreen daily, and take care with wildlife and remote-area driving.

Official sources

• Department of Home Affairs, ImmiAccount and visa listings
• Australian ETA (subclass 601) official information
• Tourism Australia, official national tourism board
• Triple Zero (000), Australia’s emergency number
• Australian Taxation Office, Tourist Refund Scheme
• Transport for NSW, Opal card information
• Public Transport Victoria, Myki information