Every year, many backpackers come to Australia with the Working Holiday Visa to travel there for one year. Especially many young people want to enjoy the life as a backpacker in freedom. But traveling through Australia with a backpack is not cheap. Therefore, you can’t avoid working in Australia during your year.

But what exactly do you need to be able to work in Australia? What jobs can you do as a backpacker? And where are you going to find a job? These questions overwhelm many backpackers. To give you some clarity, I have written this guide to clarify all your questions.

Preparation for the job search

Before you start working in Australia you need a taxfilenumber, a supernurration account and a bank account. Even if you may not plan to work immediately after you arrive in Australia, it still makes sense to apply for all of this once you arrive in Australia. This saves you a lot of stress when it’s time to find a job.

General Information about working in australia

Period of employment

With the Working Holiday Visa, you may not work for the same employer for more than six months. If you work as an au pair and want to live and work in your host family for more than six months, you have to submit an application. Usually, this application is also approved.

Payment

The minimum wage in Australia is $26.73 per hour before tax. The minimum wage also applies to backpackers. Never take a job where you earn less.

Usually, you are paid by your employer every seven days. However, there are also jobs where you get paid every 14 days. In addition to your salary, you will of course also receive your salary statement, the so-called payslip. This will be sent to you by e-mail from your employer.

Employment relationships

There are three different types of employment in Australia: full-time, part-time and casual.

Most of the jobs that are performed by backpackers are casual jobs. Casual jobs have several advantages. Since there is no notice period, the employment relationship can be terminated by both parties at any time. Especially as a backpacker you benefit from it, because your plans can change very quickly. You may want to travel earlier and leave your job earlier than originally planned.

As a casual you do not have fixed hours per week. You will be given a work plan, but your employer can also notify you at short notice if you want to work extra hours.

As a casual you do not get paid vacation and you will not get paid if you are sick. You only get paid for the hours you actually worked.

Preparing for the job search

Tax file number

As a backpacker with the Working Holiday Visa you pay 15% tax from the first dollar earned. These are deducted directly from your salary and apply until you earn more than $45 000 within a year. From then on, you pay 32.5% taxes.

The Australians do not pay taxes on the first $18 200 because they have the so-called tax-free threshold. This allowance also applies to some backpackers, but under certain conditions:

1. You must come from an NDA country

2. You must be Australian Resident for Tax Purposes

If this applies to you, you can reclaim some of your taxes at the end of the tax year. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get your taxes back. So if your employer has always deducted the right percentage of taxes from you, then there is no point in filing a tax return at the end of the tax year (End of June each year).

However, in order for your employer to know how much tax he should deduct from your salary, you need a tax file number. You can request it free of charge on the official website of the Government (www.ato.gov.au). During the application process, you also specify your current address to which the number should be sent. You can easily enter the address of your hostel. After about one to two weeks you should get your taxfile number sent to you. Your tax file number is valid for life, so you won’t have to apply for a new one once you come back to australia for your Second Year Visa.

In case you want to start working before you have received your tax file number, let your employer know that you do not have your tax file number yet and will submit it.

If you decide to travel further while you are still waiting for your taxfile number, this is not a problem either. You can call the hostel to which you sent the number. They can then open the letter for you and tell you your taxfile number.

Supernurration

Also important for your employer is your supernurration account. You can either have your employer create a supernurration account for you or you can create a supernurration account yourself. The disadvantage when your employer creates the supernurration account is that your next employer will probably open a different account and you have deposited your super in different accounts.

If you create an account yourself, you can always give it to your employers and all your supernurration payments go to the same account. From my own experience I recommend the Superfund Hostplus. There you can easily register and create your supernurration account without any problems.

Your supernurration is not additionally deducted from your salary, but is paid by your employer.

At the end of your Work & Travel year, you can even get your supernurration back. However, if you claim your supernurration back before you reach the age of 65, you will only receive 40% of what was paid in.

Bank account

Without an Australian bank account, no employer can transfer money to you. That’s why it’s almost the most important thing. The most popular banks in Australia are: Westpac, Commonwealth, Nab and Anz. Just go to one of these banks and open a bank account there. This works most quickly and uncomplicated. Once you have opened your bank account, it will take approximately 1 – 2 weeks until you receive your credit card. In most cases, however, money can be deposited into the account before you have your card.

