An Australian account is where your pay, your rental bond refund and, later, any tax refund will go. The part new arrivals most often get wrong isn't opening the account, it's the Tax File Number that goes with it: without one, the bank withholds tax from your interest at the top marginal rate.
How to do it
- Find out whether your bank lets you start from overseas. Some Australian banks let migrants open an account before arriving and activate it in a branch with their passport. Check the bank's own page for new arrivals, since what each one offers changes.
- Bring your passport and visa details to the branch or the app. Banks have to verify your identity before they let you use the account, and your passport is the starting point.
- Add your TFN as soon as it arrives. You can open the account before you have one. But if you never quote your TFN, and the account earns $120 or more in interest a year ($10 a month), the bank withholds tax at the top rate plus Medicare levy. You can only get that back by claiming it in your tax return. If you haven't applied yet, start with getting your TFN.
- For a joint account, give both TFNs. If only one of you quotes a TFN, the withholding applies to all the interest on the account.
- Give your employer your BSB and account number before your first pay run, and set up the account for rent if your property manager collects it by direct debit.
- Keep your account at home open until the move settles. Final pays, deposits and refunds often arrive weeks later. For larger sums, compare a transfer service against your bank's rate, see arranging currency exchange.
How much of your money is protected
Deposits at Australian banks, building societies and credit unions are protected by the government's Financial Claims Scheme up to $250,000 per account holder at each institution. Two details matter if you're moving savings across:
- Brands under one banking licence share a single cap, so two accounts with sister brands of the same bank count together.
- Foreign-currency deposits aren't covered. Money held in a foreign currency account in Australia sits outside the scheme.
See APRA: overview of the Financial Claims Scheme. If you're bringing a large sum, see arranging currency exchange.
Common mistakes
- Opening a savings account and forgetting to add the TFN once it arrives, so interest is taxed at the top rate.
- Assuming the bank can refund tax it withheld. It can't: you claim it as a credit in your tax return.
- Adding a partner to an account without their TFN.
- Relying on an overseas card for bond and rent, and paying a conversion fee on every payment.
Useful links
- ATO: TFN and ABN information for savings accounts and investments — the $120 threshold, joint accounts and how withholding works.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my money protected if I keep it in an Australian bank?
- Deposits are protected by the Financial Claims Scheme up to $250,000 per account holder at each bank, building society or credit union. Brands under one banking licence share that cap, and foreign-currency deposits aren't covered.