About Country

Australia is the largest island and the smallest continent on the earth. In land area, Australia is the 6th largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, United States of America and Brazil.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a highly developed country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

It is divided into 6 states and 2 territories.

• NSW
• Victoria
• Queensland
• Northern Territory
• W.A
• Tasmania

Territories

• Australian Capital Territory
• South Australia.

Weather

The climate of Australia varies widely, but by far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid – 40% of the landmass is covered by sand dunes. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate, varied between tropical rainforests, grasslands, part desert.

The rainfall patterns across Australia are highly seasonal.

In Australia, snow can fall in the mountains of Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Tasmania. There is a regular snow season in several areas which have seasonal ski tourism industries. Sometimes snow has even been reported in the mountains of South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland though this is very rare.

Transport

Roads
Australia has the second highest level of car ownership in the world. It has three to four times more road per capita than Europe and seven to nine times more than Asia. Australia also has the third highest per capita rate of fuel consumption in the world. Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane are rated among the most car-dependent cities in the world, with Sydney and Melbourne close behind. Furthermore, the distance travelled by car (or similar vehicle) in Australia is among the highest in the world, being exceeded by USA and Canada.

The majority of road tunnels in Australia have been constructed since the 1990s to relieve traffic congestion in metropolitan areas, or to cross significant watercourses.

Other transport modes include:

• Rail
• Intra-state and city rail services
• Metro
• Mining railways
• Sea

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Major Regions/ Cities

Following are the popular cities in Australia in each region.

• New South Wales 
  (Sydney, Armidale, Blue Mountains, Liverpool, Newcastle, Penrith, Paramatta, Waga Waga and Wollongong)
  
  
• Northern Territory
  (Darwin and Palmerston)
  
  
• Queensland
  (Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Townswille)
  
  
• South Australia
  (Adelaide)
  
  
• Tasmania
  (Greater Hobart which is also the Capital and which consists of the conurbation of the City of Clarence, City of Hobart, and the City of Glenorchy)
  
  
• Victoria
  (Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo, Warrnambool and Hamilton)
  
  
• Western Australia
  (Perth, Albany, Armadale, Joondalup)

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Major Economy

The economy of Australia is a developed, modern market economy with a GDP of approximately $1 trillion USD. In 2009, it was the 13th largest national economy by nominal GDP and the 18th largest measured by PPP adjusted GDP, representing about 1.7% of the World economy. Australia was also ranked the 21st largest importer and 23rd largest exporter.

The Australian economy is dominated by its service sector, representing 68% of Australian GDP. The agricultural and mining sectors (10% of GDP combined) account for 57% of the nation's exports.

The Australian Securities Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Australia.

Established Industries:

Main Industries:

• Service
• Agriculture
• Transportation equipment
• Chemicals
• Education
• Processed and unprocessed minerals
• Food products
• Wood and paper products
• Fish products
• Petroleum and natural gas
• Steel
• Mining

Some Facts

CAPITAL: Canberra
CURRENCY: Australian Dollar ( $) (AUD)
LANGUAGE: Although Australia has no official language, English is so entrenched that it has become the de facto national language.  
TIME DIFFERENCE: 4 hours 30 minutes ahead IST.
INTAKE: February & July 
CALLING CODE: +61

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Education System

Australia has divided the various courses into the subclasses:-  

Admission Timings:

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Ranking

Australian Universities feature quite high in Times Higher Education and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking ranging in top 500. Various groups of universities are available including G8, ATN (Australian Technology Network) and Sandstone universities.

All of Australia's education and training institutions offer high quality, internationally relevant courses because Australian Government legislation requires them to be registered and meet quality assurance measures.

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Part time work during studies

Students are allowed to work permit 40 hrs per fortnight and full time during holidays while studying the course.

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Work opportunities after studies

There some popular categories wherein students mostly for apply for their further stay in Australia-

• Students who are going for diploma courses will not be entitled for “After studies work permit”.
• Students who are going for Bachelor’s and Master’s (Coursework) courses will be entitled for 2 years after studies work permit.
• Students who are going for Master’s by Research courses will be entitled for 3 years after study work permit.

