Once you find out about your acceptance I would begin looking into any important documents you may need to submit and plan your course schedule at SFU the semester prior accordingly since you will be going on exchange (dont use up all your electives). I suggest having a valid passport before even finding out if you are accepted or not because you will need it to apply for your Visa. There is a Visa requirement for students to have an acceptance letter by the host institution in order to be submitted, but while you are waiting on that, you can start filling out the information in the application and then go back and upload any documents you were waiting for. Macquaries application process and acceptance is very quick, because they do not wait till after the deadline once everyone has finished applying to let people know if they got in. The sooner you apply the sooner you get accepted.
My institution provided me an option to pay for my overseas health care through them, but since I was not going to be there for the entire period the insurance covered I did my own research based on the alternative options they provided and ended up saving over a hundred dollars when adjusting the dates. I used Allianz Care and picked the 1st of February to the end of June. Although their healthcare is free, you do have to pay a $20 fee if you go to the doctor each time you go.
If you are tight with money but want to travel, I recommend looking ahead of time into flights and accommodation. I would also recommend picking up a part-time job overseas and then traveling before or after your exchange so that you aren't cramming school, work and travel all within 5 months while your bank account is crying. It is also easy to take the train to other cities as it is often cheaper.
Previous Experience
I have never been to Australia before so this was a whole new ballpark, and I was worried about the bugs and snakes before going, but there was nothing to be scared of.
Financial Preparation
Before leaving for Australia try to apply for as many scholarships, nurseries and grants you can find. SFU provides quite a lot of options and so does the government of Canada.
When it comes to credit cards or having a bank account, you are totally fine with using your Canadian card (TD/ RBC visa/mastercard etc) unless you are going to have a job there. As well, when you have a group of friends and you need to pay someone back, the Canadian e-transfer system is not the same, so the best bet is to set up an app like PayPal or one that the rest of your peers are using.
Travel and Transportation
When looking at flights I would suggest booking a round trip ticket and basing the return date on the last day of exams or your traveling adventures, because it is cheaper to change a flight date than to book a whole new flight (most of the time). There was an option for a van/bus provided by your accommodation to pick you up from the airport. If you don't have a lot of luggage and really want to explore on your first day then take the transit, it will be the cheapest option and will get you wherever you need to go. If you decide to take Uber or Didi (its like Lyft), then you will pay between 80-100 dollars. ALSO once you land and you are in the waiting area at the airport, get your sim card right away. There will be multiple providers there to choose from. I went with Vodafone which was 40 dollars a month for 80GB of data (which is more than enough) and unlimited talk and text.
Preparation Tips for Future Students
I went during the summer session, and I must say that when it is hot there it is very very hot, but during the winter there is no insulation so it gets really cold really quickly and I was only there a month into it. Don't focus on things that you can get there and will use within that time frame. Do not only bring summer clothes, bring a few hoodies and warm sweatpants.