 Accommodation. Places to live in Australia might be very different from what you are used to. There are many different styles of accommodation here, including houses and apartments. Some will be made of timber and others will be brick. Accommodation can be very expensive and difficult to find, so you will have to look around to find the right kind of accommodation for you. Aduth is a former refugee. She now works in settlement services. There are many houses and different types that we have in Australia and depending on the size of the family and the individual, we can have different sizes of houses. When you arrive in Australia, you might start with temporary accommodation. If so, you will have to look for long-term accommodation to suit the size of your family and your budget. Rent in Australia. In Australia, you will be responsible for your accommodation. Lots of Australians rent their homes. It can cost a lot of money, but it is usually more affordable than buying a house. You might be able to get money from the government to help pay for your rent. This is called rent assistance. Ask about rent assistance at your Centrelink office. And remember, you must always pay your rent on time. You need to be flexible about where you live and it might take some time to get the place you want. Rental properties are advertised in newspapers, true real estate agents and on the internet. You might find it hard to rent a property at first because you don't have a history of renting in Australia. Ask a settlement service provider to help and be patient. You will find a place to live. It is important to find out about your rights and responsibilities when renting. Everyone who rents in Australia has to sign a document called a lease. This is an agreement between you and the person you are renting from. Don't sign a lease until you understand it. And don't sign a lease without looking at the property. Make note of any damage and make sure you are happy with the property first. Steve Hoblos is a real estate agent. Well, a real estate agent is a body between the tenant and the landlord to assist both parties in case of this problem or dispute. If the tenant has any issues with the property they need to contact the real estate agent. If there is a problem where they have toilets broken or plumbing they immediately need to ring the estate agent and the estate agent will organize somebody to fix it. When you find a place to live you will have to pay a bond, an amount of money usually worth four weeks rent. The bond is kept aside to make sure you look after the property. You will get this money back if nothing is damaged and the property is clean when you move out. Maintenance. It is your responsibility to look after your home. This includes things like mowing the lawn and paying the bills for things like gas, telephone and electricity. Hillary and Melania have settled in their new home with their family. When you rent a home you must keep your home, your place very clean. Sometimes you need your children to help you. You have also the responsibility to pay the bills. Whatever you have to use in your house like the gas you have to pay for it. Sometimes your home will be inspected by a real estate agent. This happens to everyone who rents property in Australia. They are checking that you are keeping the place clean and that nothing is damaged. Well it is very very important to have a good record of rental history because once you move into another property then you will be assessed on your previous rentals. If you have caused problems with your previous rent your information will be disclosed to the other agency and it makes it harder for you to rent. Safety. Some things in the home can be quite dangerous if not used properly. If you don't know how to use an appliance ask someone to show you. For example, electrical appliances such as heaters, stoves and ovens must be used carefully. Don't let children stick anything into power points and keep dangerous things like cleaning products and electrical appliances out of their reach. Houses in Australia should also be fitted with smoke alarms. Make sure they work by testing them and never cover them. The alarm will go off when there is lots of smoke in the house and they could save your life if there is a fire. Every home in Australia must have smoke alarms fitted. If your home does not have a smoke alarm ask your real estate agent to get one for you. In Africa I have never seen the stove. To turn on or off to use the gates I didn't know before. So it was very difficult to use the stove. The heater really and the stove had the most challenging things I found here. Make sure you don't put anything too close to the heater and remember to turn off the stove and oven. Being safe in your home. Your safety is important and you should learn about ways to protect yourself and your family. You should keep important contact details such as phone numbers near the phone so that you and your family members can access them in case of an emergency. If you feel worried you can also exchange phone numbers with friends or neighbors and agree that you can ring them if you get scared even at night. Keep those numbers near the phone. In an emergency for example if there is a fire, accident or somebody trying to break into your house call 000 for help. Storing food. You might not be used to the way we store food in Australia. Some of the food you buy will last a long time. Other food will have to be eaten very quickly. Meat can stay in the freezer for about 9 months. Fish can stay only 3 months. Fresh food and vegetables don't go in the freezer. They should be kept in the fridge but only for a few days. So what happens if we leave food for too long? It could go bad or it could make you sick. It is important that you store your food properly to make sure that it doesn't make you sick. See on the label. There is a date saying when it should be eaten. Or package food heads and use by date to return on it. Let cook some meat and freeze the rest. Rubbish and recycling. It is important that you understand how we throw away rubbish in Australia. Everyone should put rubbish in bags before throwing in the bin. And don't put rubbish in anyone else's bin without permission. If you live in a house you will need to put the bin near the road for collection. Rubbish is usually collected once a week. In many areas of Australia we recycle some of our rubbish. For example paper, plastic, glass and tins can be recycled. Make sure you put your rubbish in the right bin. Settling into your home. Take the time to settle into your new home. Introduce yourself to your new neighbors. Go for a walk around the neighborhood. Find your closest shops and see what is around. Organize your furniture in any way you feel comfortable. This is your space. When you are home you can relax, cook and invite friends over and enjoy yourself. But be careful about how much noise you make so that you don't disturb your neighbors. If there are things you don't understand that's okay. Don't be embarrassed to ask for help.