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Living in MelbourneMelbourne is known for its safe, clean environment; its affordable cost of living; extensive public transport system; pleasant climate and the quality of its housing and education. Melbourne’s three million residents come from all over the world, and their cultural, religious and racial backgrounds are celebrated in both festivals and day-to-day life. Accommodation Students can choose to share and/or rent: an apartment, flat or house, student apartment complexes, hostels or live with an Australian family in a Homestay. RMIT can help you find accommodation. Climate Melbourne has four distinct seasons. Summer is dry with warm to hot daytime temperatures averaging 28 degrees C (82 degrees F). Winter is cold, crisp and wet with daytime temperatures averaging 14 degrees C (57 degrees F). Communications At post offices you can post letters, make international phone calls and send faxes. A private telephone can be connected quickly and local calls are not metered. Mobile (cell) phones are easily available and networks are extensive. Internet access is convenient and easily available. Overseas and local language newspapers are also readily available. Cost of Living The standard of living is amongst the highest in the world. It is an affordable city in which to live with living costs being considerably less expensive than some other Australian cities and that of the United State of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK). Working in Australia International students who wish to work part-time must obtain a student work permit visa after their studies have commenced. Entertainment, events and recreation Many international events are held in Melbourne and Victoria including comedy festivals, Antipodes (Greek) Festival, the Australian Tennis Open, World Series Cricket, Melbourne Fashion Festival, Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Commonwealth Games in 2006. Finance Banking is easy and convenient with international banks such as The Hong Kong Shanghai Bank based in the city centre. Australian banks such as ANZ, Bank of Melbourne, Commonwealth, National Australia Bank and Westpac Bank have services located in both the city and suburban centres. The Australian dollar ($ or AUD) is the unit of currency and 100 cents = $1. Use the online currency converter to work out the exchange rate with your currency. Food Markets and supermarkets sell a variety of fresh meat, fruit and vegetables as well as rice, breads, spices and other ingredients. Halal and kosher foods are available. Melbourne’s restaurants and cafes offer a wide variety of foods from around the world, including Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Ethiopian, Brazilian, Malaysian, Greek, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Lebanese, French and Indonesian. Shopping Central Melbourne and its suburbs have many large shopping centres, department stores, discount stores, markets and supermarkets which can be reached easily by public transport. Transport Melbourne has an extensive public transport of buses, trains and trams. All RMIT University campuses have easy access to the transport system. The city campus is close to major bus, rail and tram routes. As Melbourne is a well-planned city it is easy to travel in by car. Cars travel on the left side of the road. Drivers can use their home country licences for three months from the date of entry to Australia. An international licence can be used providing the licence from the country of origin is also valid. More information |
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