Travelling with families
Please note information supplied on this page is for the benefit of Fulbright Scholars travelling to Australia, to assist with travel preparations and also to support Scholars in their transition to life in the Australia. Please note: the information has been extracted from recent Fulbright Scholar Final Reports and is not necessarily the views or recommendations of the Fulbright Commission.
| Be sure to contact the Fulbright office about getting the school fees waived for temporary residents. This was not made clear to us and NSW public schools billed us several thousand dollars. It turns out Fulbright Scholars don’t have to pay this fee and the Fulbright office helped us solve this problem. 2004 Senior Scholar |
| I joined a bi-weekly group of mother’s from the high school. We would meet for coffee and discuss the school and our children. This was very beneficial to me in terms of finding out how the school system worked. Some of the best times we had were the times when we were getting together with Australians for meals and conversation. We had a great time finding out what we had in common as well as the ways in which our experiences back in the U.S. differed. 2004 Senior Scholar wife |
| For families with children begin work in locating a school immediately upon notification that you have received a Fulbright fellowship, and be prepared to follow-through with many email and phone calls to schools. Waiting lists can be long. Seek out healthcare and childcare providers before arriving in-country, Australians seldom use baby-sitters, relying instead upon family. You will need to cultivate resources, and it helps to reach out to university faculty and new neighbors with children. Be prepared to establish networks for support, and keep an email list of contacts prior to arrival. 2005 Senior Scholar |