This guide is mainly for Indian graduates heading to an Australian master degree, still the most common route, and also covers Class 12 students looking at a bachelor or diploma pathway. Australia runs on its own calendar, with February and July intakes, and on its own rules: work hours are counted per fortnight, every visa applicant answers the Genuine Student questions, and the living-cost amount you have to show has recently been around AUD 29,710 for a single applicant. Each of these has changed in recent years, so check every number below against the official source.
Why Australia Attracts Indian Students
For an Indian family, the first question is whether your qualifications fit. After Class 12 with CBSE, CISCE or a state board, whose marksheets come in English as standard, the usual next step is an Australian bachelor degree. Master entry is where Indian applicants get caught out: a three-year Indian bachelor is accepted as it stands at some Australian universities, while many want a fourth year, a completed Indian master, or a credential evaluation first. Find out where each course on your list stands before you request an offer.
The second question is money. Across destinations, a first year abroad commonly runs to INR 20–50 lakh once tuition, proof of funds and settling-in costs are added up, and in Australia the published living-cost amount is shown on top of first-year tuition, not instead of it. Size that gap honestly before you shortlist.
How the Australian Education System Fits Together
Australia runs one national framework, the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). It stacks every credential, from certificates to doctoral degrees, on one publicly documented ladder, so you can see exactly where a diploma, a bachelor and a master sit.
Where you enter depends on where you are now:
- After Class 12: a bachelor degree, or a diploma-to-degree pathway.
- After a completed bachelor in India: usually straight into a master, which remains the most common lane.
Some fields are harder to enter than others. Nursing, most notably, asks for specific science streams or registration checks before admission.
Admission Requirements for Indian Students
Each institution sets its own entry bar, but the common file is the same: documents, English, a study-plan statement and a passport.
- Academic documents: senior-secondary transcripts for bachelor and diploma entry; for a master, your bachelor transcripts plus character and provisional certificates.
- English proficiency: the standard choices are IELTS Academic, PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT. Expect to need around IELTS 6.0 overall for a bachelor and around 6.5 for a master. (⚠ Verify: institution minimums and the visa-level English requirement move independently and both have been raised in recent policy rounds — confirm both the course page requirement and the current Home Affairs English standard before booking a test. Checked 2026-09.)
- A study-plan statement that matches what you will later say in the visa's Genuine Student answers (see the next section).
Consistency matters more than polish. Your study-plan statement and your Genuine Student answers should tell one story. Australian case officers work through a large number of Indian files at speed, and refusals keep coming back to the same few gaps: a study plan nobody could explain, money that lands in the account just before lodging, or a course that has nothing to do with what you studied before. A file whose story holds together from offer to visa is the strongest one you can lodge.
Intakes
- February: the main intake.
- July: the second main intake.
- November: a smaller intake offered by some providers.
The Student Visa Process
The Subclass 500 visa follows a fixed order, and each step produces the document the next one needs:
- Receive an offer from a CRICOS-registered provider and accept it, paying the deposit asked for.
- The provider issues your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), which records the course, its dates and its costs — the visa cannot be lodged without it.
- Buy your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) policy for the length of the visa; the policy document goes into the application.
- Complete the Genuine Student (GS) requirement in the application form: structured questions about your circumstances at home, why this course and this provider, your study history and gaps, and how the course benefits you, each with limited answer length.
- Lodge the application in ImmiAccount, pay the visa fee, and attach evidence: passport, CoE, OSHC, English results, financial documents and GS supporting papers.
- Complete biometrics at the Australian visa application centre (operated by VFS Global in most countries) when asked, and a health examination with a panel physician if your course or circumstances require one.
- Receive the decision; if granted, the visa is electronic and linked to your passport, with conditions printed on the grant notice.
