Working in Australia: your visa is your work permit, and then come TFN, superannuation and recognition of your trade

Working in Australia requires no separate work permit: the permanent skilled visa you come with gives you the right to work and study anywhere in Australia. The questions that come after that are more practical, and Home Affairs warns honestly: approval to migrate, permanent residency or even citizenship are no guarantee of a job. The labour market is competitive, Australian work experience weighs heavily, and whoever arrives without income can generally only count on a benefit after years. What you do have in your own hands is below.

What does an employer want to see from you?

A job application in Australia consists according to Home Affairs of a cover letter, a resume with your details, skills, previous jobs and education, copies of references from previous employers or their contact details, and copies of the educational and trade certificates relevant to the job. Once you're hired, your employer wants two things: your bank account details and your Tax File Number. The first you arrange in the first six weeks, while your passport is still enough; the second you apply for online with the tax office, with your passport details and an Australian address, and it arrives by mail within 28 days from the day the ATO receives the application.

What	Rule	Source
Right to work	permanent visa: work and study anywhere in Australia	Home Affairs
Tax File Number	online, 24 hours a day; by mail within 28 days of receipt	Home Affairs
Superannuation	paid by your employer, a set percentage into a separate account	Home Affairs
Skills assessment	without an expiry date: valid 3 years from issue	Home Affairs
ABN as a sole trader	free, 11 digits, usually straight after the online application; review up to 20 business days	business.gov.au
Benefit after arrival	generally only after up to four years of permanent residence; age and disability pensions after ten years	Home Affairs

Does your trade have to be recognised?

Some occupations have special requirements: registration or licensing with a government authority, or membership of a professional or industry association. Home Affairs refers for the recognition of qualifications to the site of the Department of Education, and for trades to Trades Recognition Australia. Whoever came through the skilled route has already had a skills assessment done by the authority belonging to their occupation; that result is, if no validity period is shown on it, valid for three years from issue, and never longer than three years. But a skills assessment for the visa isn't automatically the registration you need to practise: a nurse, an electrician or a teacher also needs the registration or licence of their state.

Ask before departure which registration your occupation requires in your state. Licences and registrations run per state and territory, and the authority that did your skills assessment isn't always the one that issues the licence. Whoever only finds out after arrival works below their level for months.

What workplace law guarantees you

Australia has laws on minimum wages and work conditions, which apply from enterprise bargaining of whole organisations to individual contracts. Protected, according to Home Affairs, are minimum rates of pay, hours worked, leave, free association with any organisation, and health and safety at work. The Fair Work Ombudsman monitors compliance, investigates breaches and provides a free service for whoever has concerns about their conditions or safety; the Australian Human Rights Commission handles complaints about discrimination. The current amounts of the minimum wage are with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Superannuation: your Australian pension starts on day one

Everyone who works in Australia builds up through superannuation: your employer pays a set percentage of your pay into a separate retirement account, which only becomes accessible at the legislated retirement age. At your first job you choose a fund; your Dutch pension pots stay in the Netherlands, and how those two systems relate later is in the article on AOW, pension and tax.

Starting on your own: sole trader with an ABN

The simplest business structure is the sole trader: you use your own Tax File Number for the return, needn't have a separate business account (though it's recommended), keep your records for at least five years, and are personally liable for all debts and losses. For that you apply for an Australian Business Number at the Australian Business Register: free, eleven digits, and with a complete application you know straight after the online form whether you have it; if the application needs review, that can take up to 20 business days. With an ABN you invoice, avoid clients withholding tax on your payments, and claim GST credits. If your business changes, you report it within 28 days. Superannuation for yourself isn't compulsory as a sole trader, but it is wise.

Where this sits in your journey

Looking for work often starts before departure, but the paperwork of this step belongs to arrival: account, TFN and fund in the first weeks, registration or licence in the months after. How that falls into the calendar of the journey to Australia is with the step of the first week in order.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.6: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Australia or go straight to step 5.6 in the open plan.