Banking and paying in Australia: open your account within six weeks, then your passport is enough

Opening an Australian bank account is simple, provided you do it quickly: in the first six weeks after your arrival your passport is the only identity document a bank needs. After that it asks for at least two documents, one of them with a photograph or signature, and a newcomer doesn't have those yet. The account itself isn't a luxury but a condition: almost every employer and every government scheme pays straight into an Australian account, not in cash or by cheque.

What do you need, and when?

The Australian Department of Home Affairs says it without ceremony: open an account within six weeks of arrival, because then your passport suffices. After those six weeks you need at least two identity documents, and one of them, such as a driving licence, must show a photograph or signature. Whoever doesn't open an account in the first weeks therefore first has to exchange their driving licence or build up other Australian documents before the bank cooperates.

What	Rule	Source
Opening an account within 6 weeks of arrival	your passport only	Home Affairs
Opening an account after 6 weeks	at least 2 identity documents, 1 of them with a photograph or signature	Home Affairs
Tax File Number	free, online, 24 hours a day; with passport details and an Australian address; by mail within 28 days	Home Affairs
Salary and government payments	straight into your Australian account	Home Affairs
Protection of your balance	the Australian government's Financial Claims Scheme at banks, building societies and credit unions	APRA

Many banks let you set up the account online before departure; you then do the identification with your passport at a branch after arrival. How that fits into the order of your first days is in the article on your first two weeks.

Which bank, and what does an account cost?

Australia has four big banks and besides them a range of local and foreign banks, building societies and credit unions. The department gives one practical piece of advice: read the terms and conditions, because many institutions charge operating fees and different accounts do different things. The regulator APRA keeps the list of all institutions allowed to take deposits, and the Australian government's Financial Claims Scheme protects deposits with banks, building societies and credit unions if such an institution fails. So look not only at the app but also at whether your bank is on that list.

Don't give your Tax File Number to everyone who asks for it. Only certain organisations may legally request it: your employer, your bank, the tax office. The number is the key to your tax file, and Home Affairs expressly warns new arrivals about it.

The Tax File Number belongs with the account

Shortly after arrival you register with the Australian Taxation Office for a Tax File Number, a unique number for identification and record keeping. You need it to claim government benefits, to receive income from an employer and to be eligible for a tertiary education loan. The fastest way is online, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, with your passport details and an Australian address; the number arrives by mail within 28 days from the day the ATO receives your application. As soon as you have a job, you give your employer your account details and your TFN; without a TFN the pay doesn't run properly. Whoever earns income then completes an income tax return with the ATO every financial year.

Paying in daily life

Nearly all businesses accept several means of payment: cash, cheques, debit and credit cards and electronic funds transfer. For rent, energy and phone the other party wants an Australian account; for your Dutch obligations, from pension to tax return, you keep your Dutch account, as the article on bank account and DigiD explains. Transfer between the two with the rate and the costs in view; Australia falls outside the EU rules for cheap euro payments.

If you want to invoice as a self-employed person, a second number comes in: the Australian Business Number, eleven digits, free to apply for at the Australian Business Register. It doesn't replace your TFN, but you need it to invoice, to avoid tax being withheld on payments and to claim GST credits; working in Australia explains when you need it.

What the bank doesn't tell you: the waiting period for benefits

An Australian account and a TFN make you a customer of the tax office, not of the social security system. Centrelink, the agency that pays benefits, generally makes new arrivals wait until they have lived in Australia as a permanent resident for up to four years, and for the age and disability pensions ten years apply. Whoever arrives without work therefore has to be able to support themselves and their family; count that into the budget you drew up in the journey to Australia.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.6: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Australia or go straight to step 5.6 in the open plan.