Visa Requirement

• GTE- Genuine Temporary Entrant
• eCOE
  Good academics
• IELTS Score as suggested in the English language requirement
• Finances to support education as per the living expenses guideline given under living expenses
• Genuine Intentions to Study in Australia

All students applying under GTE must have:

• Good Academics grade
• Good IELTS score
• Intentions to Study
• Family ties in home country
• Potential circumstances of student in Australia
• Value of the course for student
• Good immigration history
• Strong evidences for funds & sponsors
• No fraud document (Fraud document will lead to visa refusal as well applicant will not be able to apply for Australia visa or any other country Visa for next 3 years)
  

VISA CATEGORY 1: SVP- Streamline Visa Processing:

There is a new category which has been enforced from March 24, 2012. This means that students having offer letter from participating universities will be part of the streamlined visa process (SVP)

Under this category following changes have been done:

• Fast Visa processing
• No Proof of Funds required – However Australian High Commission may ask to show funds
• SVP Participating universities will be taking student interviews and selecting students extremely carefully
• India will now be assessed under AL1
• Abolitions of PVA: All applicants should submit a COE (Confirmation of Enrolment) at the time of file Lodgement. This applies to both paper visa and e-visa.
• Other English test scores acceptable including PTE(Pearson Test of English), TOEFL, Cambridge Advance Course and IELTS

VISA CATEGORY 2:

Students who are going to study in TAFE Colleges or institutions which are not participating in the Streamline Visa Processing for courses  like

Certificates/Diploma’s/Advanced Diploma’s will not be a part of SVP. For such courses and institutions following guidelines should be taken care of under

Assessment Level 3 referred as AL3:

Funds

• (Living, tuition, OSHC and travel expense) 18 months’ funds to be shown for 2 year courses 
• Funds should be 3 months old 
• If student pays the course fees (semester or 1 year) and if he books accommodation prior to submission of visa file, applicant will show only the remaining funds of 18 months according to the course
• No Proof of funds required for the advance payment
• Advance payment need not be 3 months old

Loans

• Education Loan (Loan Disbursement letter is mandatory)

Visa Categories

At present Australian applications are processed under two categories: 

• E-lodgement (Electronic Lodgement)
• PVA (Paper Visa Lodgement)

Processing Time

• Visa processing time for visa varies from 8 – 12 weeks. 

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English Requirement

For some of the MBA’s/Communication/Nursing and Teaching programs an IELTS of 7.0 bands is required
This is just a guideline. English requirements may change as per course/University.

• Please note that the above %s is general requirements and you must refer the brochure/website for exact entry requirements before sending the applications.

English requirement

IELTS is the only acceptable test for checking the English language proficiency of student by the Australian High Commission.

IELTS is a mandatory requirement for the processing of visa application. Institutions may accept TOEFL score admission purposes however student must have an IELTS score before applying for visa.

Students can also go to Australia for studying an English course called ELICOS in case they are short of .5 or 1 band from the required score.

In each visa category student must have required language capability from India before enrolling in a Australia as per the following guideline of AHC.

Test score equivalencies for the alternative tests for Australian Study Visa.

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Fee Structure

Under Graduate Studies:

Universities 16,000.00 – 27,000.00 AUD$ per year
Colleges 13,000.00 – 17,000.00 AUD$ per year

Post Graduate Studies:

Universities Bt. 17,000 .00 – 28, 000.00 AUD$ per year
Colleges Bt. 15, 000.00 – 21,000.00 AUD $ per year

Living Expenses as per the Australia High Commission visa guidelines:

Living (Applicant) - 18,610.00 AUD per year
Living (Spouse) - 6,515 AUD per year
Living (Child I) - 3,720 AUD per year
Living (Child II) - 2,790 AUD per year
Further if the child turns 5 year in Australia, the schooling funds are needed for the stay in Australia.

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Academic Requirement

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Useful Links

www.immi.gov.au
www.vfs-au-in.com
www.india.embassy.gov.au
www.studyinaustralia.gov.au
www.cricos.deewr.gov.au

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Scholarship/ Bursaries

While most international students in Australia are full-fee paying students, another option is to apply for a scholarship.

Scholarships are offered by the Australian Government, education institutions and a number of other organizations. They cover various educational sectors,
including vocational education and training, student exchanges, undergraduate and postgraduate study and research.