How much money do you need for your first month in Melbourne?

1The answer first: how much do you pay before you move in?

At A$500 a week, you can pay up to about A$3,167 before moving in.

The table shows the highest amounts Victorian law allows, and many places ask for less. Pay what your agreement says, and you can refuse anything above the limit.

At A$500 a week, paying weekly rather than monthly saves you about A$1,167 before you move in (using unrounded amounts). Check whether your agreement says weekly or monthly before you sign.

2Bond, rent in advance and holding deposit: three different payments

Three payments with different rules, and a receipt for each.

Bond is usually at most one month's rent, paid after you sign and lodged with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA), the government body, not kept by the rental provider. When you move out, both sides agree how it's repaid and the money comes back to you from the RTBA. A bond can't be used to pay rent, not even your last month's.

Rent in advance is at most one month, or 14 days if you pay weekly. For places above A$900 a week the rules on this limit are more complicated, so check with CAV (Consumer Affairs Victoria) before you sign.

A holding deposit is paid before signing to hold the property. It must be refunded once you sign, and if no agreement is signed within 14 days it must be refunded by the next business day. It is not an application fee and it is not a bond.

3Money you should not be charged

Application fees, agreement fees, key fees and rent payment fees can't be charged.

Since 13 October 2026, rental providers, agents and rental platforms can't charge application fees, including fees for processing an application, verifying identity or running background checks. They also can't charge to show you a property or to prepare the agreement.

They can't charge for a set of keys for each renter, or a fee to pay rent, either. If someone does, you can say that isn't allowed, and ask CAV before you sign.

Don't use bond insurance or a bond replacement product instead of a bond: Consumer Affairs Victoria says those products are illegal in Victoria. A guarantor arrangement has limits too: it can't be more than one month's rent, and unless rent is above A$900 a week the rental provider can't ask for one as well as a bond.

4Beyond rent: what else does the first month cost?

For one person in a share house, living costs run about A$560 to A$1,350 a month, plus one-off costs.

Each month (one person, a room in a share house): bills A$60–160, transport A$50–250, food A$350–650, phone and other A$100–290, about A$560 to A$1,350 in all. Student accommodation usually includes bills in the rent, so you can drop that line.

Transport here uses the regular fares from February 2027: travelling one to five days a week costs about A$50 to A$250 a month. Fares after 1 January 2027 had not been announced when we checked; see Myki, the Free Tram Zone and half-price fares.

One-off costs aren't in the monthly figure: your first two or three weeks in a short stay, the airport to the city, a SIM card, bedding and kitchen basics. OSHC is usually paid before you apply for your visa, so it isn't here either. The numbers are in the next section.

5Your first week: the order in which the money goes

The short stay, the ride in and the SIM come first; bond and rent in advance are paid together on the day you sign.

Say you land on 15 February and book a hostel bed for two weeks. On landing day you spend about A$20 to A$100 on getting into the city and a SIM card. In the second week you find a place at A$500 a week, and on the day you sign you pay A$3,167 in one go. So your bank card needs to be sorted before you sign, and the money in it can't be only enough for the short stay.

You can pay the bond straight to the RTBA instead of to a personal account. Get a receipt for every payment: how to pay is covered in the section on paying and keeping records.

6Worked example: A$500 a week, paid weekly, first month

Plan for about A$3,700 to A$4,500 for the first month.

Bond A$2,167 plus 14 days in advance A$1,000 is A$3,167. Add first-month living costs of A$560–1,350 and the total is about A$3,727–4,517.

This leaves out flights, your first two or three weeks in a short stay, the airport transfer, a SIM card, bedding and kitchen basics, and OSHC. If rent is paid monthly, rent in advance can be up to one month, so the most you pay before moving in is about A$4,333, plus living costs.

7How to pay and keep records

Get a receipt for every payment; you can pay bond straight to the RTBA.

A bond paid to the rental provider or agent must be lodged with the RTBA within 14 days (not counting public holidays). You can also pay the RTBA directly: tell them in writing first, then pay by the payment link.

Rent receipts: straight away if you pay in person, otherwise within five business days of asking (for example if you pay by transfer). Get a written receipt for a holding deposit and for a bond too.

Don't pay anything until you have inspected the property and have the agreement. Keep receipts, transfer records and the agreement in one folder on your phone, because you'll need them when you move out.