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LIVING EXPENSES Accommodation (on campus/off campus + Tenant advice) If you are have to relocate to Newcastle for study, then finding accommodation will be one of the biggest (but also most exciting) tasks to organise! The first decision to make is whether you would like to live on or off campus: -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ On Campus -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Our college residents love living on campus – the convenience of living so close to class, all utility costs are included in the weekly fee, and the amazing social, cultural & sporting events are just a few of the reasons why! For this reason, it is very competitive to secure a place, and acceptance is not guaranteed. The university of Newcastle has self catered, partly catered or fully catered college style accommodation options available on Campus at both Callaghan and Ourimbah. Here’s the long and short of it -‐ Costs: Between $153 -‐ $275 per week, depending on the College. How to apply: Online, via the accommodation website More Info: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/accommodation/on-‐campus/ -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Off Campus -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Living of campus gives a student a lot of flexibility and freedom with their lifestyle choices, and also their financial situation. For this reason, costs can be varied depending on the location and property type (eg. from a private apartment, to shared student house) and this figure normally does not include utilities (electricity, gas, internet, etc). To assist students in their search, the Accommodation Hub provides information about rental accommodation and maintain an interactive database of current accommodation options. Also see other links below which help link up potential housemates and spare rooms in properties (ie: seek, gumtree) Costs: Average between $110 -‐ $180 per person/per week, depending on the property & location. How to apply: Online, via the accommodation website OR direct to a real estate agency More Info: http://offcampusaccommodation.newcastle.edu.au/
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/accommodation/off-‐campus/ www.seek.com.au www.gumtree.com.au -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Tenant Advice -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Be prepared: Do you know what a lease is? Are you comfortable with asking your landlord questions? Know your rights and responsibilities as a tenant. Aim for all communication with any agent or landlord to be in writing, signed and dated. Keep all receipts and a copy of all relevant documents. There is comprehensive information on our Off Campus Accommodation website. Link: www.tenants.org.au http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/accommodation/off-‐ campus/rights-‐and-‐responsibilities.html Health Care (OSHC) -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ On Campus Health Service -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ At both Callaghan & Ourimbah, The University Health Service is a fully accredited general practice staffed by doctors and nurses who understand the medical problems of students. The Health Service provides both emergency and routine medical care to all students and staff, and they bulk bill (read: No cost to to you if you are covered by medicare or OSHC!!) To make an appointment, please contact reception: Callaghan: (02) 4921 6000 Level 1, Student Services Centre, Callaghan Campus. Ourimbah: (02) 4348 4060 Student Support Unit on the Central Coast campus (adjacent to the Library). Link: www.newcastle.edu.au/service/health/ -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ International Students -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ As an International Student, it is a condition of your student visa that you have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the entire duration of your stay in Australia. OSHC gives you access to out of hospital and in hospital medical services to help you maintain your health. In an emergency, you can go to the Emergency Department at the nearest public hospital. Emergency Departments are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The nearest public hospital to the University campus (Callaghan Campus) is the Mater Calvary Hospital, Waratah. The John Hunter Hospital is also close by at
Rankin Park. Gosford Hospital is the closest public hospital for the Ourimbah campus students. You may call an ambulance on 000 to take you to hospital. This is covered by OSHC but only for genuine emergencies. Link: https://www.oshcworldcare.com.au/ -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Domestic Students -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Patients covered by Medicare are bulk billed, so there are usually no out of pocket expenses for consultations at the University Health Service. This means that you will need a Medicare card of your own or a duplicate of your family card. If you have a current Health Care card from Centrelink, please take this with you to all consultations. If you are interested in Private Health insurance, there are many options available, so do some researching! A good place to start is iSelect – a website to compare, select and save from a range of options uniquely matched to your needs/budget. Link: www.iselect.com.au www.medicareaustralia.gov.au Transport -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐Personal Transport –-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ You may have your own car or motorbike already, or perhaps are interested in buying one. There are several associated costs that go along with this (not just the cost of the vehicle!) including the price of parking on campus (see Extra Uni Costs). To calculate what you may need to budget weekly/annually, the handy guide to ‘Car Running Costs’ may be useful. For information about vehicle registration & licensing, please visit the RTA website. Link: http://www.moneybuddy.com.au/car-‐loans/guide-‐car-‐running-‐costs.html http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au http://www.carsguide.com.au/ Taxis: The local Taxi number is 133 300. Note that there is a booking fee of $3.30, and a 20% surcharge after 10pm and before 6am. More Info: http://www.newcastletaxis.com.au/index.htm
