This is our feedback about our first days in Australia, and it may be used as a practical guide to backpackers who arrive in Perth on a working-holiday visa
 
 

The working holiday visa

Australia makes it possible for young people from most western countries to apply for a 12-month visa (instead of the usual 90 days tourist visa), allowing them to work while travelling.

Of course, there are some eligibility criteria and it costs around $100, but basically you simply apply online before you turn 31 (no appointment at the embassy, no document to send, just an online questionnaire), and you got an email a few hours later confirming you’ve been granted. Just make sure you apply early in the year, as the quotas are usually used up by the end of the year.

Once you’ve been granted your working holiday visa, you’ve got 12 months to enter Australia, and from that point you can stay up to 12 months, travelling and/or working. In fact, you can even leave and come back into Australia, the 12 months will still be running.

The same system exists with other countries such as New Zealand, Canada and (as I’ve been told lately) Japan. But it’s a bilateral contract between 2 countries: it means that young Australian can come to France or Canada under the same conditions, but if your country doesn’t have this agreement with Australia then you can’t apply.

Customs and immigration

Australia is very protective when it comes to customs: beside the traditional limits of alcohol and cigarettes, they don’t want you to import anything that may endanger the island. So you go through a pretty serious check, where all your luggage is inspected for foreign food/plants/soil/etc. Make sure you declare anything you have on their watch list: they’ll check it out, and you’ll keep it if it’s deemed harmless. That’s what happened with our chocolate, hiking shoes and wooden anklets. It’s a totally different story if they find something you didn’t declare.

When you’re on a working holiday visa, you don’t get anything in your passport beside the stamp that proves you entered the country – the immigration officer at the airport told us we needed to get a sticker put in the passport; so we went to the immigration office in Perth – they gave us the sticker so we can show it to the employer, but told us that it is actually NOT necessary! Visa holders and employers can check it online, and although it’s nice to have a sticker in the passport for sentimental reasons, it’s actually using up a double page that was free in your passport, so it may be a problem if you’re on a long trip like us and you’re running out of blank pages in your passport!

Airport shuttle and place to stay

We found the TransPerth bus/subway network very good, with a free transit zone in downtown Perth and Fremantle, where you can hop on off the buses and trains for free.

However, and that’s the downside, it does NOT connect with the International terminal of the airport, only with the domestic terminal. And if you’re thinking of using the airport shuttle between terminals, it will cost you $8 and you’ll have to show your plane ticket proving that you need to go to the other terminal… So you pretty much have no choice but to get a ride with a privately owned shuttle company that will take you to downtown Perth for about $15.

We got ourselves a hostel in Perth, because it offered free pickup from the airport – as it turned out, they couldn’t pick us up but they reimbursed the price of the city shuttle – anyway, we won’t recommend any hostel in Perth, but rather the Old Firestation Backpackers located in Fremantle: the area is much nicer, and so is the hostel! For a similar price to those located in Perth, this place is clean and convenient, and only a $3.6-ride away from downtown Perth: in our opinion, it’s money well spent and well worth the $3 price difference per night for a dorm bed.

Cell phone and Internet

You’ll need an Australian phone number, at least for the first car-hunting phase. Mobile stores are everywhere, and you’ll have to choose your provider: Telstra has the best coverage, but is the most expensive – vodaphone is available only in metro areas, but is the cheapest. Not knowing, we got a $9.95 vodaphone SIM card at the airport right upon arrival (to use in our unlocked triband cell phone that we brought from France) and got a prepaid $29 cap which actually gives you $150 credit to use within 1 month on pretty much anything you want including text of talk (current international rates per minute: $1.6 for France, $1.8 for Canada… rates are cheaper towards NZ, the US and the UK).

Afterwards, we were told Optus is a good choice: cheaper than Telstra, and a better coverage than vodaphone (apparently, that applies to both telephone and broadband internet), and it’s going to get better over the next 12 months.

Beside McDonalds, free wifi/internet is pretty rare, even in hostels. Having a usb-key modem may be a solution if you have your own laptop, and we were told it works very well even for making phone calls with skype.

But it’s pretty expensive: the Optus usb-broadband-modem is around $129 when you buy it, and $30 for each Gb with 1-month validity.

Get a bank account

It’s pretty convenient to have an Australian bank account, so you can have your pay wired into it, and you get a debit card you can use with ATMs and in stores. All banks have similar prices and services (check their websites: the monthly fees for a basic account are between $2 and $5 with a debit card).

We were told NAB and Westpack were to be found all around Australia, which may not be the case with all of them, therefore we chose a Visa debit card at NAB for $4 per month (the fees are waived if you deposit more than $2500 per month).

