Spoke to Citibank today and they were completely useless even though i hold accounts with them. Said there is nothing they can offer that will help me open an account/debit/credit card over in the US.

Rang HSBC out of interest and they were very helpful. Suggested i open an account here in Aus asap with a CC and then a month before i go contact them again and they will get the paperwork underway so i can at least have a US account ready for when i get there and then maybe also be able to get a debit or credit card straight away