When I was living in new zealand the cost was alot cheaper for me at uni, I was in Christchurch so it's probably always going to be cheaper then melbourne... I was able to receive student allowance after 2 years of living in the country, but to start with you could always use studylink loans there were no restrictions on that. Also with the arrangement you do not need visas for work so finding a job is easy to make a little bit of money on the side. I wish i had thought of what you have as an option when I did my pilots licence.