Australia

By selecting a degree programme you are able to see the general content as well as the possible degree programme-specific content. You do not have to select a degree programme to see the Open University's instructions.

Australia is known for its stunning landscapes, unique wildlife, and rich cultural heritage. It offers a high standard of education with a strong emphasis on research and innovation. The country boasts a variety of climates, from tropical in the north to temperate in the south, and is home to several world-renowned universities. Students can enjoy a laid-back lifestyle, engage in outdoor activities, and experience a multicultural society.

University of Helsinki offers the following exchange destinations in Australia:

  • University-wide bilateral exchange agreement (students from all faculties; any restrictions are explained in the destination details below): Australian National University, Deakin University, Macquarie University, Monash University, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales (UNSW), University of Sydney, University of Tasmania, University of Technology Sydney UTS), University of Western Australia
  • Faculty- or unit-wide bilateral exchange agreement: Edith Cowan University (Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Melbourne (Faculty of Law)

In order to see the Faculty-specific destinations, please sign in or choose your degree programme on top of the page.

Certain fields are not available to exchange students at some universities. Exchange students usually cannot study clinical medicine in Australia. In addition, other fields (e.g., law, media studies and psychology) may impose at least partial restrictions. Check the information under each university.

The academic year begins in February and ends in November or December. Some universities use the trimester system. Do not apply for a trimester that overlaps with both UH autumn and spring (e.g. October to February).

Costs: In 2025, Australian immigration raised their student visa price to $2 000 (ca. 1 150€). 

You will need to purchase Australian health insurance for the entire duration of your stay.

You must pay accommodation and living expenses as well as travel, insurance and visa costs. You must also pay various administrative fees which vary according to university. Field or laboratory courses may include fees that you must pay yourself, as they are not directly tuition fees.

Proof of your level of English is only required after being selected by University of Helsinki. If you need to pay for a language test, check the current situation on whether TOEFL is accepted by Australian immigration. The Australian government halted accepting TOEFL for immigration purposes in 2023, so it is safer to take the IELTS test.

This is a link back to Exchange destinations around the world.

You can find comprehensive instructions for going on exchange under the Study Abroad theme.

Australian National University (ANU), Canberra
Deakin University, Melbourne
Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney
Monash University, Melbourne
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney
University of Sydney
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
University of Western Australia (UWA)

Australian National University (ANU), Canberra

Student testimonials

"Teaching quality high, lots of ongoing self-paced course work, be prepared!"

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • Students with English skills at least on level C1, Law C2. A fee-paying test can be replaced with a certificate from University of Helsinki's Language Centre if you receive a C1 grade (in Law: C2 grade, i.e. the best grade, is required).
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,8

What can you study here?

  • Faculties of ANU
  • Courses
  • Exchanges students are mainly offered undergraduate (Bachelor's) level courses.
  • Undergraduate exchange students can only choose undergraduate-level courses.
  • Graduate-level students can be chosen to the exchange programme if they study their degree's optional (undergraduate-level) studies there.

The following are not available

  • Medical School courses (ANU College of Health & Medicine) or Crawford School of Public Policy courses
  • Honours-level (4XXX) courses.

How many credits do you need to complete?

4 courses per semester.
4 courses = 24 ANU credits (each course 6 credits) = about 30 UH credits
1 ANU undergraduate credit = 1,25 ECTS
1 ANU postgraduate credit = 1,5 ECTS

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

The estimated cost of living in Canberra is about $1 600 per month. This typically covers accommodation, food,
utilities and entertainment. For further information and detailed break-down on expenses, please see Cost of living page

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€) 

Exchange opportunities available 

8 students for one semester

Deakin University, Melbourne

Student testimonials

"The teaching was of high quality and quite personal. Lots of different group work, seminars and reflection together. The tasks were quite demanding"

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • Students with English skills at least on level B2 (Bachelor level) / C1 (Master level). For most fields a fee-paying language test can be replaced by a no older than 5 years diploma from Finnish upper secondary school with a grade of 8 or above in A-language English. If you do need to take a test, the Australian government halted accepting TOEFL for immigration purposes in 2023, so it is safer to take the IELTS test.
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,3

What can you study here?

