Helpful Travel Information - Australia

Size:

7 682 300 sq km

Population:

19 780 000

Capital City:

Canberra

Climate:

Summer starts in December, Autumn in March, Winter in June and Spring in September. For weather charts and climate information, check out www.bom.gov.au.

Time Zones

Eastern Standard Time (EST):
Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.
Central Standard Time (CST) - one half hour behind EST:
Northern Territory and South Australia
Western Standard Time (WST) - two hours behind EST:
Western Australia

Daylight Saving: Daylight Savings operates in NSW, ACT, VIC and SA from the end of October to the end of March (clocks go forward an hour). Tasmania has Daylight Savings from the beginning of October to the end of March.

Driving in Australia

In many states an International Drivers Permit is not sufficient by itself and must be accompanied by a valid overseas drivers licence for the same class of vehicle.

Health

Medicare: Australia holds reciprocal health care agreements with travellers from the UK, Malta, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Finland and New Zealand. To enrol you need a health care card from your own country and your passport. For more information call Medicare on 13 20 11.
Travel Insurance: Medical treatment in Australia can be very expensive and it's wise to have both travel and health insurance.

Banks

Usually open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Australian banks include National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank.
Lost Cards:
VISA: 1800 805 341
Mastercard: 1800 120 113
American Express: 1800 230 100
Thomas Cook: 1800 801 002

Communications

Telephone: International calling cards are the cheapest way to call overseas. Local calls cost 40 cents for unlimited time from a pay phone and 25 cents from a private phone.
International area code: 61
To call overseas: 0011 + country area code
Emergency: Ambulance/Fire/Police: 000
Mobile phones: Australia has two mobile networks - digital and CDMA.
Internet: Global Gossip has a good network of internet cafes across the country. For more information and locations, check out www.globalgossip.com.
Post: Usually open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. There are 3 options for sending mail overseas: air mail, economy air mail and surface mail. It costs 50 cents to send a standard letter within Australia. For more information and locations, check out www.post.com.au.