If you are looking into living and working in Australia and wondering how it works, I have you covered.
First things first, what do you need to know about the visa?
Number 1
You want to apply for Subclass 417 working holiday visa, which is available at a flat rate. Our first visa costs $635 (plus the conversion charge) per person (2023), while our second visa costs $650 (plus processing fees) per person (2024).
This is processed from somewhere between an hour up to 3 months.
Number 2
It’s an obvious one, but you need to work.
Number 3
If you have visited multiple countries in the last few years, you may be asked to undergo a health examination. We were asked because we had recently completed a six-and-a-half-month trip to Southeast Asia.
We paid £300 each in September 2023. I looked recently as of January 2025, and I can confirm that it surprisingly is still this price.
This is just a reminder that these pointers are specific to British Citizens and may vary for other nationalities.
Things that you need to sort to live and work in Australia are…
Number 1
Sort your TFN, which is your tax file number, on the Australian Taxation Office. It’s super easy; you just need to complete a form online.
This will be needed for any job as well as tax returns, which I will also go into more detail about a little later.
Number 2
Sort out a bank. Your best options are ANZ or Commonwealth Bank.
Pretty obvious, but you will need an Australian bank to be paid into, as well as avoiding conversion charges.
Number 3
Another obvious one, but sort a sim card. You want to use either Optus or Telstra. If you are a couple or with friends, try to get one of each sim, as where service is unavailable for one, it may work for the other.
Number 4
Sort a Medicare Card. You can either fill out a form online and email it or go to Centrelink (a government facility) to complete it in person.
This is needed for any medical appointment, such as with a doctor or optician. I’m assuming that you won’t be charged if the bill is not huge. However, like in the UK, you still have to pay for prescriptions, which vary depending on where you collect them.
Oh, and before the expiration date, make sure to renew your card on Services Australia. Otherwise, if you are like us and wait for it to expire, you will have to go through the whole process again to get a new one.
Number 5
If you plan on driving around Australia yourself, you want to to transfer your driving licence to an Australian one. You can drive on your international licence but only for three months per state.
To do this, the centre and cost depends on the state you are in. In QLD they have ‘Department of Transport and Main Roads’, whereas in NSW they use ‘Services NSW’.
For a year’s driving licence, I spent $89.06 in QLD and $70 in NSW.
While we are on the subject, let’s answer the question: how do I go about owning a car?
There are two sections to answer this.
Section 1 - Finding a car
Finding a car can be pretty easy but finding one that’s cheap, reliable and perfectly fits what you want, is not. This is especially the case when buying from marketplace. Not to say don’t trust Facebook, but speaking from my own experience, sometimes that money can go immediately down the drain - in our case, two weeks later. An alternative option to this is a car dealership. Although the cars are more expensive, they do come with a warranty.
When looking for a car, you need to consider a few things, first thing, where do you intend on driving it?
Meaning if you’re planning on driving to the Northern Territory, you’ll need a 4x4, but if you intend on staying on the East Coast moving from city to city, a small car will suffice.
Next, consider its purpose. Do you intend on just driving around in it, or do you want to live in it? This can be the difference between a standard car and a camper van.
Two main things that you want to ensure that the car has even before considering viewings, are a rego and an RWC. A rego is a registration which covers third-party insurance as well as the registration of the car. Although this is not an immediate must, it saves having to splash out extra cash. The RWC or roadworthy certificate is similar to the MOT in the UK. It checks the safety of the car. In England, this is checked annually, but in Australia, it isn’t needed unless buying or selling. Do note that in some states, a RWC is unnecessary, but I recommend getting one for peace of mind.
Finally, if you are not car savvy, I may recommend having a mechanic come along to check the car for you when going for a viewing.
Section 2 - Buying the car
After finding a car that ticks all the above, the next step is buying the vehicle. To do this, you need to head to the state government’s Motor Centre. As I’ve previously stated, the QLDs centre is named the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and the NSW centre is named Services NSW.
Unfortunately, we have had to buy two vans (after our first one died), but luckily for you, I can explain the process of buying a car in Queensland within its own state and an external state.
The first van we brought had a license registered in Queensland, and the process for transferring ownership is completing a vehicle registration transfer application (F3520). It’s best to do this with the current owner to help provide some details and a signature. The cost for transferring the registration, six months of registration, and stamp duty came to a total of $122.20.
