Visitor information about Australia for travelers

Travelers tips and information about Australia for visitors, including credit cards,
currency, trading hours, public holidays, medical services and electricity supply.

Official Language:
Australian English

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General Information about Australia for Visitors

Credit Cards

Major credit cards such as Mastercard/Eurocard, JCB, VISA and its variations are accepted in most retail and service outlets, with charge cards American Express and Diner's Club, also accepted by many outlets. Kiwi visitors can also use their Bankcards.

Most banks and other financial institutions have 24 hour Automatic Teller Machine (ATM or "hole in the wall") access to funds. Visitors with major credit cards and an activated PIN (Personal Identification Number) may withdraw cash from ATM's where the logo is displayed. American Express and Diners Club card holders will need to confirm availability and activate your PIN with your local office prior to departure.

You will also find that many retailers, including rural businesses, also have Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) facilities. Most major credit cards can be used at these facilities as long as you have an activated PIN prior to departure.

To be certain, please check with your credit card company for further details before travelling.

Currency

The national currency of Australia is the Australian dollar ($AU). One Australian dollar = 100 cents. Coins in circulation are 5c 10c 20c 50c $1 and $2. Bank notes in circulation are $5 $10 $20 $50 and $100. The bank notes are mostly now rather space age plastic bills in enthusiastic colours and sporting clear windows and holograms!

Australian currency is the only legal tender. Most foreign currencies and travelers cheques are easily exchanged in banks and exchange offices. Major hotels often have exchange facilities. A Goods and Services tax (G.S.T.) of 10% was introduced on July 1 2000 for transactions within Australia.

For our North American visitors, a "check" is something you do to make sure everything is OK, or it's a pattern you wear, it's not something you write for payment. Here that's a "cheque", as in "we accept cheques with ID" or "No cheques accepted or cashed".

Currency exchange outlets are open from Monday to Friday 9:am to 6:30pm or 7:pm, and on Saturdays 9:am to 7:pm at major airports and exchange bureaus in major tourist destinations. Some are also open on Sundays.

Coming from Overseas? Use the Personal Currency Assistant to get a conversion for your currency, (a pop-up window will appear).

Electricity Supply

The electricity supply is 240 volt AC, 50 Hz. Three (3) pin plugs, with the active and neutral pins at about 30° to the vertical earth pin (/|\), are the standard sockets.

Medical Attention

Australia has reciprocal arrangements with the UK, New Zealand, Sweden, Malta, Italy, the Netherlands and Finland.

Personal health insurance is strongly recommended for all travelers.

No vaccinations or health certificates are required for entry into Australia unless you intend to stay for more than 12 months or are over 70 years of age. You are advised to bring medications regularly required. If you need to get medication during your stay, a prescription must be obtained from a doctor and dispensed by a chemist (pharmacy or drug store).

Unless you are in a remote area, medical treatment is readily available. If you become ill or have an accident, your tour operator or accommodation will call a doctor. You will have to pay for treatment. Depending on who you go to, a doctor's consultation will cost $20-$40 and prescriptions will cost from around $20 per item.

Chemists are open at regular shopping hours, 9:am to 5:pm, but every major town has at least one 24-hour pharmacy. Standard medical items such as band-aids and aspirin are readily available from service (petrol) stations, general stores, supermarkets, chemists etc..

If you are hospitalised, expect to pay from $600 per day for your bed and anywhere from $200 to $2000 for surgery, depending on the operation. For emergency medical service, dial 000 and ask for the ambulance service.

If you intend to go to a remote area, drive off the beaten track or go bushwalking without a knowledgeable local guide, please make sure that at the very least, you let someone know when you are expected back.

Even in populated areas, people can get lost or come to harm. Our (mostly volunteer) emergency services don't enjoy rescuing ill prepared visitors, who have failed to make adequate preparations for their excusions or ignored warnings; whether it's a day trip climbing Mount Warning, or a safari into the Great Sandy Desert. At the very least, please make sure a schedule detailing your expected route with approximate departure and arrival times is left with your accommodation or another reliable contact.

