Australian Working Holiday Visa

Australian Working Holiday Visa (417)

So if you are reading my blog, hopefully, I am assuming it means you are considering moving across to world to the amazing country that is Australia on an Australian Working Holiday Visa (417)!

Moving away from home can be a huge huge step and this blog is all about making everything a little bit easier for you.

This Go With Gabbs Australian Working Holiday Visa (417) Guide is all you need to get started.

Working Holiday Visa Requirements

The Australian Working Holiday Visa (417 subclasses for those coming from the UK) you get a whole year (12 months from date of entry) to live, travel & work.

Australia has lots of immigration visas for countries all over the world and you can find out information about yours through your government websites.

What You Need To Be Eligible For A WHV 417

• To be between the ages of 18 – 31

• A visa prior to arrival, you cannot get one on arrival and you will be sent home. Its a long flight back FYI.

• The cost of a WHV is $484 AUD or around £280 GBP.

• A valid passport and enough money to support yourself initially prior to commencing work: around 5K AUD or 2.5K GBP

This visa then allows you to further extend your Australian Working Holiday Visa to a second year, upon completing 3 months of Regional farm work. For a complete Regional farm work survival guide click here.

You vs Australia Tour Companies

I have heard that there are a few companies out there specific to helping you with your visa and setting you up once you arrive in Australia.

Personally, I wouldn’t suggest using companies that really do nothing other than use common sense and charge you for it.

I promise you, if you follow the steps I outline a little further into this blog, for free by the way, you will be perfectly fine and around $300 better off.

What NOBODY Tells You About Moving To Australia

Except me, so here it goes.

Its bloody hard! Especially if you are planning on doing what I did and travelling SE Asia or other countries before making your way over to Australia.
Every fellow backpacker who I spoke to all said this and I was like WHY did nobody tell me this!

You land all happy and excited and then you receive a huge slap to the face and you come crashing down to reality, especially after travelling and living off very little in a place where every traveller is in the same boat and its cheap.

Then the following starts to overwhelm you:
You have no job, your family are the other side of the world, friends for now might be a very small number and you have nowhere to live (obviously, you’ve booked somewhere prior to arriving, I hope, but it adds to the drama of it all), no job and only the money hopefully you have saved to fall back on and its on top all of this is bloody stressful.

However, I am one for drama and ridiculous over worrying so I’ve warned you and I had some horror stories (a man, wife and 1 year old baby on a top bunk 6 bed dorm, I am not even joking) and multiple crying phone calls to mum and dad. BUT, I promise you it gets better and if you can make it through the first week, you can do anything and then life is for living in one of the best countries in the world.

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Australian Working Holiday Visa 417

The First Few Days: A checklist to Surviving.

Accommodation

Depending on what you are looking for, there are a few options that provide temporary accommodation for you when you’re first starting your Australian adventure.

Hostels

Australian Hostels are very expensive and generally poor in comparison to other hostels across the world. Throw in a mixed bag of people from fellow backpackers at 18 years old to working holiday makers up to 30 years old. I know people who have been in hostels and stayed there for 6 months or longer. It is a great place to meet people, but it is a lot harder than the ease of socialising you can find in South East Asia.

The Hostel I chose was bad and very big, but full of nobody essentially looking to make new friends, don’t be afraid to move around till you find the right fit for you.

Make sure to price comparison on Booking.com Vs Hostel World and read reviews is my only advice. I love a hostel, but I lasted four days in a Sydney Hostel.

Air BnB

Depending on where you are in Australia, Air BnB’s can be a really good source for accommodation both long term and short term. Obviously in Cities such as Sydney, Melbourne & Cairns, the prices increase due to location. You can however find some really good deals and places to share. Although, finding accommodation is generally 100x easier and if you are with somebody else, so if you have the option to double up with someone, go for it.

Friends & Family

This is the one to have if you are really lucky. My Angel Ellyn saved me during my first week in Sydney. We met for a period of around 12 hours in Thailand on Koh Tao in September, kept in touch on socials and then after hearing the nightmare week I had been having, she made me come stay with her when I got to Sydney in February.

