I can provide you with a generalised perspective about Newcastle Uni:
There are a range of services to expand your skill set, provide financial support, living arrangements and provide an online learning environment. The staff and students are outgoing and willing to help in anyway possible.
The academic side-
Bridging courses can help with English, Mathematics and any other areas of concern, two world class libraries with a BONUS system to get books from any other Uni campus, an e-mail account that is yours for life, world class researchers, can complete honours/masters/phd/rhd, opportunities to participate as a research assistant in projects, and provide support to fellow students through practical experiences.
The social side-
A full refurbished outdoor cinema venue, two bars, a student mentoring service, outdoor settings for meeting new people, fortnightly market stalls (these are pretty cool), weekly competitions/discounts, the Forum for your sporting needs and barbeques held by Ucrew and NUSA.
UNE:
I know people that go to UNE as well and I have heard that it is also a great campus if you are heavy into looking at the uni ethos experience. Although, they have mentioned that at times the workload can become pretty intense! (Whereas Newcastle is a little more flexible in the scheme of things, i.e. you can complete as many or as little subjects as desired)
They have also mentioned that the campus layout is similar to that of colleges or those in Sydney and that it is a little less abundant in regards to vegetation in some areas.
Also there are Facebook pages for both Uni's where you can ask questions as a prospective student- this may help you in your decision!
Hopefully, that now gives you a little overview about some perspectives from both campuses.