It’s pretty straightforward: we made an appointment for the same day, came with our passport and no proof of address, and half an hour later it was done!

But you need an address, since your card and its PIN number have to be sent by mail.

the Western Australia car registration

In Australia, plate numbers are attached to the car, not the driver; this registration has to be renewed every 6 or 12 months (depending on how much you want to pay).

In most states, the car has to go through inspection before it can be sold. In WA, however, it’s not the case… the downside is obviously that the average quality of the cars is lower, BUT they’re much cheaper AND you don’t have to be in WA to sell it!

And you can even renew the registration online: this makes WA rego a preferred choice for backpackers.

Find a ride

As far as we can tell, there are 3 main ways to find a ride: the “Quaker” classified ads, out every Thursday; the boards of ads in hostels; or the Perth gumtree forum.

As a rule of thumb, expect cars to be in better shape when buying from locals, and a well equipped ride when buying from backpackers.

Right now, and much to our satisfaction, we found ourselves in a buyers’ market: many vans available, not so many buyers around yet. We’ve been told things change radically in October, in which case you pretty have no choice but to get what’s still available.

In all cases, it’s better to give yourselves some time, rather than rushing into a purchase that you may regret. In our case, it took 5 days and 8 visits to find the right one, but we reckon it could take much longer!

What vehicle choosing?

There are 3 main options:

- a car, most likely a station wagon: there are plenty of those, the most typical being a Ford Falcon. You’ll find a lot of them with prices ranging from $1000 to $4000. You should be able to sleep in it, and there are parts everywhere in Australia if you need it fixed, but you’ll have to setup your camping gear outside to cook your meals

- a 4 wheel drive: although a 4WD will give you access to dirt roads otherwise unexplored, it’s the most expensive choice when you buy it, and also when you fix it as the parts easily cost several hundred dollars. The general opinion is to stay away from those if you’re a backpacker.

- a van: that’s probably the most convenient choice: small enough to drive in cities, and yet big enough to have some confort inside, you may find different kind of those: you have the commercial kind reconverted in a camper van with a mattress in the back, there are 6- or 8-seat vans that you can fold in the back so you sleep on them, and the proper campervan with stove and fridge, and a bed (often 2 couches with table that convet into a bed). Basically, you can live in this kind of van as if you were a small moving appartment. That’s the kind we found (ours has even got a pop-top so we can stand in it!) and it’s definitely the best kind in our opinion. Prices usually range from $1500 to $7000.

The immobilizer

An immobilizer is an electronic switch that prevents the engine from being turned on, unless activated by some kind of key or remote, usually held on the same chain than the car keys.

This feature is mandatory on all vehicules registered in WA, unless the vehicule is more than 25 years old. You should therefore check for it when trying out cars.

Repairs by a mechanics

Once you’ve found a van that looks good to you, and unless you have any skills in mechanics, we strongly recommend you have it checked out by professionals so they can jack it up and check the engine, weels and a few other things. The place we were recommended in Northbridge did it for $100 in about an hour: the first time we brought a van, they pointed out a lot of weaknesses and we decided against buying that van; the second time, they cleared the van, and that’s the one we bought!

Unless you buy a recent or very well maintained vehicule, you should expect breakdowns and repairs while driving around Australia, and the mechanics will make sure you understand that he does not guarantee anything. But that’s not why you have it checked: you want to know if there’s anything that’s broken or will break soon, so you can include the cost of repairs into the initial price of the vehicule.

If the vehicule is in a shape good enough so it’s worth fixing it to make it safe to drive, if the price is acceptable for you, and if you can reasonably assume that it will make it without having to pay twice its price in repairs, then that’s as much certainty as you’ll ever get!

Once you’ve bought your ride, you need to fix the things that can’t wait: it’s safer for you, but it’s also in your best interest to keep the car well maintained: never forget that you’ll want to sell it at some point!

And keep in mind that its price will go down no matter what… it’s actually nice to think that this is what makes it possible for backpackers to buy vans in Australia: you don’t want to keep the prices up, because at some point you may be the one that ends up with a van that’s too expensive for what it’s really worth…

The discussion with the mechanics will help you decide what to pay for right away, and what you’ll make last as long as possible before paying for it.

In our cases, we decided to change the back tires that were well worn out, and fix 3 bolting joints on the steering, adding up around $600 to the price of the van. But we found Nicolas, the French seller, reasonable with his price and we were very happy in the end to have met him! It’s a shame, however, that we couldn’t buy the van from Julie and Josselin, another French couple, because we really liked their van and we also had a very good time with them…

Get it registered

As told above, WA rego doesn’t require an inspection before being sold, so you don’t have to run it through a state-approved service center as it’s the case in other Australian states. However, when buying a car with a WA rego, you need to register the change of ownership.

