We stayed in an apartment in West Perth upon arrival. We've booked for about 3 weeks, hoping that we'll managed to secure a reasonable house for us later after that. Why we did that? It's quite difficult actually to secure a house from overseas (i.e. Malaysia) unless you've known somebody here to secure a house for you. But I guess, you would want to have a look of the house first before hand..
There are many options for short stay accommodation available, depends on which is suitable and convenient for you. If you come alone and on a very tight budget, you might want to consider to stay in a bulk hostel, backpackers or even rent a room in a shared house. That would costs approximately AUD30 per night or even lower. Common websites that may help you in your search would be here or even here. If you opt for a bit comfortable place, you might have to consider spending a bit higher which is about AUD85-AUD200 per night. Since the budget is higher, there would not be a big problem as there are plenty of choices to choose from. You may opt for hotels, bed-and-breakfast or even fully furnished apartments. The one that we had was the latter, more or less like a studio apartment. A double bed, a kitchen and a toilet complete with all the utensils that you've think of! You may put this apartment in one of your choices =)
The one that we stayed is quite convenient - very near to the Perth CBD, free buses around town. Since it is located nearby the city, you can have anything just within 5 kms - easy to register your bank account, shopping, medicare and centrelink registration or even car hire company. All that you need! =)
