Oh, you will love sewing with her. I have had mine for about 6 months and it is my favourite machine to piece with. I am using just universal needles in mine which work fine and I am sure you can get them in Australia. I got mine at my local fabric shop. I had to order a few things from Sew Classic in the states and I live in Canada but the duty etc wasn't too bad to ship it here. I just oiled the heck out of mine and she just purrs along now. Good luck with yours and I know the real experts here will help you out like they did me.