Getting to Australia

Planning a trip to Australia?

We’ve compiled the practical travel information you need, including visas, customs, duty-free shopping, and insurance.

Flights

Many airlines fly to Australia and prices vary considerably, so it pays to shop around for a flight. Consider the length of the flight and any mandatory stopovers. Start by contacting the major airlines or your local Aussie Specialist travel agent.

Visas

Unless you are an Australian or New Zealand citizen, you will need a visa to enter Australia. New Zealand passport holders can apply for a visa upon arrival in the country. All other passport holders must apply for a visa before leaving home. You can apply for a range of visas, including tourist visas and working holiday visas, at your nearest Australian Consulate. For more detailed information go to the Australian government Visas & Immigration website.

Customs and Quarantine

Australia’s customs laws prevent you from bringing drugs, steroids, weapons, firearms and protected wildlife into Australia. Some common items such as fresh or packaged food, fruit, eggs, meat, plants, seeds, skins and feathers are also prohibited. There is no limit on currency but you will need to declare amounts over $10,000. For more detailed information go to the Australian government Customs & Quarantine page.

Medications

Medicine brought into Australia for personal use is subject to controls and must be declared on your arrival. It is recommended you bring a prescription or letter from your doctor outlining your medical condition and the medicine you are carrying. For more detailed information go to the Medicare Australia website.

Insurance

Taking out a travel insurance policy that covers theft, loss, accidents and medical problems is highly recommended. If you plan on doing any adventure sports like scuba diving, bungee jumping, motorcycling, skiing and even bushwalking, check that your policy fully covers you. The Australian Government has reciprocal agreements covering limited subsidised health services for medical treatment with some countries through Medicare. For more detailed information go to the Medicare Australia website.

Duty Free Shopping

You can go duty free shopping once you’ve purchased your airline ticket. There is a limit on how much you can bring into the country including the quantities of alcohol and cigarettes. You’ll need to declare goods exceeding this limit at Customs. Also be aware of restrictions on the quantity of fluid you can take on board. For more detailed information go to the Australian Customs website.

Airport Transfer

All of Australia’s international airports have regular public transport such as bus, train and taxi connections and private transfers with the city centres. Shuttle buses are also available and provide transfers to accommodation.

Cruise

Many international cruise ships visit Australia’s cities, and there are opportunities to take tours and rejoin the ship or stay longer and fly back home. Most cruise ships visit Australian shores during the summer months.

Australian Climate

Australia’s climate varies across the continent, from hot and tropical in the far north to cool and even snowy in the south. Our seasons are the opposite to those in the northern hemisphere. Between December and February is summer for most of the country, and the wet season in the tropical north. The Australian winter from June to August is generally mild, but offers snow in the southern mountain regions and dry, sunny days in our northern states. It’s important to protect yourself from the Australian sun with a hat, shirt and SPF15+ sunscreen. For more detailed information go to the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology.

Time Zones

Australia has three time zones: Eastern Standard Time (EST) for the eastern states, Central Standard Time (CST) for the Northern Territory and South Australia and Western Standard Time (WST) for Western Australia. CST is half an hour behind EST and WST is two hours behind EST.

Daylight Saving

Most Australian states wind their clocks forward an hour during the Daylight Saving period. New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia do this from the beginning of October to the beginning of April. In Western Australia, Daylight Saving lasts from the end of October to end of March. The Northern Territory and Queensland don’t have Daylight Saving.

Vaccinations

You don’t require vaccinations unless you have come from, or have visited a yellow fever infected country within six days of your arrival. Read the Australian Government Yellow fever fact sheets.

Useful Travel Tips

Currency, communications, health and safety and shopping are all important aspects of planning your trip to Australia. If you have a disability or will be travelling with someone who has special needs, you also need to know about the facilities on offer.

Our Landscape (A wide, brown land)

Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. It's about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometre.

Beach Paradise

Australia’s coastline stretches almost 50,000 kilometres and is linked by over 10,000 beaches, more than any other country in the world. More than 85 per cent of Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast, making it an integral part of our laid-back lifestyle.

Our Island Home

Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying islands. The mainland is the largest island and the world’s smallest, flattest continent.

Our Exports

Opals in our eyes Australia produces 95 per cent of the world's precious opals and 99 per cent of its black opals. The world’s opal capital is the quirky underground town of Coober Pedy in South Australia. The world’s largest opal, weighing 5.27 kilograms, was found here in 1990.

Gold Galore

Kalgoorlie in Western Australia is Australia's largest producer of gold. It also embraces the world's largest political electorate, covering a mammoth 2.2 million square kilometres.

Merinos and Cattle Calls

Australia's 85.7 million sheep (mostly merinos) produce most of the world's wool. With 25.4 million head of cattle, Australia is also the world's largest exporter of beef.

Our Record-Breakers

Natural legends Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef is home to the world’s largest oyster, weighing up to 3 kilograms, while the world’s longest earthworm, stretching up to 4 metres, is found in Gippsland in Victoria. The heaviest crab, weighing up to 14 kilograms, is found in Bass Strait near Tasmania. Australia’s tallest mountain is Mt Kosciuszko, which is 2,228 metres above sea level.

Longest Road, Rail and Fence

The world’s longest piece of straight railway track stretches 478 kilometres across South Australia’s vast, treeless Nullarbor Plain. Australia’s longest stretch of straight road - 148 kilometres – is on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It’s just a tiny portion of the 2,700 kilometre sealed road that takes travelers from Perth to Adelaide. The world's longest continuous fence – the dingo fence – was built to keep sheep safe from Australia's native dog and runs for 5,531 kilometres through central Queensland and South Australia.

Our Flora and Fauna

A hopping icon The iconic kangaroo is unique to Australia and one of our most easily recognised mammals. There are an estimated 40 million kangaroos in Australia, more than when Australia was first settled.

Unique Wildlife

Australia developed a unique fauna when it broke away from the super-continent Gondwana more than 50 million years ago. Today Australia is home to a wealth of wildlife not found anywhere else in the world. We have around 800 species of birds, half of which are unique to this country. Our marine environments contain more than 4,000 fish varieties and tens of thousands of species of invertebrates, plants and micro-organisms. About 80 per cent of Australia's southern marine species are found nowhere else in the world.

Flourishing Flora

Australia also supports at least 25,000 species of plants, compared to 17,500 in Europe. That includes living fossils like the Wollemi pine and the grass tree, and brilliant wildflowers. There are over 12,000 species in Western Australia alone!

Our People and Culture (An ethnic melting pot)

Since 1945 more than six million people from across the world have come to Australia to live. Today, more than 20 per cent of Australians are foreign born and more than 40 per cent are of mixed cultural origin. In our homes we speak 226 languages - after English, the most popular are Italian, Greek, Cantonese and Arabic.

Big Country, Big Ideas

Australians invented notepads (1902), the surf lifesaving reel (1906), aspirin (1915), the pacemaker (1926), penicillin (1940) the Hills Hoist clothesline (1946), the plastic disposable syringe (1949), the wine cask (1965), the bionic ear (1978), dual-flush toilet flush (1980) anti-counterfeiting technology for banknotes (1992) and long-wearing contact lenses (1999).

Aboriginal Advances

Believed to be the world’s oldest civilization, Aboriginal people have lived and thrived on this continent for more than 50,000 years. Aboriginal societies made many unique advances long before the Europeans arrived. They invented the aerodynamic boomerang and a type of spear thrower called the woomera. They were also the first society to ground edges on stone cutting tools and the first to use stone tools to grind seeds, everyday tools developed only much later by other societies.