[jasonm23]

Make that $20k the cost of living in Australia (especially the Sydney or Melbourne areas) is very high at the moment. $2.5kAUD/month is average for a single bed apartment.

Also getting a rental unit without previous references from Australian landlords/agents is particularly difficult.

Be prepared to spend out a lot of $$$ getting set up.

[jaylynch]

Just in case the OP reads this and is interested, this exaggerates somewhat for Melbourne. Particularly if you're a kid coming over on a working holiday, which actually sounded like a really good suggestion for the situation.

Yes you'd be looking to pay that for a nice, new or renovated single bed apartment in the middle of the city or an expensive area. As hinted at though, as someone with $5-10k in the bank coming here to be a barista there's no way you'd be able to get a lease for one of them anyway.

Head even a 20 minute tram ride out from the city, however, and suddenly you can pay AU$1,400/mth for a 1 or 2 bedroom place in an older building. (Though you may struggle to get a lease anyway...)

If you were on a working holiday you would likely be better off finding a shared place with some like-minded souls, and end up somewhere around $1,000 for rent + all your bills and such to live somewhere pretty nice.

[hoju]

yep, this matches my experience in Melbourne