  • Faculties of Deakin
  • Courses
  • List of restricted courses
  • Mainly undergraduate studies.
  • Only graduate-level students can attend graduate-level courses; applicants must have completed their Bachelor's degree.
  • Undergraduate units are levels 1, 2 and 3. For example, AIS101 is a first-year unit, MAE203 is a second-year unit, and so on.
  • Honours units are level 4. For example, AIX499 is an honours unit.
  • Postgraduate units are level 7. For example, HPS774 is a postgraduate unit.

The following are not available

  • Medicine

How many credits do you need to complete?

4 courses per trimester
4 courses = 4 Deakin credit points (each course 1 credit point) = about 30 UH credits (ECTS).
1 Deakin University undergraduate credit = 7,5 ECTS
1 Deakin University postgraduate credit = 8 ECTS

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

"In addition to the cost of tuition, living in Australia as an international student can cost on average AU$19,800 per year, and most of this amount will be spent on housing, food and transport." (the quote is from a page for students completing a degree in Australia- you do not pay tuition, and are not in Australia for a full year)

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

No places available in the October 2025 application round

Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney

Student testimonials

"Really good standard of teaching, and the teaching methods very much activate the students. Lectures are not only sit-and-listen, but each time there is group work and other activation"

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • English skills: A fee-paying language test can be replaced by a no older than 5 years-old diploma from Finnish upper secondary school with a grade of 8 or above in A-language English.
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,3

What can you study here?

  • Faculties at Macquarie
  • Courses (= Units. A "course" refers to a degree)
  • Please click ‘units’ under Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programs.  Please note some units are restricted and as such not available to Exchange students.

Bachelor-level students can usually only select undergraduate units (courses). Undergraduate units are at 1000, 2000 and 3000 level.

Master-level students cannot select undergraduate (Bachelor’s level) courses. You need to have graduated from your Bachelor's degree by the time of applying to Macquarie in order to be accepted to postgraduate (Master-level) courses. Postgraduate units are at 6000, 8000 and 9000 level. (Please note that 6000 level units are foundational units which might have been covered in your undergraduate degree in the same field.)

Information on courses and fields of study that are restricted for exchange students: Restrictions (PDF)

  • We do not recommend applying to Psychology, as admission is highly uncertain.
  • Additionally, courses in Educational Sciences, while not completely restricted, are very unlikely to accept exchange students.

How many credits do you need to complete?

4 bachelor courses per semester OR 3 master courses per semester.
4 bachelor units = 40 Macquarie University credit points = about 30 UH credits (ECTS).
3 master units = 30 Macquarie University credit points = about 30 UH credits (ECTS)
1 Macquarie undegraduate credit = 0,75 UH credits (ECTS)
1 Macquarie postraduate credit = 1 UH credit (ECTS)
The course workload is extensive.

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

Macquarie page on costs

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

4 places for one semester

Monash University, Melbourne

Student testimonials

"The quality was good. The professors were engaging and approachable, and they seemed to really care about their students and their subjects"

"Monash is highly ranked and situated in Victoria, a state known for its universities. Monash is very international with a significant amount of students coming from other countries, especially in Asia. As such, I thought this university most suitable for furthering my academic ambitions and giving me valuable international experience"

"There was some confusion as to which courses I was allowed to take and whether they were full"

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • Students with English skills at least on level C1. A fee-paying language test can be replaced by a no older than 5 years old diploma from Finnish upper secondary school with a grade of 8 or above in A-language English AND an assessment of C1 proficiency from a UH Language Centre teacher.
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,5

What can you study here?

  • Faculties at Monash
  • Courses (called 'units' at Monash) - does not work on Firefox, use e.g. Chrome
  • Mainly undergraduate studies.
  • Undergraduate exchange students can only choose undergraduate-level courses.
  • Master-level students can select courses only from one study level. They can either take undergraduate courses, or master-level courses (post-graduate units) if they have completed their Bachelor's degree.
  • All undergraduate students (with the exception of Undergraduate Faculty of Law) must select units with a code number prefix of 1, 2 or 3 only. This corresponds to 1st, 2nd and 3rd year, e.g. MGC1010 is a 1st year unit. Only undergraduate Faculty of Law students will select units with a code number prefix of ‘4’. Units with a code number prefix of ‘5’ are postgraduate units and are available only to students enrolled in a postgraduate degree at their home institution. Non-Law units with a code number prefix of ‘4’ are honours level and are not available to Exchange and Study Abroad students.

