The question every new Home Assistant owner asks, answered without affiliate-link bias: what should you actually buy in Australia, in order?
1. The box
A Home Assistant green. Yes, you can run HA on a pi or an old laptop — the green exists so you never think about the server again. $279, done.
2. The radio
Zigbee is where the cheap, reliable, battery-powered ecosystem lives. The SONOFF zbdongle-p is the community default; the Slzb-06 is the upgrade if you want the coordinator positioned over ethernet rather than dangling off the server.
3. Three sensors before anything fancy
A Motion sensor, a Door sensor, a Temp/humidity sensor. These three teach you automations: lights on motion, alerts on doors, fans on humidity. ~$105 total.
4. A plug that measures
An Energy-monitoring Zigbee plug shows you what the heater really costs and doubles as a Zigbee router strengthening your mesh.
The order matters
Box → radio → sensors → plugs. Skip the gadget aisle until automations are running. Or take the shortcut: the Local starter kit is this exact list, pre-paired.
Skip the shopping list: the Local Starter Kit bundles the tested gear from this guide — cheaper than buying the parts separately.