Hello,
Yes, you have to be in Australia to apply for your TFN. When you are, fill in the form . (And see for a bit more information on things.)
Some banks (I don't know offhand which ones) allow applying for a bank account before you arrive, though you'll still have to visit a bank branch after arriving to show ID and pick up your debit card. But you can also just do it within the first few weeks after arriving, with all banks, by walking into a bank branch with your passport and AUD $50 for an initial deposit. Tell them you want to open an account, fill in some forms, tell them not to send you any bank statements and to send the debit card to your hostel (or probably you can also pick that up at the branch). It's a pretty easy process either way.
If you're good with budgetting money, it's worth seeing if there's any "no fees" accounts around at present (banks shuffle their products around all the time, but there tend to be one or two most times who offer this), where you don't pay anything at all as long as you limit your withdrawals to just 5 per month. Other than that, for backpacking purposes, all major Australian banks are indistinguishable. (Though if you plan to go to remote areas, it might be worth researching which banks have ATMs in that area.) ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and WestPac are the big ones iirc, with the most extensive ATM networks, though I'd avoid WestPac if you can, as they used to astroturf this forum, and it amuses me to have that still backfire a little bit several years later.
Thank you Sander! Really appreciate your time & help.
Been stressing about all that crap, and don't want to pay someone to do it all for me.
Yea i read up about it all and was told to order the TFN when there and go to a bank with my passport and address to open an account when I arrive
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