How to make friends while living in Australia

It is not hard to make friends in Australia when there are so many different types of people and communities within every pocket of the continent.

The first thing to do when moving to another country to study and work is to get in contact with community centres in your area of abode and find out what events and groups are available to you as a whole. What is it that interests you in your home country that you can become involved with in your new home of Australia?


Be open to new experiences

Perhaps as an international student you are worried about making friends once you move to Australia. Don’t worry, there are many other students who feel the same way and have had to push themselves into social situations that they might not otherwise thought they were capable of doing. Once you make that step into unknown territory, it opens up a whole new world of opportunities and interests. Most people are friendly in Australia and opening up the lines of communication or perhaps swapping some personal stories with another person can help to make new friends.


Take up a sport

Another affective way to make friends is to take up a sport. Australia is a country that loves sport and this is often a fabulous and healthy way to stay fit and meet new people who have similar interests. There is always a local ‘Aussie Rules’ football team to train with, soccer (or football) club, cycling club or cross-country training club in your area. Almost everyone is welcome to join in a club and the more the merrier.


Explore on campus events and activities

If sport is not something you are particularly interested in, then get down to student campus and have a look at what social activities are posted on the notice board every day. There are plenty of people looking to team up for a holiday road trip, learn how to speak your language, (or perhaps have a ‘language swap’) learn how to play an instrument or get involved with the local community arts events.


Travel

Quite often the best way to meet people is off the beaten track and meeting people from all walks of life. Australia is one of the easiest places to travel as it has a large tourism industry that relies on the backpacker dollar. Hostels and Backpacker lodges are designed in such a way that people can socialise and find work through the hostels and will often be travelling on the same circuit as the seasons take them.

Australia is a land of diversity and multi-cultural events to get involved with. It is unusual for anyone to not make friends unless they are not prepared to make the effort to circulate and join in the group activities. It will quite often make living in a new country a much more enjoyable experience having made some friends who share the same interests or who can extend a helping hand of mutual support and friendship.