Getting an Australian bank account

[jagracer]

My daughter is off to Australia in August where she'll be working for at least a year. Would she be able to open a bank account before she goes or wait until she gets there, she'll need somewhere for her salary to be paid into which I suppose will start the month after she gets there.

[foodie]

I opened a NAB account online and verified in the UK- my account was opened and my cash card and debit card were waiting for me when I got out there.

J

[durbster]

She basically needs an Australian postal address and stloads of decent ID. The ID is done on points and I was struggling because I only had a paper driving licence with no photo. The account is still open actually, not sure what to do with it.

If you can do it from the UK it might be easier though - was there are a charge for doing that foodie?

[foodie]

No, didnt cost a penny.

LEt me have a trawl through my emails..

[foodie]

Here you go..

• ***************************************************

Hi Jason,

There is no monthly keeping fee on the Classic banking account and this includes all your electronic transactions, teller transactions and any NAB ATM transactions. If you would like a more in depth view of the account please follow this link to our website

http://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home...

If there is anything else that I can assist with please do not hesitate to get in contact with me.

Kind Regards,

Diana Bell
Client Coordinator
Migrant & Expatriate Banking

[phone]
[phone]
[e-mail]
http://www.nabgroup.com/migrantbanking
Richmond Financial Solutions Centre
4th Floor Gateway House
28 The Quadrant
Richmond
TW9 1DN

• *******************************************************

Hope that helps.

J

[bigfatnick]

I did mine in november 2010 when i went out for my first working holiday visa. If i remember correctly, i wandered into the ANZ at 37 pitt street (about 300 metres from the showy bit at sydney harbour - i was meeting a mate). I think I took my passport, visa paperwork, an address, UK drivers licence and that was about it. All done nice a quick, card posted to a mates house a week later. Easy. (most people get it sent to the hostel they're staying at, or one they'll be at in a week or so)

If i remember correctly, opening a bank account doesn't require the piles of ID if you have just arrived on a working holiday visa (dont remember why, but i'm fairly sure my memory hasn't manufactured this).

Most backpacker hostels will provide a letter saying you are staying there - and infact can point you in the direction of the current favoured backpacker bank, plus plenty of people in a similar boat who all manage to do bank accounts etc. If she stays in sydney, i recommend the blue parrot hostel, you have to walk through kings cross (nightclub/strip club/red light type are - also filled with police and bouncers, probably the safest place in the city), but its actually in quite a nice part of town, walkable to everywhere (35 minutes to opera house, 25 minutes to the middle of the city), right on the bondi to city underground line. Its not the newest or fanciest of hostels, but its fairly clean, run by nice people, and is a great place to meet new chums at the start of her adventure. Slightly older crowd usually (mid 20's rather than late teens) - so everyone welcome, and less dheads etc.


One last thing - encourage her to do the 2 years, the farm work is out of most peoples comfort zones, but thats the best bit! I was a cowboy! Brilliant!

[Munka01]

I set one up with Westpac before I left. Most Aus banks have offices in London. Just pop in and sort it there (if you are from around London that is....)

[durbster]

bigfatnick said:

...I think I took my passport, visa paperwork, an address, UK drivers licence and that was about it. ... If i remember correctly, opening a bank account doesn't require the piles of ID if you have just arrived on a working holiday visa

That sounds about what we had too (I consider that a big pile of ID ). It was just me missing the photo driving licence which meant I had to scrap around for something else.

bigfatnick said:

One last thing - encourage her to do the 2 years, the farm work is out of most peoples comfort zones, but thats the best bit! I was a cowboy! Brilliant!

Assuming it is a Working Holiday Visa the OP is referring to, then definitely this

[jagracer]

durbster said:

Assuming it is a Working Holiday Visa the OP is referring to, then definitely this

I'm not sure what sort of visa it is, she a doc and the hospital she'll be working at are sorting it out.
Thanks for all the replies, I'll let her have this info although she's with HSBC and as far as I can make out they have branches or offices in Aus so she may just open another account with them.

[mikal83]

Just got back after 4 months in OZ touring around in a campervan. We lived off atm machines with pre loaded currency cards....easy to load up online etc and atms....never seen a country like it, they're everywhere...

[bigfatnick]

jagracer said:

'm not sure what sort of visa it is, she a doc and the hospital she'll be working at are sorting it out.
Thanks for all the replies, I'll let her have this info although she's with HSBC and as far as I can make out they have branches or offices in Aus so she may just open another account with them.

Its very unlikely it'll be a working holiday visa in that case.