Restrictions

  • The following fields have strict criteria for previous studies: business and economics, language studies, education (practical teaching components), science, marine biology, psychology and pharmacy.
  • Exchange students are not usually admitted to 4th year or honours courses.
  • Law: Only students majoring in law are admitted to study law at Monash. Only undergraduate Law studies available.
  • Medicine:
    • Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery units are not available to exchange students.
    • Clinical courses are not available to exchange students.
  • More restrictions

How many credits do you need to complete?

24 Monash credit points per semester = usually 4 courses (6 credits per course) = about 30 UH credits.
For postgraduate level courses, take 3 courses per semester = 18 Monash University postgraduate credits = 27 UH credits.
1 Monash University undergraduate credit = 1,25 ECTS
1 Monash University postgraduate credit = 1,5 ECTS
The course workload is extensive.

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

Monash page on costs

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

15 students for one semester

University of Melbourne

Student testimonials

"The University of Melbourne is one of the best in the country and the courses it offers were interesting and diversified my degree"

"The teaching was of high quality and the tasks were well structured. The lessons were easy to keep up with and the teachers were helpful"

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • As proof of English skills either:
    • An upper secondary school diploma with a grade of 8 or above in A-English
    • A certificate from a Language Centre teacher for C1 proficiency.
    • A fee-based IELTS test. (update 8-2023: Australia has halted accepting TOEFL iBT tests for visa applications)
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,5

What can you study here?

  • Faculties of Melbourne
  • Courses:
  • Information about course requirements and restrictions
  • Undergraduate students can only select undergraduate-level courses. In addition students can attend one graduate-level course, if the they have completed the previous studies required to attend the course.
  • Graduate students can select one undergraduate-level course.
  • The four letters of a subject code indicate the area of study of the subject. For example, all subject codes that commence with 'PSYC' refer to psychology subjects, whilst all subjects that commence with 'MUSI' are music subjects.
  • The first number in the subject code refers to the year level of the subject. Numbers 1 through 3 refer to undergraduate subject year levels, 4 refers to Honours subject level, whilst 5 through to 9 refer to graduate study. For example, ANCW20010 is a second-year undergraduate subject, whilst FNCE90005 is a graduate subject.

Restrictions:

  • Exchange students cannot apply to courses in clinical medicine and veterinary medicine.
  • Psychology is not open to Master's students (not even for undergraduate courses).
  • Law: NOTE! Melbourne only accepts Master’s level law students, or students who have completed at least 3 full years (180 ECTS) of Law studies by the time they apply to Melbourne. In application rounds where there are no places for Law (see separate section on this page on the Melbourne Law agreement), Law students can only apply to study fields other than Law.

How many credits do you need to complete?

Undergraduate: 4 courses per semester. 
4 courses = 50 Melbourne credits (each course 12,5 credits) = 30 UH credits (ECTS)
1 Melbourne undergraduate credit = 0,6 UH credits
Postgraduate: 3 postgraduate courses per semester (2 postgraduate courses + 1 undergraduate course is not enough).
3 postgraduate courses = 37,5 Melbourne credits = about 30 UH credits
1 Melbourne postgraduate credit = 0,8 UH credits
The course workload is extensive.

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

Study Australia page on costs

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

2 students for one semester

University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • English skills: Once a student has been selected by University of Helsinki, a fee-paying language test (e.g. IELTS) is required. (update 8-2023: Australia has halted accepting TOEFL iBT tests for visa applications)
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,8

What can you study here?

Faculty restrictions:

Arts & Social Sciences

  • Students wishing to take stage 3 ARTS courses must be majoring in the field they wish to study
  • Undergraduate students can only enrol in undergraduate courses
  • Postgraduate students are not eligible to take undergraduate courses
  • INST, GLST, DANC, EDST and Music courses are restricted to declared majors

Art & Design

  • Courses are held at the Paddington campus, approximately 20 minutes away – a free shuttle bus service is available
  • Priority will be given to students majoring in Art/Design/Media
  • Students can take a mix of courses from Paddington and Kensington (main) campus, as long as they are aware of the travel involved

Business

  • The following courses are not available to exchange students (this information is from a previous year, please check current restrictions): Industrial Training courses including MARK2999, MARK3999, MARK4999, FINS3100, FINS3200. MARK6xxx courses, GBAT course

Medicine

  • Exchange students can enrol in courses from the School of Medical Science, however courses in the Doctor of Medicine program are not open to exchange students.

