Living in Australia – useful internet links

Shopping

Choice
Consumer organisation, independent and funded by its members, tests on washing machines, steam mops, coffee grinders, laptops, TVs and health insurance etc. etc.

ALDI
Supermarket. Weekly “Special Buys” and other offers

WOOLWORTHS
Supermarket. Very comprehensive website with online catalogue, online ordering, full range of goods, weekly offers etc. Highly recommended.

COLES
Supermarket. Website with online catalogue, online ordering, weekly offers, etc.

BUNNINGS Warehouse
An Australian DIY chain, if not “the” DIY chain, as there is no other equivalent competition in Australia. You can’t get past BUNNINGS if you want to do any “home-improving”. Belongs to the Wesfarmers Group.

Appliance Online
Online retailer for white goods and home appliances. The company is a subsidiary of the family-run Winning Group, which includes Winning Appliances. Winner of CHOICE Electronics store review. CHOICE surveyed over 5000 Australians about their experiences buying electrical appliances online and instore. I am also a happy customer – great service.

JB-HIFI
Consumer electronics chain, similar to Media-Markt/Saturn in Europe. Current offers and entire stock online. JB-Hifi is available approximately 150 times throughout Australia.

The Good Guys
Like JB Hi-Fi, but often with a smaller range of goods. In 2016, The Good Guys were bought out by JB Hi-Fi.

FIRST CHOICE LIQUOR
A group of liquor superstores that are part of the Coles Group (alongside Liquorland and Vintage Cellars, Coles’ other liquor stores). Huge wine and beer selection.

DAN MURPHY’S
The other major supermarket chain for spirits, with over 250 shops across the country. This also includes BWS (Beer, Wine, Spirits) with more than 300 other shops. Even bigger selection than First Choice Liquor, especially of wine and beer. Such an “alcohol supermarket” exists comparatively perhaps only in Sweden.

Officeworks
A chain of shops for office supplies. Large selection online and in shop. Belongs to the Wesfarmers Group.

Chemist Warehouse
Australia’s largest pharmacy franchise retailer, with over 350 shops that are a mix of pharmacy and drugstore (like almost all “chemists” in Australia). Often cheaper than other Chemists.

Kmart
Department stores’ chain. The company operates 323 shops across Australia and has quite affordable products that often get tested quite well in CHOICE’s tests. Belongs to the Wesfarmers Group.

Ozmobiles
Refurbished, used and ex-demo mobile phones. All devices sold with 12 months of warranty. I bought my mobile-phones there, and I am very satisfied. They were in better condition than expected.

Umart
Online computer store. Good for everything you want to buy around the PC.

Green Vehicle Guide
Helps people choose cars by providing information on the environmental performance of cars sold in Australia.

Transport and traffic

Public transport

Transport NSW Trip Planner
Travel planning with public transport in Sydney and NSW.

Journey Planner
Travel planning with public transport in Melbourne and VIC.

TransLink
For Queensland: journey planner, route maps, timetables etc.. Does not always find all connections, as not all are merged in the system. But is constantly being improved.

Transperth JourneyPlanner
Mainly for Perth (the rest of Western Australia has almost no public transport).

Individual transport

ACCC-Petrol Price Cycles
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission buying advice on the best time to buy fuel

PetrolSpy Australia
You can see the cheapest petrol station in the area on a map and also filter by brand and fuel type. Very good, I use it myself all the time (also available as an app). Financed by advertising.

Fuel Check
Like PetrolSpy, but only for New South Wales. Ad-free, run by the state government.

Fuel Watch
Like PetrolSpy, but only for Western Australia. Ad-free, run by the state government.

Linkt
Australia-wide operator of toll roads (motorways, bridges, tunnels, etc.). Here you can pay your tolls or register your car.

Media

The Guardian – Australia Edition
News, Commentaries, Sport, Culture

ABC-News
News site of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

ABC-Televison Guide
Overview of the TV-program of the various ABC stations.

SBS on demand
Extensive high-quality and free media library of the public broadcaster SBS (Special Broadcasting Service)

Libby
An Australian library card gives you online access to thousands of e-books, audiobooks and magazines, also in other languages than English. Highly recommended!

Pressreader
Read thousands of magazines and journals from around the world online for free with an Australian library card. Super!

AIM
The Australian Independent Media Network (AIM) is a platform for journalists writing and working in an independent media environment.

Weather

Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)
Weather forecasts from the official weather service of the Australian government.

Weatherzone
Quite reliable and detailed weather forecasts, which use data from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), among others.

Australia Weather Forecast
From “Willy Weather”, also quite detailed and reliable weather forecasts and many other weather data (UV radiation, tides, sun, moon etc.).

Emergencies (bushfires and other disasters)

Fires Near me
New South Wales

Vic Emergency
Victoria

Current Bushfires and warnings
Queensland

Warnings and incidents
South Australia

Emergency WA
Western Australia:

Tasmanian Fire Service
Tasmania

Fire Incident Map
Northern Territory

Miscellaneous

Australia Post
Postage calculator, etc.

Ticketek
Largest Australian company selling tickets to almost all events. High fees.

Realestate.com
Largest website for buying, selling and renting houses, flats etc.. Almost every real estate agent in Australia uses this site.

domain.com.au
Another real estate marketplace.

Seek
One of the largest online job boards. Also used by almost every job provider.

Adzuna (Formerly Jobsearch)
Another job portal.

Deepl
Very good and accurate online translator. From our point of view, better than Google Translate etc.