Details

• Australia
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

Before your exchange, get in contact with someone who has already completed an exchange at the same uni (or at least country) as you will, having that connection will make the whole process much easier. Make sure to have a checklist of everything you need to get done and submit as early as possible, including visa (takes forever to fill out), language requirement certificate and insurance.

2. Accommodation

In Brisbane, you either choose to live in a student residence - if that's your choice, make sure to book your stay in advance to avoid higher prices; or you live private. If you prefer the latter, you can look for housing once you arrive (for example on Facebook or flatmate finders). In Australia, it's common for this to be sorted last minute so don't be surprised if you look in advance and can't find many postings for future months. A lot of my classmates arrived to Australia without housing and then spend the first days/weeks in a hostel looking for a shared house. This way, your housing might end up being a lot cheaper. I personally lived in Student One, which was central and really close to the uni, some other options include UniLodge, Iglu and Scape.

3. Academic life at host university

At QUT, all courses consist of a lecture and a tutorial (a seminar), which in total added up to approximately 8 classes you needed to attend weekly (for me it was 7, I took 4 courses but one lecture had pre recorded lectures which you listened to at home). The campus seems different to WU, because the QUT Gardens Point campus hosts students from all kinds of faculties - compared to that, WU campus feels like a bubble. Also in your courses, you would have people doing different majors, which kept it more interesting and engaging. The classes are supposed to be mandatory, but no professor ever checks attendance, which can be great if you want to travel, but also makes it harder to make friends with your classmates. Compared to WU, I find the teaching style to be more applied rather than research based. You focus way less on the theory and spend most of the time producing something yourself, whether it's a financial analysis, marketing plan, business process diagram or a project plan. Your grade consists of mostly assignments, I only had one exam in total. The workload is definitely easier to manage than at WU, at QUT the tutorials are designed to support your work on your assignments and the professors repeat everything three times, but don't be fooled - despite the easygoing teaching style and chill lectures, it surprised me how strict the grading can sometimes be.

5. Every day life in the host country

I don't think I have one bad thing to say about the Australian lifestyle. Everybody is extremely nice and welcoming, it is so easy to feel at home. Everybody is sporty and you can join countless run clubs and other sport events (including the facilities QUT provides). If you're an early bird, you'll thrive in Brisbane, all the cafés open at 6am and it's so common to work out before going to work or school. They love their coffee, you will drink the best coffee regardless of where you go. I have always felt safe, even though there are quite a couple of homeless people, especially in the city centre. It is easy to get to know new people as Australians are very talkative and genuinely interested. There are countless social events, festivals, parties, AM raves and pop ups, so you will not get bored. The public transport system is not as developed and efficient as it is in Europe, they only have busses and trains, which can be unreliable. Also compared to Vienna, the city is not as walkable, but it is still manageable.

6. Testimonial

My exchange semester in Brisbane was the loveliest and most fun experience! Australia has so much to offer and I love that I got to travel and see so many places there. My top memories include sailing the Withsundays islands and a campervan roadtrip on the East Coast. For anybody reading this before their exchange semester, just know that I am genuinely so excited for you to experience all the things I did and wish you the best time!