-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐Public Transport -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ There are a few ways you can make it to the uni if you don’t have your own car, aside from walking. The 2 most popular options are train and bus. Train – The university has its own Train station called ‘Warabrook’. A one-‐way train ticket to the University from within Newcastle is around $1.60 (concession) or $3.20 (full fare). You can also purchase MyMulti day pass which gives you unlimited travel for the day on CityRail trains and Buses. To check your eligibility for concession, view timetable, and calculate your fare, please visit the cityrail website More Info: http://www.cityrail.info/ http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/transport/ Bus – There are a few bus stops around the University, and even more through the city & suburbs. The bus is a great option if you prefer to walk a short distance to a stop, or are a frequent traveler. You can purchase quarterly or yearly travel pass which give you unlimited travel during that time period – resulting in at least a 15-‐23% discount! More Info: http://www.newcastlebuses.info/ http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/transport/ Tip: http://newcastle.mycarpools.com.au/ Food Delicious, Easy, Healthy, Cheap. The 4 goals for a student’s weekly meal plan, that aren’t that hard to achieve if you follow some simple tips. Food shopping for bargains is a skill in itself, before you have even started cooking! You should expect to spend about $70 -‐$150 p/week on food (including 1 or 2 meals out) dependant on the quantity and quality of what you eat. The general rules for keeping to a tight budget are -‐ Cook at home as much as your can ie: DON’T eat out. This will help your health and your wallet, and save at least $10 per meal. -‐ Save leftovers and EAT THEM (don’t forget they’re in the back of the fridge). These are basically FREE MEALS!! -‐ Stretch meals out as much as possible by adding random vegetables, canned beans, rice, pasta etc. You can turn a 2 serving portion into a 3 or 4 serving portion for just $1 or $2 more -‐ Buy in bulk and freeze individual portions – this can save you up about 30% with meats etc. -‐ Keep an eye on specials at both supermarkets and restaurants (eg. Cheap Tuesdays, 2 for 2 pub meals) so you can treat yourself economically. (see: Tips)
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If you are still concerned about what you are spending on food, track everything you purchase for a whole week. Review this and see what you can cut out or buy cheaper versions of.
More Info: Tip: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pQhI7XJdXdCRk8e-‐N11XlKw Extra Bills (Water, Elec, Gas) If you live on campus, the costs for these utilities are included in your college fees, making it a lot easier! With some rental properties, the cost of these is also included in the weekly or monthly rent that you pay. You should budget between $5-‐$15 per week. Child Care Childcare in Australia will cost, on average, between $60 -‐ $90 per child per day. The University of Newcastle provides 3 childcare facilities at Callaghan and 1 at Ourimbah for the convenience of students that have children. The daily fee (depending on the child’s age and the particular centre) is between $69 & $75 per child. Please visit the University’s Child Care website for contact details and comprehensive information. To assist with childcare fees, you may be eligible for a childcare benefit. Please contact the Australian Government to confirm you eligibility (details below). More Info: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/child-‐care/ www.gov.au/topics/benefits-‐payments-‐and-‐services/child-‐care www.mychild.gov.au Internet/Phone This is an area that almost all students will spend a consistent amount of money on weekly/monthly/annually, yet the specific amount can vary widely depending on personal preference. Other (clothing, social, spending)
This is the sneaky little section where a large part of your funds will tend to disappear without you noticing, until you realize you only have $13 to last you until pay day next week! Here is an example of what a student could possibly spend in just a week on miscellaneous costs -‐ Jessica’s Weekly Treats 1 new piece of clothing a week = $50 I Dinner at restaurant = $40 1 Night Out on the town (include taxi & kebab) = $50 Coffee 3 Mornings a week =$12 Magazine =$6 TOTAL = $158!!!!!!!! These are just ideas., and you may not actually spend nearly that much. Think of things that you buy or do regularly and work from there, for example you know that every Friday night you will go out and have a pub meal, then a few beers, then a taxi home. These costs, although they may not seem as regular as something like electricity bills, or rent, often end up being something you will inevitably spend money on – so either BUDGET FOR IT, or DON’T SPEND THE MONEY! EXTRA UNI COSTS Parking (day ticket/permit) formula Textbooks/Software NUSA –Clubs & Societies Union The Forum Printing/Stationary