Australia Work Visa

There are various work visa options, three work visa options can lead to permanent residency while two of them are temporary and lets you stay in the country for a limited time.

Permanent work visa options

1.Employer Nomination Scheme visa (Subclass 186)

Employers can nominate you for this visa. The requirement is that your occupation must be on the list of eligible skilled occupations and the list must be applicable to your skills. This visa lets you stay and work permanently in Australia.

Employers may also sponsor individuals who are on a 457, TSS or working holiday visa. This visa can result in permanent residency.

Skill Select program: When an employer doesn’t want to appoint you, then you can apply your application through the Skill Select program. Through this program, your information will be made available to employers and governments of the states and territories and they can decide to nominate you. When you send an Expression of Interest (EOI) via the Skill Select program, you let the government know you ‘re interested in working in Australia.

To submit an EOI your occupation must be on the List of Skilled Occupations. After getting your EOI, you’ll be ranked based on a points test. If you have the required points, you qualify for the Skill Select program.

2.Skilled Independent visa (Subclass 189)

Before submitting your application under this category, you must give an Expression of Interest through Skill Select and have the required points. You can apply for the Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189) even though you may not be nominated by an employer.

Eligibility requirements

• Experience in a nominated occupation on Australia’s Skilled Occupations List

• Get a skill assessment report by a designated authority for that occupation

3.Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)

If you are nominated by an Australian state or territory you qualify for this visa. This visa has the same privileges as the Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189).

The eligibility requirements are also the same.

Temporary work visa options

1.TSS visa (Temporary Skill Shortage):Individuals can work between two to four years under this visa, depending on the requirement of the employee. To obtain this visa for hiring employees, Australian businesses would have to show they are facing a shortage of skills.

Applicants should have previous work experience of at least two years and should be under 45 years. Organizations that hire workers on this visa have to pay them the market salary.

2.Working holiday visa: This visa is available to people in the 18-30 age group to enable them to take up short-term jobs in Australia while on a holiday there. The period is twelve months. You will have to stick to the mandatory health and character requirements while on a holiday and not have any dependents with you.

With the working holiday visa, you can:

• Enter and stay in the country for six months

• Leave and re-enter the country multiple times

• Work for up to six months with an employee

• Choose to study for four months during the visa duration

Australian employers recognize education and work experience from abroad and accept numerous technical qualifications. If you have these credentials, the chances of applying for the Skill Select system are greater.

Across Australia, workers who work and stay here are entitled to pension benefits. When you want to get these incentives, you have to fulfil the requirements of age and residency. Those who work in Australia benefit from a retirement savings account called the Superannuation fund.

The country offers an accessible health care program and a network of social assistance. Aside from that, even in the major cities the population density is much smaller.

Australia has a multicultural culture that has people coming and moving here from various parts of the world. In fact, 43 per cent of Australians have overseas parents or were born overseas.

In case you want to improve your educational qualifications, the country offers more than 20,00 courses of study and has over 1,200 educational institutions.

Social security benefits

Many of the benefits provided by Centrelink (Department of Human Services branch) under Australia’s Social Security Act include

• Age pension — for individuals (65 years and older) who expect to retire or retire

• Payment and carer compensation — for people who care for those with a disability

• Disability support pension — for individuals who are unable to work for two years because of disability, accident or illness

• Sickness allowance — for workers with accident, disability or sickness (under two years of age) who do not have access to or using any of their leave

• New start allowance — for job-seekers

• Special benefit — for persons enduring financial distress and unable to maintain themselves;

• Income support— cash contribution to cover the cost of living (can include pension program, veteran contribution, rent assistance

• Pharmaceutical allowance — helps people receiving Centrelink benefits to offset the expense of prescription medicines

Other benefits

• Group Insurance – Big, multi-national corporations in a variety of industries are increasingly providing personal insurance plans for their employees, which also provide Salary Continuance coverage as well as lump-sum Death and Disability insurance.

• Health insurance – This has historically been a lower priority, but as the government has raised taxes and decreased rebates for high-income earners over the past 5+ years, large corporations are increasingly providing fully paid or subsidized plans (although mostly in IT and professional sectors where salary levels are high and competition for talent)

• Childcare facilities – A growing number of big, professional firms are looking to provide childcare and/or daycare services.

• Flexible working conditions – For families, this includes more time off, different working hours, and working from home options.

Minimum wage

For a full-time worker in Australia, the average weekly wage is about 1,605 AUD (1,087 USD). The country’s national minimum wage is just under 19 Australian dollars (13 US dollars) per hour, or 720 Australian dollars (490 US dollars) per week.

The average annual wage in Australia is about 91,550 AUD, including benefits (62,000 USD).

Work hours and work flexibility

The number of work hours per week can be as low as 38.5 hours. The length of work week could be even shorter in some of the other firms. Apart from this, some employers offer flexible working hours.