Moving to Australia - Country Profile

Width, wind, desert and behind, where the sun becomes deeply red, the most famous of all: Crocodile Dundee. No country attracts UK expats more than Australia. Who dreams of living there and of working has here some useful information.

What attract is the carelessness of the Australian, the nature and the large size of the country. Economically it goes for Australia very well lately. The continent in the south hemisphere is 2,5 times bigger than Europe, however, is settled meagrely with only 19.2 million inhabitants. In addition there come 40 million sheep and some 280 million rabbits J

Australia is the third-biggest economy of the Asia Pacific region. And the continent booms.

The economic growth pressed the rate of unemployment from more than 10 percent to currently 6.3 percent within ten years. Public companies were privatised and the markets were opened stronger for the competition.

Agrarian culture, raw material production, tourism and services are the biggest branches of the country. The highly productive mining in the west of the country with Perth as main town, delivers about 15 percent of the worldwide diminished iron ores.

In the inland are most cattle farms, in the southwest (Victoria) Wine cultivation and agriculture. The harvest areas are settled mainly on the east coast, they are very attractive for the Working Holiday Makers. The more one comes away of Brisbane, Queensland, to the humid-hot north, the stronger there flourishes the tourism.

Sydney & the cities

Sydney (3,6 million population) is the biggest Metropolis in Australia as well as the financial and service centre. 74% for the Australians work for the Service Industry and mainly in Sydney. The most international banks have their Asia-Offices in Sydney and of course the biggest Australian financial and industry companies. Sydney has an average annual temperature of 17 °C degrees and is one of the main touristic attractions in Australia. The Botany Bay and Port Jackson were discovered 1770 by Captain James Cook. Around 30 % of the inhabitants are not Australians, so the city is very multicultural and has night and cultural life.

In the second biggest city Melbourne is established the production industry and is the capital of the federal state Victoria. It is with 3.4 million inhabitants the second largest town in Australian. The town population contains many immigrants from Chinese, British, Greek, Italian, Irish, Croatian or Vietnamese origin. The elevation of "The Economist" Magazin chose Melbourne as the most worth living town of the world in the years 2002, in 2004 and 2005. Melbourne ships and oil products are produced of the shipyards and refineries in the Port Phillip Bay as well as chemicals, printed products, metals, automobiles, electric and electronic devices, machines, textiles, clothes, paper and food. The city lies in the semitropical climate zone with average annual temperature around 15°C degrees. But the weather is very changeable and is described as "four seasons in a day".

Perth (ca. 1,7 million) is the capital of the Australian federal state Western Australia. The climate in Perth is nice; the sun shines daily between 10-14 hours. The aborigines call this place Alunga what means „place with a lot of sun“. The beautiful Indian Ocean beaches attract many tourists to the city. The „soul of the town“is Kings park, a 400-hectare-area on the edge of the city which contains large parts original Australian Bushland.

For graduates and professionals here are some of the biggest employers in Australia: AMP, ANZ (Australia & New Zeeland Banking Group), Commonwelth Bank of Australia, Lend Lease, National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation, Coles Myer, Woolworths, BHP Billinton, CRS, Metcash Trading Australia, Bio Tinto Group, Telstra, Quantas Airways, etc. But it is difficult to apply direct in a company if one doesn´t have already a work permit. Good chances to find a job have people with health & care occupations and engineer occupations (building industry, electricians, plumber, etc.). About 90 % of all Jobs are handled by the Employment Agency and they refer the jobseeker to the company.  The rest positions are announced via “Word of Mouth”.  The position is very often not permanent but on short term contract. By law the companies are obligate to hire first an Australian for the available position, if there is no suitable Australian than the company have to prove this and then can hire a foreigner. That makes job-search for expats difficult.

For Students is the best way to apply for Working Holiday Visa and then work (mainly in the agricultural farms or in the hospitality industry) and travel as Backpacker for couple of months.

Hristina Kehayova