Australia has one of the best civil emergency systems in the world. Each state has the State Emergency Services (SES) or equivalent, Coastal waters and Beach (surf lifesaving) Patrols, Rural Bush Fire Brigades and Rescue Helicopter services, while the Royal Flying Doctor Service serves the more remote and outback areas.

A good percentage of the funding, sometimes most of it, and much of the people power for these services comes from the local communities they serve. If you are involved in an emergency and get instructions from a member of these services, please listen to them.

Postal Services and Mail

You will find Post Offices in most suburbs and towns, open from 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday-Friday, with some open on Saturday from 9:00am -11:30am. &In rural areas and villages the general store can also provide most standard postal services.

Australia Post offices have been gradually upgraded over the last five years to provide a range of postal services and stationery related products. You'll find everything from local scenic postcards through to cassette recordings and calendars of the natives. Plus of course, stamps (domestic .50 cents, international from .80 cents), envelopes and delivery boxes of all sizes, and telegram or facsimile services!

Australian Public Holidays

Banks, offices and shops are closed on the following public holidays:

January 1 New Year's Day
January 26, Australia Day, commemorating the date of the landing of the "First Fleet" of British convicts, their gaolers, livestock and supplies in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) in New South Wales.
March/April, Easter., Both Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays in Australia. However, the multi-cultural nature of Australia (more than 120 nationalities and ethnic origins) means that Easter or Passover maybe celebrated by the Christian, Orthodox and Jewish communities at different times, affecting individual businesses and communities accordingly.
April 25, Anzac Day. Originally a commemoration of the sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli in Turkey during WWI, Anzac Day now commemorates not only the memory of all those servicemen and women who died during war in the service of their country, but also service in United Nations operations. Australian personal, (or a representative family member), who have served in the Boer War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia and Easter Timor, march out on parade after a dawn service at local memorials to the fallen.
June 9, Queen's Birthday. Despite Her Majesty's birthday actually being on April 21, all states with the exception of Western Australia, which takes off a day in late September, officially celebrate her birthday on June 9th.
August 4, Bank Holiday.In New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory only.
October 6, Labour Day In NSW, ACT, and SA only. QLD and NT celebrate May 5, VIC March 10, and TAS and WA on March 3.
December 25, Christmas Day
December 26, Boxing Day. That greatest of Australian Boxing Day traditions, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, starts the day off with flying colours in Sydney Harbour.

Telecommunications

Australia has re-organised its telecommunications numbering system from 6 and 7 digit local numbers to a uniform 8 digit local number, and reducing more than 50 two and three digit STD (area) codes to just four. (02) for NSW, (03) for VIC and TAS, (08) for SA, WA and the NT, and (07) for QLD, although anomolies occur in VIC/NSW/QLD state border areas. (See the Big Volcano Visitor directory to see what we mean!)

Calls to Australia: The country code for Australia is 61. When you dial an Australian number from overseas, if you see a zero before the STD code, ignore it. After your country's international access code, dial 61 then the STD code followed by the phone number. EG: 02 + xxxx xxxx becomes 61 + 2 + xxxx xxxx. Visit our supporters and advertisers to see working examples.

If you wish to make an international call from within Australia, follow the instructions provided or simply dial 0011 then the country code, area code and the local number. You can make reverse charge, person to person and point to point calls via the operator for an extra charge to most countries.

Public Telephones are reasonably numerous in built up areas, and in most larger centres you will find public phones that accept coins and prepaid phone cards, or are designed for credit cards and utility charge cards. Phones lowered for people in wheelchairs are generally also found where more than two public telephones are available.

Mobile (cell) phones: Australia has completed a transition from analogue to digital mobile coverage. In hilly terrain and outside major metropolitan and built-up inland areas, you may not be able to make or receive digital mobile calls. Coastal and built up areas generally have good reception, but there are black spots even in the cities.

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