What's the cost of living in Australia?
What kind of day-to-day expenses am I looking at incurring while living in Australia? I'm looking at moving to Brisbane.
Reply from forum moderator 3 months ago on 7 October 2024.
2024 update: For food prices specifically, the ABC has recently published an interesting article comparing typical costs in NZ, Australia, UK and Ireland. NZ comes out the most expensive.
See the full article here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-30/grocery-prices-comparison-australia-and-beyond/104395632
Another thing to factor in for cost of living is Australians pay no income tax on the first $18,200 earned in a year. NZ has no tax free threshold. We've found that this can really help you feel like you are doing better over here than in NZ.
Hiya, i am about to move over to brisbane (in 3 weeks from today) and i have been all over this website looking for a place to stay until i can get my own. www.realestate.com.au
The housing is really good and you can get a really nice flat for about 200.00 a week. That usually includes rent, power, foxtel (our version of sky digital) ADSL2 (really really fast broadband).
Depending on what part you want to live in everything is relatively cheaper and is really easy to get around if you dont have a car. There are trains and buses for africa.
Hope this helps.
Its is more expensive, I think suga is still in the honey moon phase. Expect to pay at least $300 (Australian dollars) for a decent 2 bedroom .
Second hand cars here are suprisingly expensive. The adsl internet suga refers to is no faster than adsl 2 back in NZ, infact it is quite often slower and has more drop outs due to the increased number of people on one phone exchange. It can be a major pain getting new phonelines and internet on here as there are 2 main compainies that have 2 seperate lines that may or may not already be connected to your house. It took me 3 weeks to get the internet on.
Somethings are more expensive BUT you do generally earn more. Beer is really expensive compared with NZ. A six pack of Becks or Stella can run over $27 NZD!!!
Food is about the same price, furniture and electronics are cheaper, cars much more expensive. Clothes are around the same. Housing is also pricey where I am (Gold Coast) but we just got the first home buyers grant and where able to get a really nice place for about $800k NZD. Avergae price to buy a house on the Gold Coast in an average area would be around $600k NZD. Other parts of OZ are cheaper for housing but I love the Gold Coast!
There are more TV channels here and most broadcast in HiDef 720p and sometimes 1080p as well as SD quality. You will need to buy a HD box ($200) if you bring a TV from NZ and want HD signals.
The only thing I would warn you against is that you will notice people are not shy about voicing thier opinions on race relations if asked, it can be a shock at times. There is not anywhere same the level of pride and respect we have with most things Maori back home here with Aboriginal peoples. Thats the only main gripe I have here.
On a positive note with so many kiwis coming over you can usually find a diary closebuy that has L&P and maybe even some Pineapple Lumps :-) My local bottle shop even has Montieths.
FOOD CHEAPER, POWER $100 A MONTH, VEHICLE REGO $800 A YEAR. PHONE SAME AS NZ. WE FEED OUR FAMILY ON $200 A WEEK, HEAPS OF FRUIT AND VEGES ETC.INSURANCE HOUSE/CONTENTS $600 A YEAR, VEHICLE INSURANCE $400-500 A YEAR