Timing
Student visa processing priorities are set by ministerial direction and have been re-ordered more than once, which shifts wait times noticeably by provider and course level. Check current global processing times on the Home Affairs site and lodge as soon as your CoE allows. The GS assessment, biometrics and any health examination each add time. (⚠ Verify: the GS question set, answer limits and weightings on the current Home Affairs GS guidance, and current processing times. Checked 2026-09)
Fees during the application
- Subclass 500 visa application fee: Around AUD 2,000
Verify⚠ Verify: the fee has been raised sharply in consecutive years — confirm the current amount on the Home Affairs fee page before committing to a lodgement date. (checked 2026-09)
- Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC): Varies by insurer and visa length — budget roughly AUD 500–700 per year for a single applicant
Verify⚠ Verify: OSHC pricing is set by insurers and length of cover — compare the participating insurers' current quotes before buying. (checked 2026-09)
Proof of Funds and Financial Planning
In an Australian student application, money sits at the centre of the file; it is not an add-on.
You need to show first-year tuition, plus a fixed 12-month living-cost figure that the department publishes (recently around AUD 29,710 for a single applicant), plus travel, plus costs for any school-age dependants.
Accepted evidence:
- Bank statements with a believable history
- Education loans from recognised banks
- Fixed deposits
- Documents from your sponsor (parents or another close relative), including their income papers
Verify⚠ Verify: the 12-month living-cost requirement and any dependant top-ups are indexed and have moved repeatedly since 2023 — confirm the exact amount in force from the Home Affairs financial capacity page for the month you lodge. Rules on which applicants may include family members have also narrowed, largely restricting dependants to higher research degree students; check the current position before building a family application around a coursework degree. (checked 2026-09)
Scholarships and the Realistic Funding Stack
Full scholarships for international students in Australia are rare. Most Indian students build their funding in layers: savings or an education loan underneath, any tuition reduction the institution offers on top, and part-time earnings after arrival towards living costs.
The larger awards are narrow:
- Research Training Program (RTP): research master and PhD places can come with this Australian Government program, which can pay a stipend and cover tuition for genuinely competitive research applicants. (⚠ Verify: RTP stipend rates and allocation rules for your target year. Checked 2026-09.)
- Australia Awards: fully funded places, but only for citizens of participating partner countries, and eligibility changes with the program cycle. (⚠ Verify: the current eligible-country list on the Australia Awards pages before applying. Checked 2026-09.)
Loans and the tax on sending money
Indian banks and NBFC lenders actively compete for education loans, and admitted students at recognised universities can sometimes borrow without collateral. Because Australia asks you to show first-year tuition plus the living-cost amount, a loan sanction letter backed by real money already in the account makes a much stronger case than either one alone.
Every rupee your family sends for fees or living costs moves under the Reserve Bank's Liberalised Remittance Scheme, and tax collected at source (TCS) is taken on it, at a lower rate when the transfer is funded by an education loan. The TCS comes back to your family as a credit against their tax liability, but only later; on the day of transfer it is money gone. Slow transfers are the usual reason a payment slips, so line up the deposit for your CoE and every later transfer with your admission dates. (⚠ Verify: LRS limits, TCS rates and the education-loan concession are revised in finance bills — confirm the current rates with your bank before transferring. Checked 2026-09.)
Cost of Living: Monthly Ranges
In Australia the big cost divide runs between Sydney and Melbourne on one side and Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane on the other, and rent drives most of it.
| Category | Monthly range |
|---|---|
| Shared room or student housing | AUD 550–850/month in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane; AUD 1,000–1,700 in Sydney and Melbourne |
| Groceries | AUD 300–420/month in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane; AUD 350–480 in Sydney and Melbourne |
| Public transport | AUD 100–160/month in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane; AUD 140–220 in Sydney and Melbourne |
| Phone and internet | AUD 40–70/month in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane; AUD 45–80 in Sydney and Melbourne |
| OSHC health cover | AUD 50–70/month, paid up front for the whole visa period |
| Personal and leisure | AUD 150–300/month in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane; AUD 200–400 in Sydney and Melbourne |
Read it in rupees
The table is in Australian dollars, but a US-dollar benchmark is a useful anchor: at recent planning rates of roughly INR 83–88 per US dollar, a USD 1,200 month comes to about INR 1 lakh. Compare that with the INR 15,000–30,000 that keeps a student comfortable in an Indian metro. Parents who have paid private-school or coaching fees tend to judge the tuition line well and the monthly living line too hopefully. Over a multi-year Australian degree, it is that monthly figure, re-priced each year as the exchange rate moves, that tests whether the budget survives. (⚠ Verify: convert at the prevailing rate for real decisions and budget at a pessimistic one. Checked 2026-09.)
