vicki Steven wrote:

I remember a couple of years ago there was a feature in the SMH on the
shortage of beds over the Christmas NY period. You could also try Sydney
University. From memory one of their halls of residence is converted to a
hostel for the summer - it may be run by YHA.

Many of the hostels/colleges allow short term stays directly. Here is
the accomodation office at UNSW information on its hostels:
http://www.international.unsw.edu.au.../hs_type.shtml

and the same for the University of Sydney:
http://www.summer.usyd.edu.au/uselinks.html