Just of interest, I know Australia is supposed to be the most backpacker friendly place, I'm just interested how much a month would you need to reasonably be able to survive there?
Is Hostelling in Australia any cheaper than other places?
It's AUD $20-25 per night for a small dorm in a reasonable quality hostel in small towns. AUD $25-35 per night in the larger cities. Do the math from there.
New Zealand is 10% cheaper.
SE Asia and South America are way cheaper for a night's accommodation. Australia and New Zealand are mostly so backpacker friendly because there's hostels everywhere, they have the infrastructure to deal with backpackers (e.g. good public transport, lots of supermarkets and good kitchens in all hostels to allow for self-catering, etc.) and there's lots of companies targetting backpackers specifically (both with helping them find work and with tours and special discounts).
Christmas time is the most difficuly time to get accomodation in sydney. Literally every hostel is booked out for the 2 weeks around christmas. Book in advance to get places
It depends, I came to oz from Thailand and it was like a slap in the face! Im paying $24 a night for a dorm in Melbourne or sometimes a get a private room for $60, this is the cheapest Ive found here.