Australia’s currency is the Australian dollar, or “buck”, divided into 100 cents. Plastic notes with forgery-proof clear windows come in $100, $50, $20, $10 and $5 denominations, along with $2, $1, 50¢, 20¢, 10¢ and 5¢ coins.
Exchange rates fluctuate around an over-the-counter rate of A$2.54 for £1; A$1.58 for US$1; A$1.05 for CDN$1.
Hostel accommodation will set you back $15–20 a person, while a double room in an inexpensive motel costs between $35 and $50 – most, though, are in the $50–70 and up bracket. Food, on the whole, is good value: counter meals in hotels rarely cost more than $10; restaurants cost upwards of $20 for a reasonable three-course feed, and many let you BYO (Bring Your Own) wine or beer. Buying your own ingredients is not always the cheapest way to eat in the bigger cities, where there’s sure to be a range of budget diners and food halls, but overall you’ll save; meat and fresh seasonal produce are generally inexpensive. For a nation of sociable boozers, drinking out is surprisingly costly – around $2.50 or more for a beer – compared with buying in bulk from a bottle shop.
Given the size of the country, transport can make a major dent in your budget and is perhaps the area in which you’re most likely to overspend. Pre-planning helps – an open-jaw plane ticket, for example, saves you having to get back to where you started; or pay a little extra for an international flight that gives you some discounted internal fares. There are also a huge variety of bus and train passes available overseas.
Driving yourself may not always save money, but it does give you a great deal more flexibility. Finding passengers willing to share costs is one way to minimize expenses and is usually not too difficult – try the notice boards at hostels and other meeting places. Buying a used car will, realistically, set you back $4000 or more for a mechanically sound vehicle with a reasonable resale value, but even $1000 should buy something that will get you around – if not in the greatest of style. Renting a car starts at $25 a day for local rental to at least $65 a day for longer distances. Fuel averages 70¢ a litre, but with substantial local variations.
Banks
Banking hours are Monday to Thursday 9.30am to 4pm, Friday 9.30am to 5pm, though in country areas some agencies will be open later, and some big-city branches might also have extended hours; autotellers or ATMs are generally open 24 hours. Bureaux de change are only found in major tourist centres and airports, so make sure you exchange your currency during banking hours. All post offices act as Commonwealth Bank agents, which means there’s a fair chance of changing money even in the smallest Outback settlements – withdrawals at these places are often limited by a lack of ready cash, however, though less remote post offices may even have EFTPOS facilities.
Exchange facilities are available for all incoming and outgoing flights at all international airports in Australia Changing foreign currency or traveler's checks can be done quickly and efficiently at most banks. For the current Australian exchange rate please use the Currency Converter
If you’re spending some time in Australia – say a month or more – and plan to work or move around, it makes life a great deal easier if you open a bank account. To do this you’ll need to take along every piece of ID documentation you own (a passport may not be enough), though it’s otherwise a fairly straightforward process. The Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are the most widespread options, and their passbook accounts are easy enough to obtain; if you can, however, opt for a keycard account as a keycard gives you access not only to ATM machines but also anywhere that offers EFTPOS facilities (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale). This includes many Outback service stations and supermarkets, where you can use your card to pay directly for goods; some of them will also give you cash.
International money transfers can be made from any bank in Australia to a nominated bank abroad and cost approximately A$25. Transfers can take anywhere from a few days to several months. For moneygrams, you can make arrangements with either American Express Moneygram (within Sydney tel 02/9886 0666; elsewhere free tel 1800/230 100) or Western Union (within Brisbane tel 07/3229 8610).
Travellers’ cheques, credit and cash cards
Credit cards can come in very handy as a backup source of funds, and they can even save on exchange-rate commissions. They can also be used to leave a deposit – for example, for a rental car or a hotel booking – even if you settle the final bill with cash. MasterCard and Visa are the most widely recognized; you can also use Amex, Bankcard and Diners Club. Supermarkets tend not to take credit cards at all. In addition, with an international debit card you may be able to pay for goods via EFTPOS and gain direct access to your home funds via ATM machines displaying the Cirrus-Maestro symbol. As a flat rate is charged for these transactions, this can work out to be cheaper than travellers’ cheques for large sums – check with your bank before leaving.