Australia sent 2.3% of the money India received from abroad in 2023-24, according to the Reserve Bank of India's sixth remittances survey. It is also one of the dearer routes into India: in the World Bank's price survey, the average cost of sending AUD 200 was higher than from the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Canada. That makes comparing quotes especially worthwhile here. Two features of the Australian system are worth knowing before you start: the country's fast domestic payments stop at the border, and every international transfer is reported to AUSTRAC as a matter of routine. The money transfer guide explains the cost ideas that apply everywhere.
How much does it cost to send Australian dollars to India?
The World Bank's Q3 2025 survey put the average cost of sending AUD 200 to India at 6.15%, and of sending AUD 500 at 3.53%.
Fees averaged AUD 8.89 and AUD 9.19, and margins 1.71% and 1.69%. A fee of roughly AUD 9 takes about 4.4% of a small transfer but under 2% of a larger one, so the margin becomes the number to watch as amounts grow: 1.7% of AUD 2,000 is AUD 34, nearly four times the average fee.
| Amount sent | Average fee | Exchange-rate margin | Total cost (% of amount) | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A$200 | A$8.89 | 1.71% | 6.15% | A$12.30 |
| A$500 | A$9.19 | 1.69% | 3.53% | A$17.64 |
Unlike the Gulf currencies, the Australian dollar floats, so the rate moves with both currencies and nobody forecasts it reliably. The table converts at the live mid-market rate with two sample margins.
| You send | At the mid-market rate | With a 1% markup | With a 3.5% markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| A$300 | ₹19,991 | ₹19,792 | ₹19,292 |
| A$1,000 | ₹66,638 | ₹65,972 | ₹64,306 |
| A$2,500 | ₹166,595 | ₹164,929 | ₹160,764 |
| A$6,000 | ₹399,829 | ₹395,830 | ₹385,835 |
Compare quotes with the AUD to INR converter, and use the money transfer cost calculator to put the fee and margin into one figure. The exchange-rate markups guide shows how to work out a margin from a quoted rate.
Is a bank or a remittance provider cheaper?
Neither wins by default; on any given day, the cheaper option is the one that delivers more rupees for the same Australian dollars once the fee is included.
Banks usually send international transfers by SWIFT, and the payment may pass through an intermediary bank that deducts a charge before it reaches India. Remittance providers typically pay out locally, crediting an Indian account over IMPS or NEFT, or a UPI ID, often within minutes. Headlines mislead in both directions: a transfer advertised with no fee may carry a wide margin, and a slim margin can come with a fee that eats into small amounts. Setting a fixed budget, fee included, makes quotes easy to compare, because the fee then comes out of the money that gets converted.
One setting on a bank's transfer form deserves a second look: the currency the payment is sent in. Sent in Australian dollars, the money is converted somewhere along the way, by an intermediary or by the Indian bank, at a rate you see only after it lands. Sent in rupees, the rate is fixed in Australia before you pay, where you can compare it with other quotes.
Worked example: AUD 1,200 a month, all-in, priced three ways
On November 2, 2026, the reference rate was about ₹66.83 per Australian dollar, so AUD 1,200 was worth ₹80,196 at mid-market.
- Quote A, advertised as no fee: a 3.5% margin gives ₹64.49 per dollar, so ₹77,388 arrives. The cost is ₹2,808, about AUD 42.02 or 3.50% of your budget.
- Quote B: an AUD 10 fee leaves AUD 1,190 to convert at a 1% margin, ₹66.16 per dollar, so ₹78,730.40 arrives. The cost is ₹1,465.60, about AUD 21.93 or 1.83%.
- Quote C: an AUD 4 fee leaves AUD 1,196 to convert at a 1.8% margin, ₹65.63 per dollar, so ₹78,493.48 arrives. The cost is ₹1,702.52, about AUD 25.48 or 2.12%.
Quote B wins despite charging the highest fee, and the no-fee quote comes last, ₹1,342.40 behind. Sent every month for a year, choosing B over A puts about ₹16,100 more in your family's account.
What are the steps to send money from Australia to India?
Five steps cover almost every transfer, from getting the Indian details right to keeping proof of what you paid.
Get the payout details from India
Ask the recipient for the account number, the branch's 11-character IFSC and the account name as printed on the passbook or statement, or for a UPI ID that can receive foreign transfers. Copy them from a screenshot rather than from memory or a voice note.
Check who you are dealing with
A provider that isn't a bank should appear on AUSTRAC's Remittance Sector Register. If it is missing, or asks you to pay into someone's personal account, go elsewhere.
Have your ID ready
Providers have to verify who you are, so expect to upload a passport or Australian driver licence and to say what the transfer is for.
Compare all-in quotes for the same budget
Ask each provider how many rupees arrive for the same Australian dollar amount once its fee is taken out, and set the answers against the live AUD to INR rate.
Pay and keep the reference
Pay from your own account or card, then keep the receipt and the transfer reference. Together they show the rate you were promised and let the provider trace a late payment.
Why can't PayID or Osko pay an Indian account?
Both run on Australia's New Payments Platform, which links Australian financial institutions, and the operator of Osko says plainly that international Osko payments are not available.
A PayID is an alias, such as a mobile number, email address or ABN, linked to an Australian account, and its main safety feature is showing who you are paying before you hit send. The platform's international service works only in the other direction, speeding up the Australian leg of payments arriving from abroad. Nothing on it sends money out of the country.