Science

  • Postgraduate psychology courses are not available to exchange students.

Built Environment

  • Studio based courses are often limited due to space and students should be flexible with subject choices.

Engineering

  • Enrolment in Biomedical Engineering courses is extremely limited; students need to be prepared to select courses from another major

Online courses

  • Exchange students are limited to taking one online course only

How many credits do you need to complete?

3-4 courses a term
18 undergraduate units of credit, three subjects = 22,5 UH credits. 24 undegraduate units of credit, four subjects = 30 UH credits.
1 UNSW undergraduate credit =  1,25 UH credits (ECTS)
1 UNSW postgraduate credit = 1,5 UH credits (ECTS)

Terms

February - June / July - November

One term or tailored term (equivalent to one UH semester)

Terms:

  • Tailored Term 1 (JT + T1 January-May): take 4 courses = 24 UNSW credits = 30 ECTS
  • Term 1 (T1 February-May): take 3 courses = 18 UNSW credits = 22,5 ECTS
  • Tailored Term 3 (AT + T3 August-December): take 4 courses = 24 UNSW credits = 30 ECTS
  • Term 3 (T3 September-December): take 3 courses = 18 UNSW credits = 22,5 ECTS

Housing, costs and fees

"We recommend budgeting around AU$9 000 – AU$11 000 per half year."

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

No places available in the October 2025 application round

University of Sydney

Student testimonials

"The quality was very good and the teachers were mostly very passionate about the courses. However, the grading of assignments was very strict in every course I took"

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • As proof of English skills: a fee-paying language test can be replaced by a no older than 10 years (at the start of the exchange) diploma from Finnish upper secondary school with a grade of 8 or above in A-language English.
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,5

What can you study here?

  • Faculties at Sydney
  • Courses 2024
  • Undergraduate students can only select undergraduate-level courses (unit codes 1000-3000). In addition students can attend one graduate-level course (unit codes 4000-6000), if the they have completed the previous studies required to attend the course.
  • Masters students can select unit preferences from either Bachelor OR Masters level, as long as they are in the following list of units available to study abroad and exchange:
  • Bachelor course list (spreadsheet)
  • Masters course list (spreadsheet)
  • University of Sydney assesses each applicant's eligibility to take a specific unit of study and checks that they meet pre-requisites.

Restrictions:

  • Medicine, Dentistry, Psychology: only for undergraduate studies.
  • Law, Media – number of students that can be admitted is limited. Only for Law and Communication students
  • Exchange students cannot take production courses in media and communications
  • Postgraduate Business courses - number of students is limited
  • Music studios studies - only students majoring in music.
  • A limited number of courses are available in veterinary medicine (“only ANSC, VBS or VETS units on 2000 and 3000 levels”)

How many credits do you need to complete?

4 courses per semester
4 undergraduate courses = 24 Sydney credits (each course 6 credits) = 30 UH credits
4 postgraduate courses = 24 Sydney credits (each course 6 credits) = 36 UH credits
1 University of Sydney undergraduate credit = 1,25 ECTS
1 University of Sydney postgraduate credit = 1,5 ECTS
The course workload is extensive, especially on postgraduate level.

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

Sydney's estimate on costs. As an Exchange student you don't pay tuition (Study abroad students do).
A single student living away from home will require at least $1,754 per month for accommodation, food, utilities and entertainment.

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

1 student for one semester

University of Tasmania (UTAS)

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties except Medicine or Pharmacy
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students, but Bachelor admission more certain. UTAS assesses postgraduate (Master-level) applications on a case-by-case basis and may reject applicants.
  • As proof of English skills:
    • Bachelor level: The mandatory B2 English course of your degree completed on your transcript can be recognized instead of a paid language test. If your degree requirements do not include the mandatory course, separate instructions will be given.
    • Master level: paid language test (usually IELTS) required.
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,3

What can you study here?