Our second van had a New South Wales license and rather than transferring ownership, it goes down as a new ownership. For this, you have to ask the seller to cancel their registration which then allows you to apply for a vehicle registration (F3518). For this, the seller is not needed.
Creating a new registration for the vehicle can make it a bit more expensive. So, for a 12 month registration and stamp duty, we paid $1025.92.
If you are tight on cash, you’re in luck, as the centres offer the option to register your vehicle for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months.
How does working in Australia work?
Pay
There are three types of contracts for working in Australia: casual, part-time, and full-time.
Ideally, you want to be put on a casual contract. Although you do not have guaranteed hours, the pay is much better per hour, but if you find a job with many hours, this does sort out the problem.
For example, in our previous jobs, I was being paid $30.10 on a casual contract, whereas Charlie was being paid $24 on a part-time contract.
The way it works is you have a flat rate pay, in this instance $24, and a certain amount of pay on top of that as a casual, in this instance, $6.10.
In our current jobs, we are both on casual contracts, with no limit on hours. We are paid $32.25 per hour Monday through Friday.
What is amazing about this country is that they value their weekend so much that they pay for Saturday and Sunday increases.
On Saturday, you get a 25% increase, and on Sunday a 50% increase.
Saturday ($32.25 + $6.45) = $38.70 per hour
Sunday ($32.25 + $12.90) = $45.15 per hour
In addition, we receive an additional $2.72 per hour after 7 pm, $12.50 per fortnight as a laundry allowance (to wash our work clothes), and a 125% increase on public holidays.
Limitations of Visa
Previously, you would have had to complete 88 days of specified work, which usually meant working on a farm. However, from 1st July 2023, the visas were amended - as an agreement with the UK - that you no longer need to do this, as well as the age restriction being moved from 30 to 35. There was also a 6-month limit on how long you could work in a job, but with another agreement put in place on 1st January 2024, this is no longer the case.
The limitation is still there, but there are exceptions.
different locations for the same employer, as long as work in any one location does not exceed 6 months
plant and animal cultivation anywhere in Australia
natural disaster recovery work anywhere in Australia
critical sectors anywhere in Australia
certain industries, including, fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, construction and mining, in Northern Australia only
The exception that is particularly important for people like us is the ‘critical sector’ exemption, which includes tourism and hospitality. For most of us backpackers, this is what we will work in.
This covers everything from working in a hotel or cafe to being a guide or travel agent. This is extremely handy for us because it means we can stay in one place as long as we want without worrying about finding a new job every six months.
Job Necessities
For certain jobs, a certificate is vital to be able to start.
In England, you need a DBS certificate to work with children. Australia also requires this, known as WWCC or a blue card.
There are, however, other jobs where a certificate is needed, which is not in England. For example, you need a white card to work in construction and an RSA to serve alcohol.
In my last two jobs, I worked in a restaurant and bar and was required to undergo RSA, or Responsible Service of Alcohol, training. The RSA for Queensland costs $21.99, but unfortunately, this excludes New South Wales. The New South Wales RSA is extremely expensive at $143 because a photo card is necessary.
Apps
If you are wondering where to look for a job, you can look on Indeed or Seek. However, we believe the best action is to hand out paper CVs.
Tax Return
Unlike in the UK, where a tax return is prepared for you and a letter is sent in the post, in Australia, you have to log your earnings and send them to the Australian Taxation Office.
It is not a difficult process, but it involves a bit of patience. You first need to contact MyGov for a linking code. This links all your personal information directly to the Australian Taxation Office, which automatically adds the tax taken from your jobs over the last year using your tax file number.
If your job/s hasn’t already completed their tax, it’s just a case of waiting. In the meantime, you can add anything you have had to buy or pay for for your job. This, however, does exclude things such as clothes and petrol.
Once you have logged your return, wait for the payout - we waited only a week.
Also, make sure to complete this before the 31st of October. Otherwise, you may forfeit a portion of your money to interest.
As a side note, money will be deducted from each payslip toward a ‘Super’ - pension. I know you can retrieve this, but it only happens once you have left the country and no longer plan on working here.
Fingers crossed after reading this, your introduction to Australia will hopefully be painless.
Comments