Boomerang Australia Consulting - Working in Australia

YOUR BUSINESS & TRAINING SOLUTIONS IN AUSTRALIA

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Working in Australia

Introduction

Job opportunities in Australia are excellent. This country enjoys an much lower unemployment rate than any European country. It is a young country that constantly goes ahead and has the advantage to have the only stable economy in the South East Asia and Pacific region, therefore Australia benefits from enormous investments from the Asian giants. The other advantage is that Australia is mainly composed of small and medium size businesses, generating flexibility of employment. The employees are often paid weekly or fortnightly.

The visas that allow you to work in Australia are divided in several categories. We have selected them below while summing up their conditions. For further information, please consult the official website of the Australian Department of Immigration and citizenship, DIAC.

Our services

The following services are free and included in all enrolments into an English or Vocational or university training through our agency, if you have a valid visa allowing you to work in Australia.
- Assistance in writing your Curriculum Vitae suitable to Australian employers: we will provide you with a sample adapted to the relevant job search.
- Assistance to register with the Australian Tax Office, apply for your Tax File Number, know your work rights, understand the Australian system for income taxes, superannuation...
- Advice throughout your job search: we have compiled a practical guide that will describe in details all the necessary steps to follow in order to find a job in Australia: how to find a job, where to find a job, tips….
Additional services can be added but charges apply.

Work terminology

Below the most important words to know:
- Casual jobs: job paid hourly.
- Pay slip: document you receive every time you are paid a salary.
- ATO: Australian Taxation Office: centre in charge of income taxes.
- Super or Superannuation: tax levy for your retirement; represents 9% of your wages, deposited automatically by your employer in the Super Fund of his choice (generally a private company managing retirement funds); the total amount cannot be recovered before completing 65 years old unless you are a non Australian citizen and you live in another country.
- TFN or Tax File Number: equivalent to a lifestyle matricule that allows you to work legally in Australia, whether you are a private individual or a company; to be obtained at the ATO and to give your employer and bank as soon as you receive it.
- Tax return: fiscal system in Australia that allows all employees at the end of the financial year to ask taxes back from the tax amount they were levied from their salary .
- Industrial relations: Department of work rights.
- Registered name: official Certificate for any private person who wants to commercialise a product or open a commercial activity. Application done at the Fair Trading.
- ABN or Australian Business Number: Compulsory number for all registered name and Pty Ltd companies to be able to invoice.
- ACN or Australian Company Number: Compulsory number for all Pty Ltd companies; application to be done with the ASIC.
- GST or Goods on Services Tax: a 10% tax imposed on all goods and services apart education and fresh produce.

Student visa

This is the only visa that allows you to study in Australia for more than 4 months, work in Australia and does not impose an age limit; this visa is recommended for those who want to study any type of full time English courses, or further their studies into vocational or university training, and at the same time cover the elementary daily costs by working part time. This visa is only valid for the duration of your studies + 4 weeks that leaves you enough time to decide what to do: leave or renew your actual visa or apply for another visa. You need between one and 6 months to organise your enrolment into a selected course and the visa application; this visa costs AU$ 430. For further information on this visa’s conditions, please refer to our section Visas.

Types of possible employment: because you are limited to work 20 hours per week, you must be aware that you will find some difficulties to find the type of job you had in your country. You will easily find "casual jobs" as waiters, barmen, cooks, chefs, extras in supermarkets, baby-sitting…. If you really want to work in a particular area (such as in marketing or as an engineer...), you have to master the English language, have has several years of professional experience and have good work references in English. It could be very useful if you have contacts in the industry of your expertise. Salaries for casual jobs vary between AU$12 and AU$40/hour.

Working holiday visa

This visa is recommended to stay for a long period, travel around Australia and cover your costs with casual jobs; this visa will not help you improve your CV or help you improve your expertise, considering that most proposed jobs are in hospitality, fruit picking, au pair jobs, labouring … This visa costs AU$185.
For further information on this visa’s conditions, please refer to our section Visas.