Checking each line
Verify⚠ Verify: Australian rents moved sharply through recent years — cross-check with the provider's accommodation service and cost-of-living aggregators such as Numbeo for your campus city. (checked 2026-09)
Verify⚠ Verify: local grocery prices; cooking at home keeps this line low. (checked 2026-09)
Verify⚠ Verify: student concession fares differ by state — check the state transit concession pages for your campus city. (checked 2026-09)
Verify⚠ Verify: current prepaid plans in the Australian market. (checked 2026-09)
Verify⚠ Verify: your insurer's current quote by cover length — it is a real monthly cost even though you pay the policy up front. (checked 2026-09)
Verify⚠ Verify: budget against your own habits; this is the flex line. (checked 2026-09)
Your Work Rights as a Student
Most Indian funding plans count on some part-time income, so know Australia's limits before you rely on it.
Australia counts student work per fortnight, not per week. The standing cap has been 48 hours per fortnight during study, with full-time hours allowed during official course breaks. The fortnight rhythm makes a difference: a 30-hour week balanced by a 10-hour week can still be lawful, where a flat weekly reading would mislead you. Research master and doctoral students have different settings.
Fortnightly hours help with living costs and give you an Australian work record, but they will not cover tuition, and they cannot rescue a financial case that was weak when you lodged. A Genuine Student file that quietly counts on future wages is easy to spot, so present your funds and your work plans as two separate things. (⚠ Verify: hour caps and the conditions attached to them change; confirm the destination's current rule before relying on any income figure. Checked 2026-09.)
Verify⚠ Verify: the 48-hour-per-fortnight cap (condition 8105) has been adjusted by temporary policies before and could move again — confirm the current rules on the Home Affairs site before accepting shifts; and Subclass 485 streams, durations and the age limit were all cut or tightened in the 2024–2025 policy rounds with further review ongoing — read the current Home Affairs Temporary Graduate visa pages before enrolling on the strength of post-study rights. (checked 2026-09)
Staying On: Life After Graduation
The Temporary Graduate visa (Subclass 485)
The 485 is the bridge from study to work. Its post-higher-education stream lets you work in any role for a period set by your qualification: historically two years for bachelor and coursework master graduates, and three for research degrees. The age ceiling was lowered to 35 in a recent policy round.
The freedom to work in any role is what makes it valuable. Australian experience in your field is the entry ticket to employer-sponsored and points-tested skilled migration.
Beyond the 485
- Regional study adds options if you studied outside the major cities, including extra post-study work time and regional migration pathways.
- The ladder is steeper than it was. No consultant can guarantee an outcome the department itself treats as competitive.
If you come back to India
Graduates who stay on in Australia usually repay the loan out of their 485 years. Coming home instead? Government posts, public-sector recruitment and further study in India can all require formal equivalence for an Australian degree, and the certificate on its own may not satisfy it, so hold on to your transcripts, course syllabi and award document. (⚠ Verify: equivalence for foreign qualifications is handled through the Association of Indian Universities and its requirements change — confirm the current process and fees before you need them. Checked 2026-09.)
Your Next Steps with EduRut
EduRut brings the India-to-Australia steps together and filters them down to what applies to you.
- Browse Australia listings to weigh universities, colleges and language schools by program and cost before you accept an offer.
- Once your CoE is on its way, travel and visa services covers flights, airport transfers and visa filing support from providers who work with Indian students.
- After you enrol, money transfer for students lets you compare remittance options so money from home reaches Australia without heavy fees.
Pick your intake, work back from it to your English test date, and confirm each fee on the Home Affairs site before you lodge.