15

Re: Australia. WHVs (Working Holiday Visas) available to 30 year olds as long as applied for before 31st birthday.

There is NO SUCH THING as a "Harvest Tour" visa. Harvest work is undertaken on a WHV.

16

You just need to apply before your 31st birthday. I applied last July, 4 days before my 31st birthday. I arrived this May, so effectivly you can be almost 32 when you arrive and almost 33 by the time you leave and still work here completely legally.

17

For backpacker jobs in WA see Workstay

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opening a bank account before you arrive:

links to the 4 major banks websites pages relevant to opening an account before arriving in Australia. National Banks website wasnt very user friendly so i only managed to find info for students....but anyway here it is:

Westpac

ANZ

Commonwealth Bank

National Bank for students

19

Check out www.jobsearch.com

20

anyone thinking of going to live in NZ long term, check this site out

http://www.onewaynewzealand.com

21

When you start work with an employer, bring along what is called your Bank State Branch number, and your account number.

Note---don't bring along your credit card or savings account card only.

The numbers on the front or the back of the bank account cards are not the same as the BSB & Account numbers, which the employer/payer will need to pay you.

BSB could be 73x xxxx for a Westpac account, and their account number could be xxx xxx (yes, some are 6 digits only).

Your credit card or mastercard debit, using Westpac as as an eg, 51xx xxxx xxxx xxxx is not the number needed.

Thank you.

22

Check different bank's monthly fee details before picking one to deal with.

A good bank might charge you $6 a month, and so so bank might charge you less, $4 a month.

Don't get pushed into taking on features you don't need.

23

How to eat cheaply.

Subway "restaurants" as they are sometimes termed, by me anyway, to differ them from subway as in train subway...

Anyway, their 12 inch sub, (what a name eh?), can be quite filling, and can feed 2 people or 3, without the tummy rumbles.

Pick 3 drinks, and a 12 inch sub, might set you back about AUD$12, depending on what you have inside the sub sandwich, but if you split that between 2 people, its only $6 a meal per person. Or $4 if the third person is a child.

It might not be filling for a whole day, but can keep you going, so you won't starve.

Subway tends to be a taddishly more healty than a McDonalds meal. You can see them (staff) prepare the sub infront of you, rather than at McDonalds where they do it all behind the scene.

Quite a lot of things in Aust, if you keep an eye on it, is not all that $$$, note too, that a lot of the foods that are served in eateries, do have the Aust GST (tax) added to it...

The tax is included in lots of foods, (cooked by the eatery), but there is also the option to go to a supermarket and buy fresh greens, raw and cook yourself meat and seafoods that do not have the GST tagged onto the price of the item.

While not as cheap as foods in SEAsia, foods in Aust can be obtain quite cheaply, if you know where to look, where to go, and how to divide a meal!

Thank you: This has been the musings of Daycat, Head of Daycat Inc.

24

I have read this thread and I hope my post answers questions people may have about working in Australia. I manage a backpacker recruitment agency so all the infomation I am giving is real and true, do not believe everything you hear whilst traveling on the road....most of it is chinese whispers and untrue. There have also been major changes in the working holiday visa programe, I will update this thread as the legislation changes and new laws come in for WHV

2nd Year Visa, Specified Work
A person may come to Australia on a working holiday visa (WHV) for one year. Whilst in Australia if they do 3 months work in Regional areas they can get their visa extended for another year.
This is now called the "Specified Work Programme" it is no longer the "Seasonal Work Programme"
The 2 Main requirements that Immigration look at when processing 2nd Year visas is the post code of the business and the ABN, (Australian Business Number), the post code must be a regional area and the ABN must reflect one of the following businesses.

**Plant and Animal Cultivation**
Fishing and Pearling
Tree Farming and felling
**Mining**-please note Mining companies VERY RARELY hire people on WHV, there is a big myth out there that there are plenty of mining jobs out there....there are but only for highly skilled people, so unless you are an engineer with at least 5 years experience, dont bother applying. they have no interest in people who can only work for 6mths (that is only 3mths in the mining world)
**Construction**-this is a new addition to the WHV as of July 2008 any work done in the building industry in regional areas now counts towards your second visa.

