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You're a domestic student if you are:

  • a citizen of Australia or New Zealand,
  • an Australian permanent resident, or
  • a holder of an Australian permanent humanitarian visa.

You're an international student if you are:

  • intending to study on a student visa,
  • not a citizen of Australia or New Zealand,
  • not an Australian permanent resident, or
  • a temporary resident (visa status) of Australia.
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Bringing your family to Australia

If you want to bring your family to Australia while you study, here's what you'll need to consider.

Visas

You can include family members on your student visa application. For student visas, family members include your:

  • spouse or de facto partner or
  • children aged under 18.

You can apply to have them travel at the same time as you, or they can apply to join you later.

When applying for a student visa, you must list all dependent family members, even if they don't plan to come to Australia.

Your student visa may be assessed differently if your family is accompanying you to Australia. For more information, read the Student visa (subclass 500) information or contact:

Costs

Make sure you're aware of the costs involved in bringing your family – as part of accepting your UQ offer, you'll need to declare that you have access to sufficient funds to support any dependants coming with you.

If you bring your family to Australia, there will be extra costs. These include:

  • airfares for all family members
  • higher rent for a larger home
  • Overseas Student Health Cover for all family members
  • higher living expenses (e.g. food, clothing, transport, schooling and child care).

Learn about the cost of living in Brisbane

Schooling

It is a visa condition that any children aged between 5 and 18 must attend school full-time if they remain in Australia for 3 months or more.

You can choose to enrol your child in a state school or a private school. State schools are public and managed by the Queensland government. Private schools operate independently, and tuition fees are higher than state schools.

State schools

To enrol your child in a Queensland state school, you will need to apply for 'authority to enrol'. If your application is successful, it provides proof of school enrolment for your child's dependant visa application. Once you arrive in Queensland, you can register your children to attend a specific school near where you will be living.

You will need to pay an application fee and tuition fees for each child. Some sponsored students may be exempt from paying school tuition fees for their children.

Visit Education Queensland International to find out more about the application process, fees and schooling in Queensland.

Contact UQ's Student Life team for help applying for authority to enrol for your children.

Private schools

To enrol your child in a private school, you will need to contact the school directly to find out how to apply and what fees you will need to pay.

Search the Private schools guide to find a private school near where you will be living.

Child care

Independently operated childcare, kindergarten and after-school facilities are available on or near all UQ campuses. Childcare costs in Australia are high (average around A$100 per child per day).

We recommend researching childcare options as early as possible, as many centres have long waiting lists. Contact the centres directly to find out about vacancies and costs.

See on-campus childcare options

English language support for your family

Your adult family members in Australia can attend free English conversation clubs at our St Lucia campus to improve their conversational English skills and confidence.

Learn about our English conversation clubs