Know before you go: Australia

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 authorisation that allows multiple visits to Australia over a 12-month validity, with each stay limited to 3 months. Eligible countries include the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong SAR, and several other passport holders, plus most of Europe and the UK. You apply through the official Australian ETA app; the ETA carries a small service charge of about AUD $20, with no separate visa application charge.
• eVisitor (subclass 651): a free visa for citizens of certain mostly European countries that allows multiple visits to Australia over a 12-month validity, with each stay limited to 3 months. Every EU member state is eligible for the eVisitor, including Malta, alongside the UK, Norway, Switzerland and a handful of other European states. The Subclass 651 eVisitor Visa has no visa application charge, and it cannot be extended.
• Visitor visa (subclass 600): open to all nationalities not covered by the above, for tourism or business purposes. The Visitor visa (subclass 600) tourist stream starts from AUD 250.00 for an application made outside Australia; a period of up to three months is typical, though longer stays can be granted in some circumstances.

Watch out for scam websites: third-party sites that look official will charge inflated fees, so only apply through the Australian ETA app or the Department of Home Affairs’ ImmiAccount. Overstaying is taken seriously: it can lead to detention, deportation and a ban on returning, even for a short overstay.

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

Australia’s cities each run their own transit smartcard, and cards generally do not work across cities: Opal in Sydney, Myki in Melbourne, go card in Brisbane, SmartRider in Perth and Metrocard in Adelaide. The good news for visitors is that contactless payment is spreading fast: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth now accept contactless bank cards directly on readers, letting you tap a debit or credit card without buying a transport card (in Melbourne this covers trains, trams and buses, and concession holders can link their concession to a card or phone online or simply keep using myki). Regardless of city, always tap on, and tap off too in most networks, since forgetting to tap off where required triggers the maximum fare; every city also has daily or weekly fare caps that reward frequent travel.

Cash is essentially obsolete on transit, with almost no buses, trains, trams or ferries accepting coins or notes. 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 such as the Ghan and Indian Pacific cover Australia’s vast distances, while hire cars are useful for national parks, wine regions and the Outback, where towns can be hours apart.

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 worth carrying some cash for small purchases, local markets and remote areas. For cash, withdrawing directly from ATMs with a travel-friendly card usually beats airport exchange booths, so compare fees before you go.

Tipping is optional rather than expected: restaurants and hotels do not add automatic service charges, though rounding up or tipping around 10 per cent for great service in upmarket restaurants is appreciated, not required.

Prices you see are prices you pay: Australia’s 10 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) is built into displayed prices. Departing international visitors may be able to claim some of it back through the Tourist Refund Scheme: spend at least AUD 300 (including GST) with one business or ABN, buy the items no more than 60 days before you leave Australia, and claim on your departure day, at TRS facilities in the international terminal. A useful mid-range budgeting benchmark is roughly AUD 220 to 380 per person per day, excluding international flights, with Sydney, reef trips and remote routes costing more. Card surcharges have also changed: from 1 October 2026, businesses can no longer add a surcharge for payments made using Visa, Mastercard, American Express and eftpos cards, so the price on the till should now be the final price almost everywhere.

Australia’s size means “best time” depends heavily on where you’re going. In the temperate south (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania), spring (September–November) and autumn (March–May) offer great weather and smaller crowds than summer, avoiding both winter chill and peak-season congestion. Summer (December–February) is peak beach season but also the hottest and busiest stretch, with coastal hotels filling up fast.

In the tropical north (Darwin, Kakadu, Cairns, the Kimberley), seasons run in reverse: the dry season from May to October brings clear skies and comfortable temperatures, ideal for outdoor activities, while the wet season from November to April brings heavy rain, humidity and the chance of cyclones, which can close roads. For wildlife-focused trips, May to November is good for manta rays, and July to November is prime time for humpback whale and dolphin sightings.

Triple Zero (000) is Australia’s primary emergency number, for police, fire or ambulance in life-threatening or time-critical situations. From a mobile you can also dial the international standard 112, which routes to the same Triple Zero service; 000 remains the only number that works from fixed lines and payphones. Calling 911 will not reach Australian emergency services. All emergency calls are free, and you cannot contact 000 or 112 by text message; the Emergency+ app can share your GPS location with operators if you’re unsure where you are.

Overseas visitors must pay for hospital treatment unless they hold a valid Medicare entitlement or come from a country with a reciprocal health agreement, and ambulance costs 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: sun exposure, ocean rips at beaches, wildlife in nature areas, and road hazards when driving at dawn or dusk, especially around wildlife. Swim only at patrolled beaches between the flags, use high-SPF sunscreen daily, and take extra care with remote-area driving.