It also does not need to be paid work either it can be volunteer or through the Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF)

A working holiday maker cannot work more than 6 months for one company. This is also over the 2 year period. If they work for one company in their first year, they cannot work for that same company in their second year (unless they get sponsored)

Bank Accounts
You will need 100 points of ID in order to open a bank account (passport + drivers licence or ID card/credit card.) If you have only been in the country for 6weeks your passport will be enough identification. An everyday savings account (or transaction account) is fine for paying your earnings into. ANZ and Westpac have the most ATM’s and branches across Australia which is worth taking into account, as you will be charged $2-$3 every time you use another banks’ ATM.

Mobile Phones
The best service provider with the most coverage in Australia is Telstra (NextG). Vodafone is great if you’re staying in the city areas, but if you’re planning on travelling outside of the metropolitan areas (particularly if you’re planning to do farm work) you won’t be able to get any service in the country. Optus is also a good option as it will get reception in most of the major towns.

Tax File Numbers
If you are working in Australia, you will need a Tax File Number (TFN). This can be done online at www.ato.gov.au. Go to ‘For individuals’ and then ‘Apply for a tax file number’. There you will find a link called ‘Online individual tax file number registration’. Then just follow the instructions. It will take up to 10 working days for your TFN to be posted out to you. With every employer you will be required to fill in a tax file declaration. Your employer will supply you with one of these forms otherwise they can be found at any newsagency. If you are waiting for your TFN to come through tick the first box in Section A (See example)
ABN’s
(Australian Business Number) are used for contractors mainly in the building industry. If you are asked if you have an ABN you are able to apply for one with the ATO, but be aware you will not have tax taken out of your pay and will have to pay a lump sum tax when you do your return. Also be aware you may have to write invoices and may not get paid straight away and have to wait weeks and in some cases months for payment of your services. You will also not get paid any superannuation.

Superannuation
Superannuation is a retirement fund and all employees must have superannuation paid into a fund for them by their employer. The amount paid is 9% of your gross pay. It is paid on top of your salary and not taken out of your wages. Workers on a Working Holiday visa are eligible to have this money paid back to them minus tax on their return to their home country. All employees can choose their superannuation fund. If you’re not sure, your first employer will nominate one for you. Keep a record of the fund’s name and account number. Every time you are employed by a new employer you will be asked for your Superannuation details. Simply hand over the details and your new employers will keep adding to your account.

Tax
All employees must have tax paid for them by employer. The end of June each year marks the end of financial year. In July you will receive a group certificate from all your employers detailing the total amount you have earned for the period of time you worked for them and the total amount of tax you have paid. It is up to you to leave forwarding addresses with you employers so you can receive your group certificates. You can either do your tax online or choose to hire an accountant to do it for you. The relationship you have with the tax department is between you and the office. If you are unsure of any tax issues, the people to contact are the Australian Tax Office. There is a misconception that working holiday makers get all their tax back. You may get some tax back, but not all of it tax refunds depend on many different factors, this includes, length of employment, amount of tax paid and type of job.

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For Visa information for Australia, the official website is Department of Immigration

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This isn't the place to ask questions - you got a question? Ask it but not here - as Daycat says put it in a new post.

27

Berry and soft fruit,vegetable picking,Silvan,Wandin,Yarra Valley,Dandenong Ranges Victoria Australia Starts first 2 weeks in November and goes through until May next year. See the local growers in Silvan, Wandin and Woori Yallock etc.catch a busLilydale Stn just ask around or walk-up. Pleasant scenery, but hot, dusty, hard work.

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Just found out that due to the cyclone and floods in Queensland that now you can work in disaster areas and the work can count towards your second year visa provided that it is a specific industry ...notably construction. http://www.australiaworkingholidayvisas.co.uk has more info or the immigration site www.immi,gov.au

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All the immigration policies are listed on in the Australian Govt Immigration site Pleases go through it you ll surely get an answer for this, because immigration policies keep on changing as per the situations of the country .