@Pixiepie After you apply online and get approved, they'll email you everything you need to wire money to your account (SWIFT code + BSB code + account number). In this state you can only deposit money to your account via wire transfers and you can't withdraw or close anything. PH banks need hard signatures and ID verification so you do this <b class="Bold">before </b>you leave.
Once you're in AU you need to show up to the branch you specify on your application and the bank will hand over your ATM card personally. They will give everything you need to sort this out so don't worry about it. This is generally the <b class="Bold">first </b>and <b class="Bold">last </b>time you'll ever need show up to an AU branch in most cases since almost everything can be done online after this.
If you don't know what branch to pick or you're not sure where to live yet, just pick the main branch in the middle of the city/CBD since they're the easiest to commute to.
As for costs:
BPI charges P600 + P0.60 per P200 of the total amount for doc stamps (I got this from asking the people at the BPI head office since they don't have it on their site)
NAB charges $15 and 0.2% of the total amount for receiving wire transfers
https://www.nab.com.au/personal/international/receive-money-from-overseas
For 100k php (let's <i class="Italic">assume </i>due to exchange rate as of Dec 2018 it converts to $2600)
BPI: P600 + (100,000 / 200) * 0.60 = P900 in transfer fees from BPI side
NAB: $15 + (2,600 * 0.002) = $20.2 in receipt fees from NAB side. But since the site says the minimum for doc stamps is $30 this becomes: $15 + $30 = $45.
So in total you need to pay P900 and $45 for the overall transfer.
You'll get an option when filling out a wire transfer on what bank shoulders the charges (the remitting bank - BPI in my case, or the receiving bank - NAB). To keep everything simple I picked that all fees get paid out of my BPI account.
So <i class="Italic">assuming</i> due to exchange rate $45 converts to P1700 you need to pay the grand total of:
P900 + P1700 = P2600 for a transfer amount of 100,000. This means you need an extra 2600 on top of 100,000 to get it transferred. Since the exchange rate changes daily you'll need a bit more or less than that.