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About Sydney

Living Costs

If you live in homestay accommodation, most of your meal costs are included in your weekly homestay fee. If you live in shared accommodation you are likely to pay between A$100-$150 a week for rent, and food cooked at home will be at least an extra A$60 a week. You will also need about A$7 a day to buy lunch during the week.

Tipping in Australia is generally confined to restaurants, taxis and expensive hotels, and 10% is usually appropriate. International credit cards are widely accepted and it is easy to open a bank account for the duration of your stay.

Average Prices in Sydney
 Entertainment
Cheap restaurant meal A$15.00-20.00
Glass of beer A$4.00
Bottle of wine (average)A$10.00-15.00
Cup of coffee - takeaway A$2.50
Ticket to the movies A$8.00-14.00
Transport
Petrol - 1 litre A$1.40
Single train ticket - average A$3.60-$6.40
Weekly train ticket - average A$25.00-$36.00
Housing Expenses
Rent - 1 bedroom flat A$180-$250 p/w
Room in share accommodation A$100-$180 p/w
Connection of gas/electricity A$120.00
Food
Milk - 2 litresA$2.88
Bread - 600g loaf A$2.66
Rice - 1kg long grain A$1.92
Eggs - 1 dozen A$3.05
Cheese - 500gm sliced A$4.27
Chicken - 1 kg frozen A$4.15
Prices taken from Average Retail Prices of Selected Items, Eight Capital Cities (Cat. no. 6403.0)— Sept 2005. For more information on the cost of living in Sydney you can view the latest document from the Australian Bureau Statistics here.