This is the option I wish everyone could have because its a major home comfort and takes the stress of other first week worries away. It also is temporary which, if you are looking to settle for a while, kicks you up the bum to find a beautiful place of your own to call home.

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Australian Bank Account

A necessity, I would recommend Commonwealth, its user friendly with an app and it is used to WHV’s without fixed permanent addresses. All you need is to head into a local branch with your passport and a copy of your working holiday visa.

I would also recommend both getting a smart account (general bank account) and a savers account for putting money aside for future Australian travels which I am sure are on the cards. You can also get careless cash which is great for when you are waiting for your card to come in the post.
Other banks: ANZ, NAB and West Pac.

Australian SIM card

Main providers, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone. In comparison to UK Phone deals, you will laughing when you get to Australia. 35G SIM only for $30 a month, sold. Make sure to check coverage for each network depending on your area. For regional Australia I would suggest Telstra, for cities Vodafone.

All you need to do is to pop into the network shop of choice, bring a copy of your passport and any details you currently have. You can link it to your Australian bank account or an existing home one.

Tax File Number

Every person working within Australia needs a TFN. You can ring the ATO: Australian Tax Office or get one online through the ATO website. It takes around 20 days to process properly so the sooner you get it done, the quicker you can provide your employer with your TFN to get the correct tax rates.

Medicare

A must have! You will have to go into a Medicare centre for this one and complete the necessary paperwork. They will provide you with your Medicare number and your card will be sent in the post. It really is important, otherwise you will be charged for any medical requirements you need. If you are from a country that does not have the Medicare agreement with Australia, private health insurance is required.

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The Australian Job Search 101:

So this section is mainly for those of you who are thinking about heading to the big cities and starting work straight away! For those of you on the travel adventure option, keep your eyes peeled for some blogs that will be beneficial to you all. If you have already secured a job prior to arrival, or even transferred through your previous company, congrats! Let’s hope it leads to sponsorship for you, because, once you’ve been in Australia a little while, you will fall in love and will try to work out how to stay.

Once you’ve followed the above steps, you will be ready to go onto this next section

What you need to successfully secure a job in Australia

CV, Resume & Cover Letters

Having a CV that is easily accessible via email, drop box etc is a must. It will also save sitting in the local library using the 30 minutes of free wifi to try and write up one.
Secondly, make sure to have a few different CV’s that cover different aspects of work you might want to go into. E.g. A Admin CV, bar work CV, Hospitality Resume if you are not sure on what work you want to go into.

RSA & Skilled Trade Cards

For work in certain sectors of Australia you need specific clearance cards prior to starting work.
RSA – Responsible Service of Alcohol card is required for any bar work. These also change depending on what state you are in and can be acquired online via an online test and around $25.00
Skilled Trade Cards – For any construction related work you will need a White Card, this can again be done online, costs around $50.00 AUD and requires an online test, a video and audio test. Then depending on how far qualified into the construction sector you are, other colour cards apply such as a blue card and green card.

Recruitment Companies

Depending on what line of work you want to go into, recruitment companies for WHV’s are a life line. Whether its a sector of work you have experience in or not, they offer part time, casual and temporary work for when you need it.
Some of the recruitment Companies to get in touch with:
Hays Recruitment Experts
Smaart Recruitment
Adecco Recruitment

For specific location recruitment companies for Sydney & Melbourne, search the good old Google.

Job Search Apps

As with all over the world, one of the best places to head for a job is online! Make sure to set yourself up a Seek Jobs account, an Indeed Jobs account and keep looking on Gumtree for Australian jobs. Both Seek and Indeed have good mobile apps to use if you don’t have access to a computer.

With an Australian Working Holiday Visa you can only work for a company for a maximum of six months unless you can get sponsored or alternatively be rehired through a separate recruitment company!

I hope you are feeling slightly more confident and ready to take on the big exciting Australian Working Holiday Visa life, it will be the best decision you ever make!