Before you start

Passport
An Australian residential address — a hotel or short stay is fine to begin
Visa details
Your home-country tax identification number for the tax residency declaration

Step-by-step

1
Open the account online before you fly
All four majors accept pre-arrival applications. You get an account number immediately, so relocation funds or a first salary have a destination, but the account stays restricted until you verify identity in person.
OnlineWho: YouAccepted up to about 3 months before arrival by most banks
2
Verify in a branch after you land
Take the original passport into a branch. Originals only — scans and photocopies are refused. Elizabeth Street in the Hobart CBD carries most of the branch network; Glenorchy, Kingston and Rosny Park are quicker for the same transaction.
In personWho: YouAbout 20–30 minutes
3
Consider a Tasmanian mutual as well as a major
Bank of us and MyState are both Tasmanian and both keep branches in places the majors have left. If you expect to live or travel outside Greater Hobart, a bank with a physical presence in the north and north-west is worth more than a slightly better rate.
In personWho: You
4
Add your Tax File Number when it arrives
Supplying a TFN is not compulsory, but without one the bank withholds tax at the top marginal rate on interest. Thirty seconds in the app once the ATO letter turns up.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Set up PayID before you start applying for rentals
Hobart's rental market is thin and fast. Bond and first rent move by instant transfer, and being able to pay the same afternoon is a genuine competitive advantage on a property that has twenty applicants.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport (original, presented in person)
Visa evidence via VEVO
Australian residential address
Tax File Number, once issued — not needed to open the account

Things most newcomers don’t know

The new-arrival identity concession is short and it is the single reason to bank in week one.

Banks accept that someone who landed last week cannot hold Australian documents, so for roughly the first six weeks a foreign passport counts as the full 100 points on its own. After that they ask for a Tasmanian licence or a Medicare card you do not yet have. Nobody reminds you — the process simply gets harder without announcing it.

Source: Major bank new-arrival banking pages; confirm the current window with your bank

Branch closures bite harder in a small state, and the local mutuals are the reason to care.

The majors have closed a large number of regional branches across Australia and Tasmania has felt it disproportionately. Bank of us and MyState are Tasmanian institutions that still staff counters in towns the majors have exited. If your work or life takes you beyond Greater Hobart, that is a practical consideration rather than a sentimental one.

Source: community-reported, consistent with published branch network data

PayID and Osko settle in seconds, and Australia effectively has no cheque culture.

Register a mobile number or email as a PayID and money arrives instantly, any day. Bond payments, tradespeople and share-house costs all run on it. In Hobart's tight rental market the ability to move a bond the same day is a real edge.

Source: Australian Payments Plus — New Payments Platform

The account, the address and the TFN unlock each other in a fixed order.

The TFN letter arrives by Australian post and nowhere else; the bank withholds at the top rate until you supply the TFN; every rental application wants an Australian account. Stable postal address, then account, then TFN, then feed the TFN back in. Any other sequence means repeating a step.

Source: ATO guidance combined with standard bank practice

Common mistakes to avoid

Presenting photocopies or a phone photo of the passport rather than the original.
Letting the new-arrival identity window lapse before getting to a branch.
Assuming the pre-arrival online account is fully usable on landing.
Choosing a bank with no Tasmanian branch presence when you expect to live or work outside Hobart.
Leaving the TFN off the account and being withheld at the top rate on interest for months.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.