This can be done by mail (the purchaser will receive an invoice for the admin fees), or directly in a DPI office if you’re in WA.

There are several licensing offices, either in Perth of Fremantle – bring the signed completed form (the pink copy, the seller kept the green one), your passport, a proof of address (that’s where the bank statement comes handy, but we were told that a receipt from your hostel would do as well…) and cash or credit card for paying the fees (in our case, about $42).

The insurance

In WA, the car registration includes the insurance for personal injuries, but nothing else. It’s not mandatory to get anything else, so if the rego is up-to-date, you can just drive away.

But third party liability insurance is strongly recommended: it will cover you for any damage you may cause in an accident. For instance, if you have an accident, and your vehicule is going out of the road and breaks a bus stop, the insurance will cover it.

We chose the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) and paid around $180 for the annual premium on our newly bought van – it’s also possible to get the full coverage that will reimburse you in case of an accident or theft, but in our case we decided against it.

In both cases, you’ll get a partial refund if you cancel the premium during the year.

In case of an accident, however, you have to pay the excess (in our case $1100: $350 of basic excess, +$750 because we’re tourist… fortunately we’re both more than 26 otherwise there’d be an excess for that as well). The amount of the excess is what will make a difference between the different insurance companies (check the prices and policies online!).

Roadside assistance

The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) has got service centres and contracts with local garages all around Australia – if you become a member, they’ll provide roadside assistance: they’ll come and help you out, and you just have to pay for the parts. The towing is also included for a certain distance (you have to pay for the difference if it exceeds that distance), as well as phone advice and a few other things.

You don’t get any money back if you cancel during the year, but the membership is transferable to another country’s automobile club.

The RAC offers 3 levels of membership; the midrange option is probably the best for backpackers, with a wider radius for towing than the basic one, and no need of the best package if you have only one car.

You can apply when you actually have the problem, but then you’ll have to pay an extra $100 – otherwise, there is a 24-hour period before the policy if activated when you purchase it.

The driving license

It’s supposedly best to have an international driving license if it’s not in English. Otherwise, you can carry a certified translation of your home country driving license.

In practice, we were told that the passport is enough for police controls, and the backpackers we met have never asked for their actual driving license.

The tax file number (TFN)

If you work, you’ll have to pay taxes in Australia, no matter how much you earn

When you start working, if you don’t provide your employer with a TFN within 28 days, he/she has to hold back around 40% of your pay for tax purposes.

It’s easy to apply for a TFN online – but then you don’t know how long it takes to receive it, because we were told by fellow travellers that it can take a few weeks. Maybe it’s better to go in person at their office in Francis St, Perth.

We were told to do the following: when you apply for your TFN, register as a non-resident (which you are since you just arrived), but you start working, tell you’re employer you’re a resident (which you’ll become after a few weeks in Australia) and he’ll hold only 15% of the pay.

In the end of your stay, apply for a refund, and you’ll get part of these 15% back, depending on what you actually made in total through the different jobs you had

If you told your employer that you are a non resident, then he’ll hold 30%, but you’ll get the money back in the end of your stay. So it makes no difference in the end, but you may want the money while you’re in Australia and not after.

How to find work?

That’s the part we can’t help on – yet!

We arrived less than a week ago, and we really focused on the van and the paperwork.

Of course, there is the government-sponsored website “Harvest Trail” from which you can download the harvest guide – that’s definitely a good starting point.

Some people arrived in Perth a few months ago and have been working in bars or in stores – some people travelled around and found work along the way.

We were told that:

- there are more people on the East coast, so it’s harder to find something than on the West coast

- it’s pointless to just apply in the job agencies: some farmer will tell you that they hired exclusively through them, but you’ll never get anything unless you show up everyday to see if something shows up. And things change quickly, as people hire/fire/move very easily

- it’s also possible to go door to door in the country, and find work directly with the farmers: it’s deemed to work, but it sometimes takes some time before you find the farm that’s looking for people

Where to go from Perth: North or South?

It all depends on the season – South is probably best right now, because it’s gonna get hot with a lot of flies in the North, while the heat and humidity build up before the rainy season, at which point floods make it difficult to travel around.

But it’s still pretty damn cold down here, so it’s tempting to head North in search of better weather instead of the rain and wind we’ve experienced so far in Perth.

Wherever and whenever you start, try and be in the North between May and July – in our case, we didn’t know that, we’re late, so we’ll have to see…

In conclusion

You don’t need to do anything before you arrive, but then we recommend you find a place you like, start doing the paperwork as soon as possible, and give yourself a bit of time to wait for the TFN/bank card/rego invoice/… that will be sent to you by mail to your address in Australia.