For a transfer to India, the payout details are Indian ones: an account number with the branch's IFSC and the account holder's name as the bank records it, or a UPI ID linked to a KYC-compliant account that accepts foreign inward transfers. IMPS credits up to ₹5 lakh per transaction per payment, any day of the year. Use purpose code P1301, family maintenance, for regular support. The guide to sending money from the US to India explains these details, plus NRE and NRO accounts, at length.
What AUSTRAC sees when you send money abroad
Every international transfer is reported. Banks and remittance providers must lodge an international funds transfer instruction (IFTI) report with AUSTRAC within 10 business days of each transfer into or out of Australia, and there is no minimum amount, so a small birthday gift is reported just like a house deposit.
| Report | What triggers it | Who files it |
|---|---|---|
| International funds transfer instruction report | Any transfer into or out of Australia, whatever the amount | Your bank or remittance provider, within 10 business days |
| Threshold transaction report | Physical cash of AUD 10,000 or more in one transaction | The business that takes the cash |
| Cross-border movement report | Carrying AUD 10,000 or more in cash or bearer instruments, in any currency, into or out of Australia | You, before you pass through customs |
| Suspicious matter report | Anything that looks suspicious, at any amount | The business that has the suspicion |
For a transfer through a remittance provider, the report records who sent the money and who received it, the amount and currency, the purpose of the transfer and how the sender's identity was checked. None of these reports costs you anything or implies wrongdoing. AUSTRAC's 2026 transitional rules keep IFTI reporting in its current form until each provider switches to new international value transfer service reports, on March 31, 2029 or a later date of its choosing, no later than September 30, 2029.
Remittance providers must also be registered with AUSTRAC and renew that registration every three years, so search the Remittance Sector Register before you sign up with a provider that isn't a bank.
Cash is the one case where the duty falls on you. There is no limit on how much you can carry out of Australia, only an obligation to declare AUD 10,000 or more before you pass through customs, and to keep the receipt. Splitting the cash among family members to stay under the threshold is structuring, which is illegal. Money sent through a bank or a remittance provider needs no declaration.
Which Australian tax rules apply to money you send to India?
None apply to the transfer itself: sending your own money to family is not taxed, and the ATO says gifts to family and friends are not deductible.
That holds whatever the reason for the gift, even regular support for elderly parents. The tax questions come from what your money earns. Australian residents for tax purposes declare worldwide income, so interest on an Indian account, rent from a flat in Pune or gains on Indian shares go on the Australian return, converted to Australian dollars, with a foreign income tax offset for any Indian tax paid. NRE interest is tax-free in India for a non-resident Indian, but the exemption does not carry over to Australia, so an Australian resident still declares it.
Temporary residents are the main exception. If you hold a temporary visa and neither you nor your spouse is an Australian resident for social security purposes, the ATO does not tax most of your foreign income, so interest on an Indian bank account generally stays off your return. Income from work done overseas while you are a temporary resident can still be taxable. Getting permanent residency ends the exemption, so check your position after a visa change.
The ATO also receives AUSTRAC's transaction reports and matches them against tax returns, under a data-matching program that runs to June 30, 2027. On the Indian side, money from relatives is exempt for the recipient, while gifts from other people become taxable once they total more than ₹50,000 in a tax year.
Diwali, Holi, Onam and two financial years
Indian festivals drive demand on this route, while public holidays in both countries decide when bank transfers move. Australia's tax year ends on June 30 and India's on March 31, which matters if you are timing income or deposits for either return.
| Date | Occasion | Effect on transfers |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, November 8, 2026 | Diwali | Peak family demand; send early |
| Friday, December 25, 2026 | Christmas Day | Australian banks closed, with Boxing Day to follow |
| Tuesday, January 26, 2027 | Australia Day and India's Republic Day | Bank holiday in both countries |
| Tuesday, March 23, 2027 | Holi | Bank holiday in many Indian states |
| Wednesday, March 31, 2027 | Last day of India's 2026-27 tax year | Income and deposits after this date fall in the next Indian year |
| Wednesday, June 30, 2027 | Last day of Australia's 2026-27 income year | Tax returns for the year can be lodged from July 1 |
| Sunday, September 12, 2027 | Onam | Kerala's harvest festival |
| Friday, October 29, 2027 | Diwali | Peak family demand again |
Indian branches also close on Sundays and on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. SWIFT transfers wait for working days at both ends, while IMPS and UPI payouts do not. For timing across borders in general, see how long international transfers take.
Fake officials and other scams on this route
Callers posing as Indian officials lead the warnings. In a December 2025 advisory, the High Commission of India in Canberra said fraudsters were calling from spoofed embassy numbers and threatening Indian nationals with trouble over false immigration information. It said it makes no such calls and urged people not to pay or share personal or financial details, to hang up, and to report the call to the High Commission or a consulate and to Australian police.
Three other patterns are worth knowing:
- Messages in a payment system's name. The operator of Osko says Osko never contacts customers directly, so a text or email claiming to come from Osko is a scam.
- Money sent to you "by mistake". If a stranger's payment lands in your account, don't send it back yourself; the operator's advice is to contact your bank.
- Unregistered remittance dealers. A provider missing from AUSTRAC's register should not be taking your money, and you have no protection if it disappears.
Report scams to your bank first, then to Scamwatch and the police. If the caller or the receiving account is in India, report it on India's 1930 cybercrime helpline too. Money transfer scams covers the patterns seen on every route, and the guide to sending money from Canada to India covers another large diaspora corridor.