I know a guy who is spending his 2 years living in hostels! Costs about $30 - $35 per night leaving enough dole money to easily cover food and the occasional beer.
He loves it, all hostels provide free A/C, WiFi, hot showers, communal kitchens, laundry, TV rooms etc. Some even have free swimming pools and free movie theatres. Some are located dead centre in big cities thus providing him with hundreds of things to do, including having public transport across the city and surrounding country areas capped at $2.50 per day.
For added security and peacefulness, he only ever shares up to a 4 bedroom dorm room and always gets a large, free locker for his suitcases and valuables. Apparently he has made hundreds of new friends at the hostels, hence he is rarely bored or lonely.
His only gripe is the occasional loud snorer, but he gets a new room when that happens.
He gives Centrelink & MyGov an address of a relative but he never stays with them and they (C/L & M/G) have no idea of that.
I’ve seen photos of his backpacking “friends”. Some are gorgeous, especially the ones from Sweden …
https://www.yha.com.au/hostels/nsw/sydney-surrounds/sydney-central-backpackers-hostel/