Preparing for your trip
Any trip overseas requires research and planning. A good starting point would be your local library or bookshop, which will probably have a wide selection of publications on working and living abroad. The classic is probably Susan Griffith's Work Your Way Around the World (Vacation Work, Oxford, 1999), which has information on work opportunities and voluntary activities all round the globe. It is regularly updated and has good information on most of the topics covered below. A good travel guide, such as Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide, will also give lots of useful insights and practical information about your destination.
Accommodation
If you are hoping to stay in Australia for any length of time you will need to think about finding a place to stay when you arrive. Australia is very well geared up for temporary residents, with a well-established backpacker scene. The major cities are awash with good (and some bad) hostels; these make great bases initially when you first arrive and staff and other residents can supply you with useful contacts and information. Sydney airport has a hostel notice board at the arrivals desk. You can ring the hostels free from the airport and they will send out a minibus to pick you up. If you plan to stay in one city for a while you can also think about renting a flat. Hostels are useful places for meeting potential flatmates! In general, rents and the cost of living in Australia are cheaper than the UK.
Money and banks
Start saving! Funding a trip overseas is not particularly cheap. One requirement for the Working Holiday Visa is to show you have sufficient money to initially fund your stay in Australia, which they set at £2000. This can include assets other than cash. Some people have got round this problem by getting family or friends to deposit money in their accounts temporarily before they apply for the visa!
It should be fairly easy to open a bank account once you arrive in Australia. Most of the major banks, such as the Commonwealth and Westpac banks, will offer temporary residents banking facilities. You can open an account within six weeks of arriving with only your passport; after this you will need other proof of ID, including something with your address. It is advisable to take out a certain amount of money in travelers' cheques to tide you over when you first arrive, though you can also use credit cards to withdraw cash from cash machines.
Tax
When you arrive in Australia you will have to register for a tax file number. You will need this when you start to work, otherwise you will be charged at the emergency tax rate of 49%! Temporary residents are taxed at a fairly high rate for the privilege of working in Australia; starting at 29% and increasing the more you earn. You should apply for a tax number in person at your nearest tax office as soon as you arrive in the country. You will need to take along a passport and a copy of your birth certificate as proof of identity.
Mail services and communications
If you do not have a fixed address to receive mail once you are in Australia, you can use Australia Post's post restante service, which is extremely efficient. Alternatively you could enlist on one of the mail-forwarding services on offer at some of the backpacker travel centres in Sydney and Melbourne. For a fee, they will collect and forward mail to you at any address in Australia over a period of twelve months. This is great if you are moving around a lot as it means you only need to give one address to the folks back home for the whole year. A good one is Travellers Contact Point, Level 7, Dymocks Building, 428 George Street Sydney, NSW 2000. They also have an office in London: 1st Floor, 14 Barley Mow Passage, Chiswick, W4 4PH (0181 994 2247).
It is also a good idea to set up an e-mail account with one of the free Internet e-mail services such as Hotmail. Internet access is available almost everywhere in Australia, in libraries (often free of charge) and Internet cafes. E-mail is a cheap way of keeping in touch with friends and family in the UK.
Documentation
If you are planning to work, remember to take several copies of your current CV. It is also extremely useful to take a signed copy of a written reference from one or two previous employers. This saves agencies and other potential employers the hassle of trying to chase up references from the UK.
Other documents you should take with you are a certified copy of your birth certificate, driving license and a signed credit card.
Health
Several months before you plan to depart make a visit to your GP for a general check up and advice about any health risks and/or vaccinations you may need to arrange, particularly if you are planning to visit any other countries en route. Be aware that some vaccinations, e.g. hepatitis B, needs a course of several injections over a period of time. You should make sure your tetanus/polio/diphtheria vaccinations are up to date. Once you are in Australia you will have to pay to see a doctor. UK citizens are entitled to free emergency healthcare however, under the Australian Medicare scheme. You should register for a Medicare card soon after you arrive in the country. Contact the nearest Medicare office to get a form. You should take along your passport
Last modified 07/09/2004
