Living Expenses
Living expenses in Melbourne and Sydney
Sydney
As a student visa holder, you will be required to have approximately AUD$20,290 per person per year for living expenses, as advised by the Australian Government. However, the actual cost depends on your individual lifestyle and you should budget for approximately AUD$25,000 per year per adult. Remember, your living expenses are separate from your tuition fees. To give you some more guidance on current living expenses, here are a few websites which will help you understand today’s market.
https://www.sydneymovingguide.com/the-cost-of-living-in-sydney/
Melbourne
Melbourne is the second most expensive city in Australia, coming in just after Sydney. However, for students who need to stick to a budget and a lowcost of living, there are plenty of opportunities to save money in the city, particularly when it comes to life’s ‘nonessentials’. Here are a few websites which will help you further understand Melbourne’s living expenses.
https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/melbourne
https://insiderguides.com.au/cost-of-living-calculator/
In order to further understand the variance of living expenses between cities of AMTC locations, here is a great website to compare expenses between cities in Australia –
https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/interactives/costofliving/compare/melbourne-vs-sydney
Annual living costs amounts for students, guardians and accompanying family members
On 23 October 2019, the annual living costs amounts for students, guardians and accompanying family members was updated in line with Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases to mitigate the risk of visa holders falling into financial hardship during their stay in Australia.
The following annual living costs and expenses was updated:
- for a primary applicant: an increase from AUD $20,292 to AUD $21,041
- for a spouse or de facto partner of the primary applicant: an increase from AUD $7,100 to AUD $7,362
- for a dependent child: an increase from AUD $3,040 to AUD $3,152
- annual school costs: an increase from AUD $8,000 to AUD $8,296
- personal annual income if there is no secondary applicant: an increase from AUD $60,000 to AUD $62,222
- personal annual income where there is a secondary applicant: an increase from AUD $70,000 to AUD $72,592
Future financial capacity evidence requirement updates will be made on an annual basis in line with the CPI increases, with implementation at the end of each financial year.
Adjustments in the CPI are provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). We expect the next increase will occur after July 2020.