About Australia (Travel Information)
Work
Most visitors’ visas clearly state that no employment of any kind is to be undertaken during a visit to Australia. However, if you’ve succeeded in getting a Working Holiday Visa and are prepared to try anything – officially for no more than three months at a time – there are plenty of possibilities for finding work. There are also organized work programmes – both paid and voluntary. In practice this means that the only jobs officially open to you are unskilled, temporary ones. 

The former Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) has been broken up into competing, semi-privatized employment agencies. One of the largest ones is Employment National (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm; tel 13 3444). When you dial this number you will be put through to their nearest local branch. 

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They will usually ask you to come in and register, or send a fax with all your details and a resumé. There are 209 branches all over Australia, including rural areas where there’s a lot of seasonal work. What they offer will usually be either harvesting or farm-labouring jobs, or in the cities clerical, bar or restaurant jobs, or occasional factory work. Look up their database on the Internet: www.employmentnational.com.au which lists current available jobs.

Another Web site worthwhile perusing is www.jobsearch.deetya.gov.au. This database can be accessed from touchscreen computers at Centrelink offices (an agency handling the payment of unemployment benefits with branches all over Australia). Internet cafés and some hostels also provide access to Internet databases – for a fee, of course. Travellers Contact Point in Sydney and Melbourne provide many services for travellers, including assistance with finding a job through a jobsearch centre. Their Web site address is: www.travellers.com.au.

In addition to that, more specialized employment agencies are well worth a try in the cities, especially if you have a marketable skill (computer training, accountancy, nursing, cooking and the like). They might have better, higher-paid jobs on their books, though they may be looking for full-time or at least longer-term commitment. Newspaper job ads are also worth checking out, especially in smaller local papers. And finally, fellow travellers, hostel staff in smaller hostels, and notice boards may be the best source of all, especially in remote areas, some even run their own employment agency or have a permanently staffed employment desk. This is where you’ll find out about local opportunities, and the hostels themselves may occasionally offer free nights in lieu of cleaning work – or even pay you for jobs that involve a bit more skill. Some of the hostels in the big cities or in country towns where there is a lot of harvesting work also arrange employment.

Significant long-term unemployment is prevalent in Australia, and the days of legendary wages for relentless hard work in mines, on the roads or on prawn trawlers are long gone. Nonetheless, plenty of people still manage to work illegally, though visa checks in the major harvest areas (they really do happen!) and tax reforms have made this much harder than it used to be.

Tax
In recent years employers have been threatened with huge fines for offering cash-in-hand labour and, as a result, it’s difficult to avoid paying income tax, which is levied at 29 percent for earnings under about $26,000 per annum and deducted at source. To become part of the system you’ll need a tax file number (form available at post offices or taxation offices), which is pretty easy to obtain on presentation of a passport with relevant visa. Your employer will give you a couple of weeks’ grace, but not much more – if you don’t have a number, after that you’ll be taxed at 49 percent. Nowadays it’s hard to claim a tax rebate, no matter how little you earn; however, it’s worth a try, and possibly a visit to a tax adviser. One tip is to tick the “resident” box on the rebate form: you’re resident if you’re planning to stay a day over six months.

Seasonal picking and harvesting work
Listed below are the major harvest seasons around the country. Once you’re into the harvest season it’s possible to move with it around the country, from one product to another, as many people do. There may be lesser harvests and other work in all of these places at any time.
  • NEW SOUTH WALES
    • Summer November–April, peaking in February, in the central eastern district around Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange; orchard and other fruits, cotton, onions and asparagus.
    • Year-round The north coast around Coffs Harbour; bananas.
  • VICTORIA
    • Summer November–April, peaking in February, in central northern areas around Shepparton, and also along the Murray River (Mildura, Swan Hill and, to a lesser extent, Echuca); orchard fruits, tomatoes, tobacco, grapes and soft fruits.
  • QUEENSLAND
    • Summer December–March, around Warwick, inland on the NSW border; stone and orchard fruits, grapes.
    • Year-round The southern central coast around Bundaberg and Childers; all kinds of fruit and vegetables.
    • May–December the central coast around Bowen; fruit and vegetables, especially mangoes at the end of the year.
    • May–November The northern coast around Ayr and Ingham; sugar cane, bananas and tobacco.
  • TASMANIA
    • Summer December–March; orchard and soft fruits, grapes.
  • SOUTH AUSTRALIA
    • February–April The Barossa Valley; grapes.
    • Year-round The Riverland; picking, pruning and packaging citrus and soft fruits.
  • WESTERN AUSTRALIA
    • October–June The Southwest; grapes and orchard fruits (February–April), plus tractor-driven grain harvesting.
    • March–November The west coast from Fremantle to Carnarvon; crayfish, prawn and scallop fishing and processing.
    • May–October The northeast around Kununurra; fruit and vegetable picking and packing.

Organized work programmes
To streamline the process of procuring a working visa, getting to Australia and orienting yourself on arrival, there are several packages aimed at working travellers. BUNAC organizes a Work Australia programme that can be combined with their North American programmes, with departures from London between August and December and from Los Angeles in September and October.

Work programme contacts
  • ATCV (Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers), PO Box 423, Ballarat, Victoria 3353 (tel 0061/3 5333 1483, fax 3 5333 2166, free call 1800/032 501; info@.atcv.com.au; www.atcv.com.au).
  • Student Uni Travel, Level 8, 92 Pitt St, Sydney, NSW 2000 (tel 02/9232 8444, fax 9232 7331). They handle, in Australia, all participants in the BUNAC and USIT programme from the UK, Kilroy from Scandinavia, SWAP groups from Canada and Travel Active from the Netherlands. Services provided include arrival, greeting and orientation, preopened bank accounts and tax file assistance, employment advice and assistance, job placement, travel discounts, free email, free access to word processing computers, and emergency assistance.
  • WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms), Mount Murrindal Reserve, Buchan, Victoria 3885 (tel & fax 0061/3 5155 0218; woof@ozemail.com.au). Their listings book The Australian Farm and Cultural Experience is available direct or from agents (eg Backpackers’ Travel Centres; branches of Student Uni Travel) in the capital cities of the Australian states and some other cities in the Eastern states (eg Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Cairns). The price ($35 single, $40 for a couple) includes work insurance.