Multicultural Welcome Hub – Household services

There are many providers for household services such as electricity, gas, phone and internet. You can use online comparison tools to help you to compare different providers and make a decision about which offer best suits your needs for the best price.

Product reviews and price comparisons can be found on the following websites:

www.choice.com.au

www.canstarblue.com.au

www.finder.com.au

www.productreview.com.au

Electricity and gas

You can compare plans and prices for your electricity and gas on the Australian Government site Energy Made Easy

Phone and internet

As soon as you arrive in Australia you should get an Australian phone number.

There are many providers who offer different packages and contracts for landline, mobile and internet services. The biggest service providers are Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodafone. Shop around and check deals before signing a contract.

Phone dialling tips:

numbers starting with 13 or 1300 is the cost of a local call
numbers starting with 1800 are free calls
numbers starting with 19 can be very expensive
if you need help to find a telephone number phone dial 1223

Calling international can be expensive. Try internet VoIP services like Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger instead.

When people from your home country call your landline phone number they must dial 61 first (for Australia), then 7 (for Queensland) and then your telephone number. For example:

Your local landline number is (07) 5555 2222, when calling your landline number from overseas your number is 61 7 5555 2222

When people from your home country call your mobile, they must dial +61 first, and then your mobile number, deleting the first 0. For example:

Your local mobile number is 0400 000 222, when calling from overseas your mobile number is +61 400 000 222

Water

Unitywater provides the water and sewerage services on the Sunshine Coast. If you are buying your house the company will provide a Welcome Pack which includes various options for payment. If you are renting the water bill is usually included in your rental payments. However in some cases you will have to pay the water usage bill, so remember to ask your landlord.

Waste collection services

Council provides a weekly domestic general waste collection service to Sunshine Coast residents. General waste bins are for general household waste only, such as food waste and plastic bags. They are not suitable for recyclables.

Bins with yellow lids are for recyclable items only, such as newspaper, specific plastics, steel and aluminium cans. The recycling bin is collected every second week.

For more information, please see bin collection services page.

Television

Free television is provided by the following television networks.

Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)

SBS is Australia's multicultural and multilingual broadcaster. SBS has many programs in different languages.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

ABC is Australia's national broadcaster, it is independent of government and politics.

Seven Network, Nine Network and Network Ten

These are commercial, free-to-air television networks. The networks all have national and local news, current affairs coverage, live sport and popular entertainment. You can also stream most free-to-air television from the internet and watch the shows on your computer or Smart TV when it’s convenient.

Pay TV and streaming services

Subscribing to pay TV in Australia will involve signing a contract with one of the providers, paying for a set-top box to carry the service, and the installation of the wiring and box. The two leading providers are Foxtel and Fetch.

Streaming TV shows, movies and documentaries on demand allows you to choose the shows you want to watch and they are streamed to your TV or computer in exchange for a monthly fee. On-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu, Stan, and Amazon Prime Video are very popular. You will need a computer or a Smart TV and good internet to use this service.