First things first

These are the things that, as new migrants to Australia, you would want to do within the first week of your arrival. I sent this email to a colleague who was about to relocate to Sydney. Thought this might be a good reference for others as well.

Bank Account and Credit Card

• Open up a bank account as soon as you arrive.Most banks have a package for 457 holders where they will give you a savingsaccount without deposit and a credit card.
• I find that credit card is important becausemost utilities would prefer direct debit
• Also, that new credit card will give you aninstant good credit rating (ie, no delinquencies)

Car

• Buy a car as soon as you can or rent if you needto. Moving around is difficult without a car, especially when looking for houseor buying your new home stuff
• If you go to the car dealers (Ford, Holden,Toyota, Honda), they all sell 2^nd hand cars and offer good interest(3%pa if you’re lucky). They offer financing even for new 457 holders

Phone and Internet

• Internet, especially mobile internet, is veryexpensive here. We spent more than $500 on this on our first month beforegetting it settled.
• I find TPG offers the best deal – http://www.tpg.com.au 
• HomeInternet - $59 for unlimited data (ADSL2+). Telstra and Optus offers 200GB at$99. You will need an active Phone Line though. 
• Phone– their $34.99/mo deals gives you $1000 call value (including IDD), 3GBdata, and unlimited free international SMS.  If you go Telstra or Optus,you’d pay around $69 for this deal.

Tax File Number

• You can apply online here https://iar.ato.gov.au/iarweb/default.aspx?pid=4&sid=1&outcome=1
• Takes about 1 month before you get your numberin the mail

Utilities

• There’s a company called ConnectNow (http://connnectnow.com.au) that helps arrange utilities for people so that you have  1point of contact for all you utility accounts.
• Their service is free (I think they get commission from the utility providers), and I find that the rates are sometimes scheaper than going straight to the providers.
• I used them for my electricity, home insurance, car insurance, and internet (Telstra because TPG doesn’t serve my suburb)

Cheers!