Around 140 cultures are represented in Melbourne, creating a diverse and welcoming environment for people from all over the globe. For this reason, Melbourne is generally considered the best place for international students in Australia.
The city has countless festivals and events that celebrate different cultures and bring different community groups together. So, no matter which country you’re from, there’s always plenty of cultural fun to get involved in.
Melbourne is generally considered to be a very safe city. In the 2021 Safe Cities Index, it ranked 9th in the world for overall safety, and was rated as having ‘very high’ safety across digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security.
Of course, as in every big city, you need to be sensible and take usual safety precautions, but for the most part Melburnians are very friendly and welcoming.
Melbourne has an excellent tram system, which makes travel to, from and around the city very easy, and trains and buses connect to outer areas. There are also plenty of taxis and ride share vehicles, plus bike lanes and walking paths.
If you live at or near 91ÖÆƬ³§¹ú²úAV, everything will be super convenient. We’re located next door to the University of Melbourne and just two kilometres from the CBD. Trams stop right out the front of our campus.
Does Melbourne have the best university in Australia? We think so! And lots of others do, too. The University of Melbourne is rated as the number-one university in Australia by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 and Academic Rankings of World Universities 2022. The University of Melbourne has an international focus and is aligned to the top universities around the world, and is ranked number 8 worldwide for graduate employability, based on QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022.
So, why wouldn’t you want to study here?!
Melburnians are obsessed with Australian Rules Football (AFL) and love to support their team at games. But even if you don’t like AFL, you can watch and play many other sports. Some of Melbourne’s biggest sporting events include the Australian Open tennis, the Melbourne Cup horse race, the Formula One Australian Grand Prix car race, the Rip Curl Pro surfing contest and the Boxing Day Test cricket match.
Of course, you can participate in many sports and activities too – rowing, soccer, dancing, table tennis, basketball, netball, golf, yoga, martial arts … you name it. Many people in Melbourne cycle too and it’s lovely to walk through the many parks and along the Yarra River and other waterways.
Melbourne is renowned as the cultural capital of Australia. Melbourne hosts many theatre and opera performances, along with concerts and festivals. The National Gallery of Victoria attracts top global exhibitions and the Melbourne Museum shares the wonders of life through temporary and permanent exhibitions.
There is also plenty of beautiful architecture to admire, including the Victorian-style buildings along Melbourne’s many high streets, and buildings such as Flinders Street Station and the State Library Victoria. There's lots of cool street art, too.
Melbourne has more cafes and restaurants per number of people than anywhere in the world. Suffice to say, you’ll never go hungry. Better still, Melbourne restaurants serve up cuisines from all over the world, so you could eat the food of a different country every night. Then there are many hidden laneway bars, which are fun to discover.
Oh, and if you haven’t heard, Melburnians LOVE their coffee. It’s always easy to find a quality caffeine hit in this city.
When you live in Melbourne, it’s easy to explore the sights of greater Victoria. If you love skiing or snowboarding, you can visit places like Mt Hotham, Mt Buller and Falls Creek during winter, and if you enjoy the beach, you can visit the stunning Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island, and beach towns like Port Fairy and Apollo Bay (which sit along Australia's famous Great Ocean Road).
Wine lovers can head for the Yarra Valley, King Valley and Macedon Ranges, and there are plenty of cute towns and smaller cities to explore, such as Bendigo, Ballarat, Castlemaine, Kyneton and Echuca. Like hiking? The Grampians, the You Yangs, Werribee Gorge and Cape Woolamai have some great trails.
And that’s just the beginning, there's so much more to do if you move to Australia!
Melbourne loves to welcome international students, so !
Watch our video to learn more about living in Melbourne.
Apply for 91ÖÆƬ³§¹ú²úAV Foundation Studies.
