Life in Australia Guide

When you've just arrived in Australia, it can feel bewildering to work out where to print or scan a resume, visa documents or a rental lease, because there are no convenience-store printers like back home. In practice there are two main routes. ① Public libraries — cheap, and scanning is usually free, but access and membership conditions vary depending on where you live. ② Officeworks — a large office-supplies chain with stores across the country; it requires no membership, visa or proof of address at all, making it the easiest option for someone who has just arrived. Choose based on what you're printing (a black-and-white resume or a colour document) and how urgently you need it.

Officeworks is an office-supplies chain with stores across Australia, and each store has self-service printing, copying and scanning machines. It doesn't ask for membership, an account, ID, a visa or proof of residence — all you need is a way to pay — which makes it the most reliable choice for temporary visa holders. As verified in July 2026, a black-and-white A4 page costs roughly around ten-odd cents, a colour A4 page roughly 50 cents or so, and a scan roughly 30 cents, but fees change, so confirm them on the official page before you go. You can bring your files in via USB, email (send them to a dedicated address in advance and print using the code you get back), the cloud (Dropbox or OneDrive), or the PrintMe app.

The most common misconception is that "only permanent residents can use libraries." That isn't true. Across the 8 states and territories we checked, no public library required citizenship, permanent residency or proof of long-term residence to join. The only barriers are ID and, in some places, proof of your current address, and joining is free in most cases. Working holiday, student and work visa holders can all join. However, the required documents and the names of membership tiers vary by state and branch, so use section 5 below to find your local library and confirm the exact conditions on its official page.

• The standard combination is a passport (proof of identity) + a document showing your current address (a lease, bank statement or utility bill). With those two, you'll usually become a full member.
• There's a path even without proof of address — many libraries offer a 'visitor' or 'temporary' membership tier and let you join at a branch with just your passport (borrowing limits and durations may be restricted).
• Online joining can take a few days for the card to be issued and activated. If you need to print the same day, go to a branch in person and join on the spot rather than applying online.

These are the four things that vary most from branch to branch when using a library. Each point is a general tendency ('usually the case'), and it differs by location, so confirm it on the relevant library's page before you visit.

Australia has hundreds of public libraries, so rather than list them all here, we point you to each state's official directory for finding the library closest to where you live. Search by suburb or postcode using the links below, then confirm fees, membership conditions, whether guest printing is available and how to transfer files directly on the official page of the library you find. In South Australia (SA), the One Card means that once you join, your card works at libraries across the whole state.

• NSW (Sydney, Newcastle, etc.): search the State Library of NSW public library list

  State Library of NSW (opens in a new window)

• VIC (Melbourne, Geelong, etc.): search Public Libraries Victoria's 'Find a library'

  Public Libraries Victoria (opens in a new window)

• QLD (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, etc.): search the State Library of Queensland public library directory

  State Library of Queensland (opens in a new window)

• WA and SA: for WA, State Library of WA's 'Find a public library'; for SA, Public Library Services' 'Locate a library'

  State Library of WA (opens in a new window)SA Public Library Services (opens in a new window)

• TAS, ACT and NT: TAS is a single statewide system (Libraries Tasmania), ACT is Libraries ACT, and for NT search the NT Government's 'Find a library'

  Libraries Tasmania (opens in a new window)Libraries ACT (opens in a new window)NT Government (opens in a new window)

Here we've set out in advance the situations where you find a place but still can't print on the spot, and the places that are a wasted trip. In particular, watch out for garbled characters in Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese documents.

• Convert Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese documents to PDF before sending them, and open the converted PDF to check the characters aren't garbled — if you upload a Word file as is, the library server may not have the relevant font and the text can come out as □□.
• Government form PDFs, such as visa and tax forms, often print incorrectly — open and print them with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Files you send to a library for printing are usually deleted automatically after a day or two, so collect them at the store the same day you send them.
• Be careful opening passport and bank documents on a public computer — libraries state that transmitting financial information on a public PC is at your own risk. Where possible, print wirelessly from your own device, always log off a public PC after you finish (at some libraries, logging off permanently deletes any saved files), and don't leave your printouts in the tray.
• You can't print general documents at university libraries, post offices or convenience stores — university libraries block printer access for community members, and Australia Post and convenience stores (7-Eleven and the like) have no self-service printing. The alternative to convenience-store printing back home is Officeworks.
• Settlement support agencies (SETS, AMEP, etc.) are for humanitarian and family visa holders, so working holiday makers and students aren't eligible, and they aren't a printing service to begin with. A Neighbourhood House (community centre) may have free computers, but printing is commonly paid or unavailable, so call ahead before you go.