Types of possible employment: as you can work full time, you have more chance to find a job in Autralia quicker than on the student visa although you are limited to work 6 months with the same employer. However everything will depend on your level of English. This visa can eventually help you to apply for a sponsorship visa. Salaries vary between AU$12 and AU$40/hour.

Business visa

This visa is very similar to a tourist visa: it is delivered for a duration of 3 months maximum, can be renewed in Australia, however the main objective is purely business instead of travelling; it allows you to take appointments with Australian companies, take part into conventions and conferences or develop a business project. In no case you can be remunerated or employed by a company in Australia while on this visa.

For longer or frequent visits or lengthy projects, there are some other possibilities. You'd better contact the Australian Embassy in your country or the DIAC.

Sponsorship visa

It is possible to be sponsored by an Australian company. However the conditions become gradually tougher and tougher and we advise you to consult an accredited migration agent. Generally the Australian company that will sponsor you must justify a minimum salary of AU$40,000 per annum to be able to employ you.

You have two choices:
- If you have already found a company willing to sponsor you, procedures will be easier. We have selected a very professional migration agency specialised in Business sponsorship, based in Australia that enjoys an excellent reputation. Fees apply for the first consultation. Thanks for sending us a very detailed CV in English as well as details about your sponsor and family status (if applicable) to the following email address: executive@boomerangaustralia.com.
- If you have not found any sponsors yet, we have not found any solution yet but we are looking into it.

Permanent residency

Possibilities are varied and the procedures are fairly complex: there are different visas leading to permanent residency. You will find below a selection of the most popular options. For further information on these visas’ conditions, please refer to DIAC.

- Spouse Visa: if you can prove you have consecutively lived for at least one year with your partner who is either an Australian resident or citizen, or if you have married an Australian resident or citizen, you can apply for this visa, in Australia or in your home country; however be aware that you will first be given a temporary visa for 2 years after which you have to prove you are still in a genuine relationship to receive the permanent visa .
- Migration Skills Visa: it is based on a point system whose criteria depend on your age, family history, professional experience and level of English.
- Sponsored Visa: if you have relatives (such as parents, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grand-parents) who are ready to be your financial guarantee in Australia, you can benefit from special conditions and advantages.
- Family Reunion Visa: if over 50% of your children are resident or citizen in Australia and if your health is fine, you can join your children in Australia and become permanent resident.
- Business Owners or Investors Visa: apply to you if you intend to establish a business in Australia or invest a certain amount of money in a company or management fund or research programmes.

Conditions are complex and constantly tend to change. Therefore we recommend you to use professional advisers. Lawyers are not particularly the best experts in Australian immigration so we advise you to consult the Australian migration agents accredited by MARA or MIA. The list is very long and quality agents are rare, so we have selected a very reliable agency based in Australia. To be able to assess your chances for permanent residency in Australia, thanks for sending us a very detailed CV in English as well as details about you and family status (if applicable) to the following email address: executive@boomerangaustralia.com.

Australian taxes

The Australian Taxation Office or ATO is the official department looking after all types of taxes. You can find further information on their website: www.ato.gov.au.

Taxes rates: taxe rates vary according to the amount of your wages and visa status. You have first to determine if you are resident for taxe purposes or not: according to the ATO, if you are not Australian and you want to be accepted as a resident for tax purposes, you must have lived in Australia for at least 6 months, be employed by one company and have lived at the same place during this time. If you are not a resident for tax purposes, you will be levied 50%. To sum up, all temporary visa holders such as student and sponsorship are automatically resident for tax purposes. If you are on a Working holiday visa, it varies according to the length of your employment in Australia.

Table indicating income taxes in 2006-07

Taxable income	Tax on this income
$0 – $6,000	Nil
$6,001 – $25,000	15c for each $1 over $6,000
$25,001 – $75,000	$2,850 plus 30c for each $1 over $25,000
$75,001 – $150,000	$17,850 plus 40c for each $1 over $75,000
Over $150,000	$47,850 plus 45c for each $1 over $150,000

The above rates do not include the Medicare levy of 1.5%.

Tax offsets reduce the tax payable. Tax offsets based on taxable income levels apply to a range of circumstances.

Please note that the financial year is from 1 july to 31 june each year.