Whitecard

If you plan to work on a construction site during your time in Australia, you will definitely need the Whitecard. To do this, you book a course in one of the major cities that lasts a whole day. This course usually costs between 120 – 150$ and is NOT available online! The Whitecard is valid for life and is valid in all states of Australia.

For the course you only need the basic knowledge of English from school and no further specialist knowledge. Most of the questions on the test can already be answered with a little general education. In addition, I have never heard of a backpacker that he has not received his Whitecard, because the course leaders help you in answering the questions.

RSA

If you plan to work in a bar and serve alcohol during your work & travel year, you will definitely need an RSA certificate. You can do this online as well as in person. Similar to the Whitecard, this is a course that lasts a whole day and can cost between 25 – 150$.

Note, however, that you need a separate RSA certificate for each state. If you complete the RSA certificate in New South Wales, you will no longer be able to work with it in Queensland. Also note that you cannot complete the RSA certificate online in Victoria.

How do you find a job?

Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are particularly suitable for farm jobs as well as for au pair jobs. There are numerous groups for different regions in Australia. Whether you are looking for a farm or a host family, the best way to do this is to create a post yourself, introduce yourself briefly, report on your work experience and upload a photo of yourself. While you can also contact host families and farms who have posted a post about their family or farm, they get so many requests that your message may get lost. So from experience I can say that it’s better if people can contact you.
If you don’t know what to write in a Facebook post, read the posts of other backpackers and let them inspire you.

Gumtree

Whether you’re looking for a job in a café, restaurant, farm or construction site, Gumtree has plenty of jobs to offer. You can either contact the employers directly via the website or by email or phone. From experience, I can say that it is better to call your future employer. This way, all important questions can be clarified in a few minutes and you will not get lost among the numerous emails that an employer does receive.

Agency

An agency is the best way to get you a job on the construction site or an Au Pair job. If you already decide to make an Au Pair while you are still at home, it may make sense to find a host family through an agency. But if you first look for a host family while you are already in australia, then Facebook is quite enough. After all, agencys that provide you with a host family are usually also responsible for helping you apply for a visa as well as booking your flight. If you already have all this, you can save your money and search for a family on Facebook.
If you are looking for a job on the construction site then it makes sense to turn to an agency. You can then look for them in the respective city in which you want to work. Unlike agencys that provide you with a host family, these job placement services are free of charge and are paid by your employer.

Apply in person

If you are looking for a job in a café, restaurant or bar, I recommend that you visit the restaurants personally and ask if they are looking for workers.
Especially in the big cities, there are many restaurants. Just take a few hours and go to all the cafes or restaurants in your neighborhood and ask if they need someone to work for them.

Which kind of job can you do?

Particularly popular for backpackers is:

• Au Pair
• Farmwork
• Construction work
• Hospitality
• Mining
• Uber Eats Delivery Service
• Hostel Volunteering

A detailed description of these jobs, how much money you earn in each job and how many hours a week you work, can be found here.

More tips for finding a job

Don’t wait to long to find a job

Sometimes you get lucky and you find a job within two days. But sometimes you can have bad luck and find a suitable job only three weeks later. To avoid that you end up without money and without a job, it makes sense to look for job before your money is completely used up.

Sign an employment contract

Before you start working anywhere, you should have signed an employment contract and make sure you earn at least $26.73 (2023) an hour. In addition, your employer should have your tax number, superannuation account and bank details before you start working. Especially with farms caution is required, because there are a lot of unreliable farmers, who take advantage of the backpackers and never pay them. So if you can come to the reviews of other backpackers, that would be a great advantage for you.

Beware of fraudsters

An employer will never ask you for money. If you have a job offer and the person suddenly asks you for money, don’t go into it any further. There is no reason why an employer should charge you money, not even for work clothes. But what may happen is that you have to buy yourself workwear such as steel cap shoes, gloves or the like beforehand.

Note the season

Especially in the summer people in the hospitality sector are looking for workers. The farms also have their seasons at different times and cannot offer work all year round. Therefore, it is best to inform yourself beforehand about the harvest calendar in which state, at what time, on which farm is high season and then look accordingly for work.