Dependent family members include your spouse, de facto partner and unmarried dependent children under18 years.
If you plan to bring your family to Australia, check with the nearest Australian embassy in respect to any restrictions. The student visa assessment criteria may change if you bring your family. You will need to show overseas health cover for all family members.
You must declare all family members at the time of your application, even if you do not intend to bring them with you to Australia.
There are several factors to consider if you wish to bring your family:
- Costs: airfares, rent for a larger property, extra cost for food, clothing, medical needs, schooling and child care
- Limited employment opportunities, especially restricted employment for 20 hours per week
- Adjustment factors: you need to consider the effect of family on your study, especially if they don’t adjust to school or employment.
- Child care places can be limited so you will need to consider this as well.
Schooling
If you have children between five (5) and fifteen (15) years and are bringing them to Australia, you must enroll them in a school. This can be costly as you will need to pay full fees, whether it is a government school or a non-government school. Fees vary from AUD $4000 per annum for primary schools to AUD $15,000 per annum for secondary colleges.
Information regarding costs and the schools are available for each state as below:
For the Brisbane campus: contact Education Queensland International (EQI) on +61 7 323 70891 or visit the website for the most current information www.eqi.gov.au
For the Melbourne campus you can find further information from the Department of Education in Victoria. Their contact details are : international@edumail.vic.gov.au or www.study.vic.gov.au