Working Holidays

in Sydney and Australia

Many young people travel to Australia on working holidays. They arrive in Sydney, find a cheap place to stay, and then find some temporary work to pay for the next phase of their journey.

Australia has a reciprocal arrangements with 18 countries for working holidays. These are the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malta, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cyprus, Italy, Belgium and France.

United States citizens may obtain four-month Working Holiday Visas under a pilot program being negotiated between the US and Australia.

Only applicants from these countries who are are eligible to apply for Working Holiday Visas may apply. Also, you have to be over 18 and no more than 30 years old, and you can't have any dependent children.

Working holiday makers are permitted to do any kind of temporary or causal job, but you aren't allowed to work with the same employer for more than three months.

There are several agencies in the city who specialize in finding short-term jobs for travellers in Australia. One of the best I've seen is in the Dymocks Building in George Street, right in the heart of the Sydney central business district (the CBD).

They have notice boards on the wall listing cheap accomodation and house shares, and all kinds of office work, laboring jobs, factory work and even fruit-picking, when it's in season.

They have free Internet facilities there for visitors, and they'll register you and try to find you a job. You can also add your email address to their database and receive automatic notifications every few days while they're recruiting.

For some jobs, such as Nursing, you will need to prove your qualifications. And some of the other casual work in New South Wales actually requires you get a NSW qualification before you can work here.

Most building sites, for example, require the so-called Green Card, before you're allowed to take one step onto a building site in Sydney. (The Green Card, by the way, is white.) It is issued by WorkCover, the government bureau which enforces safety codes, investigates accidents and foots some of the bill when somebody is badly injured.

Other local certifications exist for working as a barman or barmaid, it's called the RSA Certificate (Responsible Service of Alcohol). There is a similar course for working in a pub or bar with gambling machines (pokies, slots, one-arm bandits). You can elect to do both, and maybe even a Barman's drink-mixing course.

You may even choose a Coffee-Maker's Barista course - for making those fancy Expressos and Short Blacks.

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◦ What does ANZAC mean?

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