You need an Australian bank account for wages, and later for your tax refund and your super payment. All four major banks open accounts for working holiday makers on a passport, and most let you apply online before you arrive.
Which bank should you choose?
There is very little between Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ and NAB: low fee everyday accounts, apps, debit cards and wide ATM networks.
The one criterion that varies is coverage along your route. Branches and ATMs in the regional towns you are heading to beat a marginally better fee structure, because fee free ATM access in Mildura or Bowen is not a given.
What do you need to open one?
Less than people expect. A valid passport, an Australian address that can be temporary, and ideally an Australian phone number are enough for most banks.
- A valid passport
- An Australian residential address, including a hostel
- An Australian phone number
- A second form of identity in some cases
- Your TFN, which is useful but not required
Most banks let you begin the application online before you fly, with identity verification completed at a branch in the first days after arrival.
Do you have to give them your TFN?
No, and you can open and operate an account without one. The consequence is confined to interest: without a TFN recorded, the bank must withhold tax from interest earned at the top rate.
On a transaction account earning cents that is irrelevant. Add the TFN when the letter arrives, and do not let its absence delay opening the account: you need a BSB and account number before your first shift.
What do the fees actually cost?
Most major banks charge a monthly account fee of around $5, usually waived if a minimum is deposited each month, commonly around $2,000. Anyone working regular hours clears that, and the fee only bites in a month you were travelling rather than working.
Several banks also run fee free accounts for new arrivals and students, which sidestep the threshold. They are not always the default offered at the counter, so ask.
Should you use a transfer service instead?
A transfer service is a complement, not a replacement. They generally beat a bank's exchange rate on a four figure transfer home, but they do not give an Australian employer's payroll what it needs, and they are not where the ATO pays a refund.
The workable setup is both: an Australian bank account to receive wages, tax refunds and super, and a transfer service to move money home when the time comes. Our guide to transferring money out of Australia covers the tax position, which is that there isn't one.
When should you close the account?
Not when you fly. This is the most consequential banking decision on a working holiday, and almost everyone makes it casually in the last week.
Both your tax refund and your DASP super payment arrive weeks or months after departure, and both pay into an Australian account. Keep it open for three to four months after you leave, then transfer the balance and close it.
- Lodge the tax return and apply for DASP before or shortly after leaving
- Keep the account open for three to four months after departure
- Transfer the balance home once both payments have cleared
- Close the account last
Closing it first does not lose the money, but re-establishing payment details with the ATO and a super fund from another country turns a two week wait into a several month one.
How do you avoid the scams that target new arrivals?
Assume that any message asking you to click a link and enter banking details is a scam, because it is. The ATO does not ask you to update bank details by text or email link, does not demand payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency, and does not threaten arrest or visa cancellation.
Working holiday makers are targeted deliberately: a recent arrival does not yet know what normal ATO contact looks like, and a visa threat lands harder on someone whose visa is the reason they are here. Check independently rather than engage with the message. Our guide to protecting your TFN covers who is entitled to ask for your details.