What does it cost to study in Australia?
A student in Australia needs roughly A$1,800 a month in Adelaide and A$3,052 in Sydney, with a room in a shared house, public transport, average food, OSHC health cover and a phone plan, before tuition. A shared-house room costs A$1,161 to A$2,318 a month across 8 university cities. Pick your city below for your own budget.
Sydney · shared house
A$3,052/ month
≈ A$36,628 per year
- RentA$2,318.00
- Food & groceriesA$516.00
- OSHC health coverA$58.33
- Public transportA$108.00
- Phone, leisure & otherA$52.00
OSHC is an estimate; get a quote from an insurer. Tuition is not included, and rent may not include electricity, gas and internet, so check what a listing covers.
Estimates from averages, not quotes. Your rent, insurer and habits will differ.
What a student budget in Australia includes
Most of your spending falls into four buckets. Rent changes the most from one city to the next.
Rent
The biggest cost and the one that changes most by city. Check whether a listing includes bills.
Food
About A$516 a month for the average student cooking mostly at home.
OSHC health cover
Compulsory for student visa holders. We estimate about A$58 a month for a single student.
Transport
Varies a lot: public transport costs far more a month in Melbourne or Sydney than in Adelaide or Brisbane.
Student rent by city in Australia
Average monthly rent for a room in a shared house and for renting a whole unit, most expensive first.
| City | State | Shared room | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | NSW | A$2,318 | A$3,467 |
| Gold Coast | QLD | A$1,655 | A$3,048 |
| Brisbane | QLD | A$1,580 | A$2,719 |
| Melbourne | VIC | A$1,482 | A$2,461 |
| Perth | WA | A$1,402 | A$2,784 |
| Canberra | ACT | A$1,335 | A$2,620 |
| Hobart | TAS | A$1,187 | A$2,024 |
| Adelaide | SA | A$1,161 | A$2,596 |
Updated October 2026. Source: Study Australia Cost of Living Calculator (Austrade), 2026 data.
Student living costs, answered
How much does a student need per month in Australia?
It depends mostly on the city. With a room in a shared house, public transport, average food, OSHC health cover and a mobile plan, a student needs roughly A$1,800 a month in Adelaide and A$3,052 in Sydney, before tuition and leisure. Use the calculator above for your own city and habits.
What is the cheapest city to study in Australia?
In our data, Adelaide has the lowest shared-house rent at about A$1,161 a month, against A$2,318 in Sydney. These are Study Australia averages across the city centre and suburbs.
What is OSHC and do I have to buy it?
Overseas Student Health Cover is compulsory health insurance for international students on a student visa, and you must keep it for the whole of your stay. Only a handful of insurers sell it, and prices depend on your cover, course length and number of people covered. We use a single-student estimate of about A$58.33 a month, so get a quote before you rely on it.
How much money do I need to show for a student visa?
The Department of Home Affairs sets a financial-capacity requirement that covers living costs, travel and tuition, and it changes over time. We don't quote a figure here because third-party pages, including some university pages, go out of date. Read the current amount on the Home Affairs student visa page.
How accurate is this calculator?
Rent, transport, food and phone figures come from the Study Australia Cost of Living Calculator, run by the Australian Government's Austrade. Actual rents vary by suburb and a competitive market can cost more, so treat it as a planning baseline rather than a quote.
Where the numbers come from
- Study Australia Cost of Living Calculator (Austrade)Weekly rent for a room in a shared house and for a rented unit, public transport, meal and phone prices, 8 cities. We use the midpoint of city-centre and suburb rents.
- Study Australia: Overseas Student Health CoverOSHC is compulsory for student visa holders. The government does not publish a price, so the health-cover figure here is an estimate: get a quote from an insurer.
- Department of Home Affairs: Student visa (subclass 500)The financial-capacity amount you must show for your visa. It changes, so read it from Home Affairs rather than a third-party page.
Rents are monthly figures converted from weekly averages. Darwin is not listed because the source has no public-transport data for it. Read our guides for step-by-step help with moving abroad.