Help Is it expensive to live in Australia?

For information on working holiday visa: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/417-

Cost of living is fairly high compared to a lot of places around the world but is made up for by a high minimum wage.
It also depends on where you're planning on living and working. If you want to stay around major cities Sydney is a lot more expensive than Brisbane for example.

Without any specific qualifications you'd be doing the usual backpacker thing of hospitality jobs, farm hand, other unskilled short term work. There may be some recruitment companies that specialise in temporary positions for overseas visitors.

Driving laws differ from state to state. Generally if you have an international drivers license you can drive a car here but I'm not sure if the same is true for motorcycles. We do have restricted/unrestricted licenses here as well so your current license may let you ride any restricted bike here.

 

Firstly and most importantly... do you like heat. Because if the answer to that question is no, don't come in summer

Such a hard question to answer. I can only speak only considering conditions here in Queensland, the state I live in. This is what my university recommends to international students, but it's a pretty good guide generally too:

Rent - 1 room share house style $100-$200 depending on how close to a city you are and comfort level.
Food - Buying food at the local supermarket for 1 person $50 - 150 depending on the quality etc. More if you want to eat out frequently. A cafe style meal will set you back $10-$15
Phone and Internet - $20 to $50 per week.
Public transport - $10 to $50 per week
Car (after purchase) - $150 to $250 per week, this factors in fuel, insurance, registration, maintenance etc
Entertainment/social - $50 to $100 per week

You can use this as an example too.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has financial requirements you must meet in order to receive a student visa. Below is a guide on the requirements you must meet to study in Australia

• You - $18,610 per annum

Assuming you can get work here, which if you look around and talk to people and active look for employment I am sure you will get. The minimum wage in Australia for a full time worker is:

The national minimum wage is currently $17.29 per hour or $656.90 per 38 hour week (before tax).

Casual employees covered by the national minimum wage also get at least a 25 per cent casual loading.

This would give you around $25,000 AUD a year. As far as motorcycle licencing goes for international licences I have no idea!

 

You have to do a farm job if you want to stay an extra year on a working holiday visa, otherwise you can stay on it for 1 year without doing any sort of farming work

It's not too expensive really if you don't smoke or drink (we get taxed out the ass for those). If you're on a budget you can rent a room in most cities for as little as $100 a week (plus bond, bills, etc) which isn't bad at all considering min wage is something like $18/h.

Most people I know who come on a working holiday visa usually get some sort of job like a dish hand at a restaurant and usually make about $20 an hour which is enough to live comfortably

Your Irish licence is probably fine to use here, somewhere there's a list of which countries' foreign licences are acceptable and for how long you can use them after arrival

A lot of mechanic type places will want you to have some sort of qualification but you may be able to find a job in that field despite that - though it could be hard

Unemployment isn't so great right now but its not too hard to find work especially in bigger cities like Brisbane, Melbourne, etc

 

27 degrees mate, hahaha try 47 if your inland from the coast. I live in Victoria in the coldest town in the state and it can still hit 40 in Summer. When were you looking at heading over here mate?

 

There's a lot of competition for unskilled jobs in australia mostly from migrants/backpackers/students. I would suggest you get some sort of formal qualification on paper or have a very well written resume if you want to come over and not struggle somewhere in the middle of nowhere or be bumming around town serving coffee to businessmen.

Personally I'd plan to get here and up skill with something like a forklift licence (2 day course, will cost you around AUD$600) if you're not an idiot you'll get a cruisy job that pays well. Personally I think that's better than picking fruit or some sort of farming job but that's my view.

Look around on SEEK and check the jobs, locations etc then try and pick some areas you think are affordable... plenty of people here that have been around the bend who could offer some advice. I'm biased to melbourne but that's because it's just awesome here. Cold, but awesome. Closest thing to home you're gonna get

 

if you do come to aust BEWARE the seasonal labour contractors ,there are a few good ones but a lot of dodgy ones ,generally better to work directly with the farmers etc ,eg Mildura vic ,has contract rates per bucket set each yr by growers assoc normally 200 buckets a day = basic wage for day ,the 47degs is not normal but can happen (more like 30 during seasons) ,getting fork lift ticket/truck lic etc good idea ,depending on state getting a learners permit lets you ride a lams approved bike (low horse power under 600cc) live out of a tent on a bike you can live and travel fairly cheaperly (**** I did it for yrs) if you can bartend theres a few irish pubs that like employing irish ,might be worth inquiring first and you maybe able to orginize a job before you leave ,chose properly and you can pick up lams approved bikes fairly cheaply that you can travel long distance on (dirt bikes not the most comftible long distance but are most practical to really see the country and work

 

Much as I love the place I have to say DON'T come to Perth! The mining boom is over but a lot of the retailers, especially pubs and restaurants, haven't lowered their exorbitant prices. You can still accidentally end up in places where $15 a pint is not their worst price and friends of mine very recently paid $9.50 for a plate of chips that had 12 chips on it!

 

@richie, i packed up and left Ireland back in 2008, best decision i have ever made.

My advise to you is if you want to do it than go for it. The euro is stronger than the aussie dollar so you will get more on your exchange. The cost of living over here is comparable to home. some things are more expensive than others. always work available regardless of your qualifications, as long as your willing to look for it and work for it you will get it.

feel free to message me if you want any advise or help, it can be a daunting decision but for most its a good one!

 

@richie a lot of the certs you do back home ie fork lift will not carry over, the safe pass means nothing over here, you will need to do the white card (fas safe pass equivalent)

if you got an apprenticeship over here they would prob include the 457 visa along with it which is a sponsorship visa and will allow you to apply for permanent residency after a few years.

 

well bud ,if you want a 2nd yr extention and do farm work it will mean traveling,and thats the cheapest way as well as see the best country and people now if you after a flash flat in the mayor citys your 3000 euro after fares and buying a bike aren't going to go far ,now if your after honest advice you just got it ,this isn't Ireland and distances and time between jobs are a lot longer ,good luck you may need it

 

I don't know about forklift tickets @richie but be aware that not all qualifications from Europe are automatically accepted in Australia. I've met any number of tradies who were qualified in the UK but weren't allowed to work here until they had done some form of top-up qualification or training to be able to work here. It's a sucky rule but you're better off knowing about it now.

 

I did my ticket this year.. it varies place to place. Up skill in australia is easiest so save some coin to get something under your belt and separate yourself from everyone else. Some skills are transferable but it's a long winded, expensive and administrative heavy process... sometimes it even requires you to go to Uni to do a masters for a degree you got elsewhere just so you have an australian qualification... system is dumb like that, but then again Australia has a whole bunch of technical rules and standards, health and safety guidelines etc that the average Joe from Europe or the USA wouldn't think possible....