Contracting in Sydney/Melbourne

[LegendsWear7]

I'm a Brit contractor (35). In Cape Town now. Travelling to Oz in a few weeks. What's the chance of landing a contract ? I have the skills and the market looks good.

What about permit and tax ?


CHEERS

[MickyG]

Have you been contracting in Cape Town? I am South African and am interested to know.

[LegendsWear7]

Have you been contracting in Cape Town? I am South African and am interested to know.

I'd love to but I'm just here for a holiday for the next few weeks. Heading from Jo'burg to Australia hoping to catch work.

PS: The talent here leaves England for dead. Can't believe how many hotties are patrolling

[rootsnall]

PS: The talent here leaves England for dead. Can't believe how many hotties are patrolling

Sydney isn't bad on that score either.

The visa situation in Oz is constantly changing and I'm a bit out of date these days. I'd have a look for suitable jobs on jobserve etc and then contact the agencies to find out your chances. If there are jobs out there I'd be surprised if there isn't some sort of visa on offer. Some of the accountancy firms were getting visas for contractors a few years ago, obviously at a price. Have a look at http://www.ayers.com.au/, I used to use them as accountants.

[LegendsWear7]

Sydney isn't bad on that score either.

The visa situation in Oz is constantly changing and I'm a bit out of date these days. I'd have a look for suitable jobs on jobserve etc and then contact the agencies to find out your chances. If there are jobs out there I'd be surprised if there isn't some sort of visa on offer. Some of the accountancy firms were getting visas for contractors a few years ago, obviously at a price. Have a look at http://www.ayers.com.au/, I used to use them as accountants.

7 years ago I arrived there on a working holiday maker visa and scored a contract. I used Ayers who assisted to 'convert' this to a 457 Business/sponsored 2 year visa. Tax etc was handled by them for about 5% of gross. Pricey but everything was fine.

Recent contact with Ayers to see if I can do the same was not fruitful. Several efforts and cold only speak with new people who didn't seem clued up and said that all visa sponsor is entirely up to me and that they would only offer accounting services. This runs counter to their website.

I'll pump the cv out to pimps.

[rootsnall]

7 years ago I arrived there on a working holiday maker visa and scored a contract. I used Ayers who assisted to 'convert' this to a 457 Business/sponsored 2 year visa. Tax etc was handled by them for about 5% of gross. Pricey but everything was fine.

Recent contact with Ayers to see if I can do the same was not fruitful. Several efforts and cold only speak with new people who didn't seem clued up and said that all visa sponsor is entirely up to me and that they would only offer accounting services. This runs counter to their website.

I'll pump the cv out to pimps.

Ayers split into two, I can't remember the name of the other offshoot but I have a feeling that the original owners went with the new Co name. If you can track down John Levings he was always very helpful and would give you the score. There was quite a few accountants with various schemes of varying dodgyness, I'm sure there is a way around it if you try hard enough. I know some people who worked through UK and even Isle of Man Co's but that was a long time ago. A lot will depend on the job market and how keen people are to take you on. Last time I was there about 4 years back the IT job market was awful and I didn't bother working in the end.

[beaker]

7 years ago I arrived there on a working holiday maker visa and scored a contract. I used Ayers who assisted to 'convert' this to a 457 Business/sponsored 2 year visa. Tax etc was handled by them for about 5% of gross. Pricey but everything was fine.

Recent contact with Ayers to see if I can do the same was not fruitful. Several efforts and cold only speak with new people who didn't seem clued up and said that all visa sponsor is entirely up to me and that they would only offer accounting services. This runs counter to their website.

I'll pump the cv out to pimps.

Aside from getting sponsored by a business, your best chance is probably to apply for skilled migration.

The visa options and current skills in demand are on the Australian Immigration site: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...sa-options.htm

[LegendsWear7]

Ayers split into two, I can't remember the name of the other offshoot but I have a feeling that the original owners went with the new Co name. If you can track down John Levings he was always very helpful and would give you the score. There was quite a few accountants with various schemes of varying dodgyness, I'm sure there is a way around it if you try hard enough. I know some people who worked through UK and even Isle of Man Co's but that was a long time ago. A lot will depend on the job market and how keen people are to take you on. Last time I was there about 4 years back the IT job market was awful and I didn't bother working in the end.

thanks for the info and Beaker too. If I discover anything useful I'll post more.

[confusedkiwi]

Not the best time of year to be looking in Aussie for work...it's the middle of summer and things tend to slow down til Feb time.

Saying that, good place to start looking is seek.com.au - main job board in that part of the world....

[Gary_Jones]

I'm going to Oz myself in June and have sorted a working holiday visa - however, they (the gvt) seem to be really cracking down on IT based foreign workers and begging for tradesmen.

My visa (And I'm sure its pretty standard for a 1 year working holiday (visa) says that I cannot work for 1 employer for more than a 3 month period.

Based on that, I'd say sponsorship is the only way.