The Aussie Expat’s Toolkit: Apps to Stay Connected, Move Money and Keep the Taxman Happy

Moving overseas used to mean expensive phone calls, mystery exchange rates, and finding out who won the footy three days late. These days your phone handles almost all of it, if you’ve got the right apps loaded before you go.

Here’s a no-nonsense toolkit for Aussie expats: the apps and services worth having to stay in touch with home, manage your money across borders, and keep on top of your Australian tax. We’ve left out the ones that have quietly died (more on a couple of those in a moment), because nothing dates a “useful apps” list faster than recommending something that shut down.

Staying in touch

WhatsApp. Still the heavyweight champion of staying connected, used by billions worldwide. Free texts, voice and video calls, file and photo sharing, group chats, all over wifi or data, across iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows. If your family back home only ever learns to use one app, make it this one. Calls are end-to-end encrypted, and the only real cost is the data, which is loose change next to international call rates.

A quick note on Skype. If you’re reaching for Skype out of old habit, stop: Microsoft retired it for good on 5 May 2025 after more than two decades. Existing accounts were migrated to the free version of Microsoft Teams, which is a perfectly capable replacement for video calls and chat, especially if you’ve still got business interests in Australia. But for most personal use, WhatsApp or one of the options below will do the job with less fuss.

Viber. Works much like WhatsApp for free calls, texts and photos between users, with the handy extra of being able to call actual landlines and mobiles (people not on the app) for a small fee via Viber Out. That makes it genuinely useful for keeping in touch with an older parent who’s never going to install a messaging app but will always answer the home phone.

The big two you already own. Don’t overlook the obvious: if your family is all-Apple, FaceTime and iMessage are built in and seamless. If they’re a mix of phones, Google Meet and standard video calling work fine too. The best app is often the one the people you’re calling already know how to use, so pick for your mum, not for yourself.

Moving money across borders

OFX. Regulated by ASIC, OFX (formerly OzForex) is a long-running way to move money internationally at rates that typically beat the big banks, which is not a high bar but adds up fast on larger transfers. You fund a transfer from your bank account and track it from your phone. Worth comparing against a couple of the newer players before any big transfer.

Wise. The one the original version of this list was missing, because it wasn’t the force it is now. Wise (formerly TransferWise) is built for exactly your situation: it uses the real mid-market exchange rate with a transparent upfront fee, and its multi-currency account lets you hold and convert dozens of currencies and have local account details in several countries. For regular smaller transfers and everyday spending across currencies, it’s hard to beat. For very large one-off transfers, get a quote from both Wise and a dedicated foreign exchange provider like OFX, because the cheapest option flips depending on the amount.

A word to the wise (no pun intended): whichever service you use, watch the timing and record-keeping on transfers, because large movements into Australian accounts are reported to AUSTRAC and the ATO sees that data. Clean transfers are nothing to worry about, but keep records of where the money came from.

Staying across the news from home

ABC News and ABC listen. The original version of this article recommended “Australia Plus”, which was the ABC’s international brand only between 2014 and 2018 before it reverted to ABC Australia, so that name is long dead. The living replacements are the free ABC News app for news, politics and sport, and the ABC listen app for radio and podcasts. For ABC television programming, the ABC Australia iview app is available to download outside Australia.

A VPN (with the usual caveats). Plenty of expats use a VPN so streaming and banking services behave as if they’re back in Australia. Just know that some services’ terms restrict this, and your Australian bank may actually prefer to see you logging in from your real overseas location for fraud-detection reasons, so don’t assume a VPN is always the right move.

Finding your feet in a new country

InterNations and the Expat Insider survey. InterNations runs a large global expat community with local events and forums, and publishes the well-known Expat Insider survey ranking dozens of countries on cost of living, ease of settling in, working abroad and more. It’s a useful gut-check when you’re weighing up a move or trying to build a social circle in a new city.

Keeping the Australian taxman happy (our department)

The ATO’s online services and the ATO app. Your starting point for Australian tax admin from overseas. Through myGov you can update your details, lodge some returns, track your super and (importantly for many expats) lodge the overseas travel notification and worldwide income reporting if you’ve got a HELP or student loan. One hard-won tip: sort out your myGov sign-in before you cancel your Australian mobile number, or you’ll spend a frustrating afternoon trying to receive a security code on a dead SIM.

Here’s the honest bit, though. The ATO’s tools are fine for admin, but they don’t tell you whether you’re a tax resident or a non-resident, how a tax treaty affects your situation, what the deemed disposal rules do to your investments when you leave, or how the 2026-27 Budget changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax affect your Australian property. Those are judgment calls with real money attached, and they’re exactly where an app can’t help and a specialist can.

So load up the apps for the easy stuff. For the parts where getting it wrong costs thousands, that’s what we’re here for.

The bottom line

Get the connection apps sorted before you fly (WhatsApp at a minimum, plus whatever your family already uses), pick a money-transfer service or two and compare them per transfer, grab the ABC apps to stay across home, and use the ATO’s tools for tax admin. Then, for the tax decisions that actually move the needle, talk to someone who does this for a living.

Tread your own path. Just make sure your phone’s set up for it first.

Apps handle the admin. We handle the expensive bits.

No app can tell you whether you’ve correctly ceased Australian tax residency, how to time a property sale around your return home, or what the new Budget changes mean for your portfolio. Get those wrong and the cost dwarfs any app subscription. Get them right and you keep money that would otherwise go to the ATO.

Our specialist expatriate tax team works with Aussie expats in every corner of the globe, entirely remotely, so wherever your toolkit takes you, your Australian tax is in good hands.

Book an appointment with our expat tax specialists today and get the part no app can handle sorted properly. Your future self (and your hip pocket) will thank you.

General information only. This article doesn’t consider your personal circumstances and isn’t tax or financial advice, and mentions of third-party apps and services are not endorsements. Speak to our specialist expatriate tax team today, or with another registered tax agent, before acting.

References

1. Microsoft Support, “Skype is retiring in May 2025: What you need to know” (Skype retired 5 May 2025, users moved to Microsoft Teams Free): support.microsoft.com
2. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC Australia (international service history, including the Australia Plus brand 2014-2018, and current ABC News and iview apps): abc.net.au
3. Australian Taxation Office, “Online services and the ATO app” (managing your Australian tax affairs online from overseas): ato.gov.au
4. Australian Government, Budget 2026-27, “Negative Gearing and Capital Gains Tax Reform” fact sheet (changes affecting expat property owners from 1 July 2027): budget.gov.au