Work in Australia

Job offers in Australia for most levels of skills has been hot. The unemployment rate is also low, sitting around the 5 % mark and even lower in some cities and towns, while Europe faces a 8.5% mark. In reality there are plenty of jobs been offered, but you must have caution on that. The reason is that some jobs do not pay what that labour deserves, so people go for the gold, and look for something else. If you take for example a cleaner job, there are plenty, but almost nobody wants to take it except some migrants that don't speak English enough to look for something that pays better. By the other side, there are in Australia what the government calls a "demand" for high skilled professional in some areas, and is trying to fulfil this demand bringing skilled people from overseas.

The average time that takes for a person who just finishes a degree in a University to get the first job is around 3 months. Of course this can vary due to the area of employment and other factors such as location and work experience. For people not so skilled, the time can be just a week or even less, but as we said before, for a much less money.

Foreigners can work in Australia as soon as they have the appropriate visa or permission. There are 3 or 4 different working visas depending of the individual situation, and you can check it out in our pages about Visas or with DIMA. Contrary to the USA, if you find an Australian company that is interested in your skills and that skill is not easily found in Australia or is in demand, you, together with the company can apply for a work permit.

Australian workers are very competitive but usually are skilled in only one function. This is due to the system Australia have had for years that tends to regulate professions to open new fields, and of course, protect its workers from external (and internal) competition. Australia had in the past the most bureaucratic system of employment in the world. Now it is better, because Unions and Syndicates no longer have the power they had in the past, but you are still to confront some aberration such as a Cardio Surgeons Specialist from overseas to practice in Australia, may be subjected to do a residency (practice with a doctor that in most cases is less experienced than him). Another example can be a Plumber from England that even with 15 years of experience will need to re-do a course to "Learn" the Australian plumbing standards (which are about the same). The working law is so complex that you really need an specialist (another one) to translate it to you. The good or bad news (nobody knows yet) is that John Howard government decides to create the new working relations law, with takes off many responsibilities from employers. Example: Casual people working on Sundays will not have the legal right to earn incentive bonus (double pay). For sure the best jobs in Australia (the one who pays better for less working hours) are the governments (states and federal), but to work there you need to be an Australian Citzen.

Read in our pages at the top left much more about work in Australia.