Moving to Australia for work can be a life-changing experience for expatriates (expats) and their families. Beyond the career benefits on offer, there are vast opportunities to experience a new culture and explore the country's breathtaking nature and favourable climate.
If you're thinking of moving to Australia, it helps to have someone in your corner to guide you, and thankfully there are many international recruitment agencies with expertise in relocating to Australia. The Recruitment, Consulting and Staffing Association (RCSA) represents the Australian recruitment industry (called a "peak body"in Australia) and has a helpful search feature if you know in which region and industry you'd like to work. We've also rounded up 15 of the top international agencies to contact below.
The Australian government offers a range of work visas for foreigners, from working holiday visas to visas for expats who can fill the country's skill shortages. Jobs in demand in Australia are wide-ranging, including accounting; engineering; teaching and healthcare, to name just a few. Some visas are points-based, and some are dependent on sponsorship by an employer, territory or state. For example, there are visas for professionals willing to locate to areas such as South Australia, Tasmania, or other specified territories with a low population. You can explore all of Australia's visa options here.
If you are planning a move to Australia, check out all our articles relating to Australia here for information on the cost of living and expat life. When you need to transfer savings to Australia or send money home, CurrencyFair offers you world-class support and great exchange rates for your money transfers.
This information is correct as of 26 October 2021.
As the name suggests, Australian Skilled Migration supports highly qualified expat candidates in finding a role in Australia. Their migration agents are registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), so they're authorised to help with a range of visa types, from sponsored work visas to skilled visas. They're able to do the legwork of collecting and filing your documents and will offer personalised advice through the whole process. Their current vacancies are across the automotive, healthcare, hospitality and marketing industries.
Australia Wide focuses on engineering roles, with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. A division of Australia Wide Personnel Group, Australia Wide is one of the top professional engineering recruiters in the country with a Google review rating of 4.6 and over 11,000 followers on Linkedin.
Chandler Macleod promotes vacancies across many of the priority skilled occupations, including construction, finance and health. Founded in 1959, it's one of Australia's largest employers with 1,000 internal staff and 20,000 employees working on client sites each month. It has an international profile, with 35 offices across Australasia, and serves 60% of companies on the Australian Stock Exchange and many Fortune 500 organisations.
International recruitment company Hays has offices across the whole of Australia. It recruits roles for a number of industries, including accounting, IT and construction. You need to have secured your Australian visa before applying for a job, but its worldwide Globalink teams are on hand to help with information and tips. Hays can advise on the Australian marketplace, guide you through the visa process, and arrange interviews with Australian employers.
Hudson can be found in most of Australia's regional capital cities and recruits for mostly office work, from accounting to IT and legal jobs. Note that it can't provide visa and relocation assistance - you'll need to sort this out independently.
In Work International is an Australian-based agency specialising in international recruitment. It has partners across Europe, Asia and the USA, who help foreigners to find Australian jobs. Its expertise covers the automotive, aviation, agricultural machinery and hospitality industries. It promises a smooth end-to-end process, from visa application to assisting with your whole relocation journey and will even arrange transfers from the airport when you arrive, and help you to source accommodation and settle in seamlessly to Australian life.
Konnecting offers a fully integrated service from international recruitment to immigration and settlement. All members of its dedicated migration team are MARA-registered, which authorises them to advise on visa and immigration matters. Konnecting has extensive knowledge of the various government requirements for foreign workers, and vast experience in the whole visa process. Their expertise ranges from engineering to healthcare and IT.
Global recruitment company Manpower has offices across the whole of Australia. It recruits for a wide range of roles, from accounting and finance to corporate services and health and safety.
Michael Page specialises in supporting foreigners with their job search across a number of industries such as accounting; engineering; IT and marketing. Their PageGroup Global Opportunities team has connections in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, and many other key Australian regions.
Morgan Consulting advertises roles across accounting, construction and healthcare, to name a few. The healthcare arm of its recruitment service supports international candidates through the visa process, covering medical registration and any necessary paperwork.
Page Personnel is an international recruitment company with specialist areas across accounting, customer service and sales. It has a Google review rating of 4.4 out of 5.
IT specialists Paxus have Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) international sponsorship accreditation, which means it has approval from the Australian government to sponsor foreign job seekers with IT expertise. To be considered for a Paxus international sponsorship, you must be shortlisted by a potential employer and meet all the Australian Government immigration entry conditions. There are further details about this programme here.
Global recruitment giant Randstad operates across 39 countries and currently employs over 38,000 staff. Its Australian division has its head office in Sydney, and specialises in a number of sectors, from construction to engineering, healthcare and trades. Its teams have relationships with other Randstad entities worldwide, which means it has experience in recruiting from overseas to fill Australian job vacancies.
Talent has award-winning expertise in technology and digital recruitment. With offices across New Zealand, the USA, and Europe, and over 250,000 followers on Linkedin, it is an international recruitment specialist with significant reach.
TSS Recruitment supports expat job seekers through various visa processes. Originally experts in the hospitality market, it has now also branched out into healthcare and aged care. As the name would suggest, it specialises in the Temporary Skills Shortage visa (TSS - also known as subclass 482), as well as the Skilled Work Regional visa (491) and the Employer Nomination visa (186) and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (494). If all those acronyms and numbers have you confused, then TSS will help guide you through which visa might work best for your situation.
It can be difficult to determine which jobs in Australia are open to foreigners, and which come with visa eligibility or sponsorship. And due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there are even greater barriers to relocating down under. At the time of writing in October 2021, the country's borders are closed to visitors to prevent the spread of the virus. Nevertheless, Australian visas for foreign workers generally take upwards of three months to process, and some could take over a year. So if you're tempted by the expat life in Australia, it's never too early to start exploring your options. And in any case, there are a small number of exceptions to the Covid-19 restrictions, especially for workers who work in one of the priority migration skilled occupations.
And there's also so much to organise – from working out which visa suits you, to making sure you meet all visa requirements and going through the complex application process.
There are good reasons why expats are keen to find jobs in Australia and why it's such a popular destination for work and migration. The lifestyle is widely considered as one of the best in the world, and it currently has personnel shortages that it's looking to foreigners to fill. The recent growth in specific industries, such as healthcare, means that demand outstrips supply, and there are many incentives for overseas workers looking to relocate down under.
However, its immigration policies may favour professionals in specific occupations, but that doesn't mean the process is easy, even if you work in one of the priority industries. If you're considering a move, a smart first step would be to make contact with the relevant international recruitment agencies listed above. Explore the current vacancies in your sector, and seek professional advice as to whether you'd be eligible for a visa.
Plan your move carefully, and you'll be sure to make the most of your available funds, and the expat opportunities in Australia. And when it's time to start planning your move and transferring your savings to a local bank account, bear in mind that CurrencyFair is eight times cheaper than a bank to transfer money to and from Australia. It's ideal for expats in Australia who need to:
Send money to Australia to set up a bank account.
Send regular savings home.
Make mortgage payments and other property expenses.
The information is not to be relied on in making a decision with regard to an investment. The article is purely for general information purposes.
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