  • Classes/units (at UTAS, a “course” refers to a degree). Bachelor-level students can only take undergraduate classes. Master-level students can take both undergraduate and graduate classes.
  • How do I know what level my unit is? The first number refers to the level of the unit and generally corresponds to the year you'll take it in if you are studying full time. For example:
    • BMA101 is an introductory unit;
    • BMA207 is an intermediate unit; and
    • BMA311 is an advanced level unit.
  • Postgraduate courses usually have unit codes featuring a 4, 5, 6 or 7 at the start of the number).

The following are not available

  • Medicine, Psychology, Pharmacy and Nursing. Students of the UH Faculty of Medicine or Faculty of Pharmacy cannot apply to UTAS

How many credits do you need to complete?

4 courses per semester (full-time enrolment is 4 x 12.5-credit units)
4 courses = 50 UTAS credits = about 30 UH credits (ECTS)
1 UTAS undergraduate or postgraduate credit = about 0,6 ECTS

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

Housing:

  • Hostels and guesthouses: $90 to $150 per week
  • Shared private rental: $85 to $125 per week
  • Single private rental $150 to $300 per week
  • UTAS On-campus $165 to $236 per week
  • UTAS Off-campus: (university managed): $165 to $420 per week
     

Health insurance approx. $500 for one semester
Groceries and eating out: $80–$280 per week
Electricity and utilities: $35–$140 per week
Phone and Internet: $20–$55 per week
Public transport: $15–$55 per week
Study expenses (books, photocopying, stationery etc.): approx. $1,000 per year
Field trips may have an associated cost

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

2 students for one semester

University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

Student testimonials

"The quality was good, teaching was practical and problem-based"

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • As proof of English skills: A fee-paying language test can be replaced with an upper secondary school diploma with a grade of 8 or above in A-English.
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,3

What can you study here?

UTS only accepts undergraduate (Bachelor-level) applicants who have completed at least one year, 60 ECTS, at the time of applying to UTS (after being accepted to apply in the UH application round), by March for autumn exchanges and by October for the following year's spring exchanges.

To qualify for postgraduate exchange, students will need to have completed a minimum of 180 ECTS at time of application to UTS (after being accepted to apply in the UH application round).

Faculties at UTS
Courses

UTS recommends that you choose your courses from the so-called pre-approved subject list, because for other courses you would need to seek approval from the faculty that organizes the course.

Postgraduate students are not usually permitted to take undergraduate subjects and undergraduate students are not usually permitted to take postgraduate subjects, so applicants should choose courses from their own study level.

The following are not available

  • Business School
  • Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
  • Faculty of Health

How many credits do you need to complete?

4 undergraduate courses = 24 Sydney credits (each course 6 credits) = 30 UH credits
4 postgraduate courses = 24 Sydney credits (each course 6 credits) = 36 UH credits
1 UTS undergraduate credit = 1,25 ECTS
1 UTS postgraduate credit = 1,5 ECTS
The course workload is extensive, especially on postgraduate level.

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

UTS page on entry requirements and costs

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

1 student for one semester

University of Western Australia (UWA)

Who can apply?

  • Students of all faculties
  • Bachelor’s and Master’s students
  • As proof of English skills: A fee-paying language test can be replaced with an upper secondary school diploma with a grade of 8 or above in A-English.
  • Students with minimum GPA of 3,3

What can you study here?

Faculties of U. Western Australia

Unit (course) Information

  • In UWA the word 'unit' means courses and the word 'course' means programme / degree

Limitations: Exchange students cannot apply to the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.

How many credits do you need to complete?

4 undergraduate courses = 24 UWA credits (each course 6 credits) = 30 UH credits
4 postgraduate courses = 24 UWA credits (each course 6 credits) = 36 UH credits
1 UWA undergraduate credit = 1,25 ECTS
1 UWA postgraduate credit = 1,5 ECTS
The course workload is extensive, especially on postgraduate level.

Terms

February - June / July - November

Housing, costs and fees

UWA page on costs

Student visa $2 000 (ca. 1 150€)

Exchange opportunities available 

No places available in the October 2025 application round