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Bringing your family
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If you plan to bring your family with you to Australia, there are a number of requirements you must consider.
Costs
Ensure you have sufficient funds to support your family for the duration of their stay in Australia.
Costs you will need to consider include:
- airfares for your family to and from Australia
- overseas student health cover for all family members
- employment opportunities for your spouse
- higher rent for a larger home
- living expenses for dependants, including extra costs for food, clothing and other necessities
- additional costs such as public transport fares, childcare and schooling.
Visas
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) allows most students to bring their family members to Australia as their dependants. Dependant family members include your spouse or de facto partner and dependant children. You must declare all your dependant family members in your student visa application, even if they do not travel with you.
For your dependant family members to obtain a student visa you can either include your dependant family members in your visa application, or they apply for a visa after you have started your program.
Your student visa assessment criteria may change if your family is accompanying you to Australia.
For more information, please contact the Department of Immigration and Border Protection or the Australian diplomatic mission in your country.
Schooling in Australia
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection requires that dependant children between the ages of five and 18 attend school full-time as a condition of the dependant visa.
If you have school-aged children, please contact Student Services for assistance with applying for schooling and obtaining an Authority to Enrol, which provides proof of school enrolment for your child's dependant visa application.
Once you arrive in Queensland you can then register your children to attend a specific school near where you will be living. Queensland has a wide range of schools to choose from with more than 1230 public and 470 private schools spread across the state.
Visit Education Queensland International for indicative fee information. Some sponsored students may be exempt from paying school tuition fees for their children. For more information please check Education Queensland's policy on the waiver of school tuition fees.
More information at Education Queensland International
Childcare
Independently operated childcare, kindergarten and after-school facilities are available on or near all UQ campuses. Childcare costs in Australia are very high (up to approximately $95 per child per day). We suggest researching these options as early as possible, as many centres have long waiting lists.
Contact the centres directly to find out about vacancies and service rates.
English language support for your family
The English Conversation Club is a free support service for UQ international student family members, which visiting professors, international staff members and research fellows also use to improve their skills and confidence.
Conversation groups are available for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. There is no formal pre-entry testing to join.
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