What to sort out before you leave
Your passport first. It must cover your whole stay, and its number is what the visa is linked to. If you renew it after applying, you must tell immigration.
Then the visa grant notice. It arrives by email, it is not stuck in your passport. Keep a copy online and an offline copy on your phone. If you are not there yet, everything is on the Working Holiday visa page.
Insurance, to take out before you leave. It is the one cost you must not cut corners on, and the six criteria that matter are detailed on the choosing your insurance page.
Proof of funds: immigration can ask you to show an amount in your account on arrival. Plan generously, because the first month always costs more than expected. The detailed figures are on the budget page.
Your driving licence. A French licence can be used for a limited time, together with an official translation or an international permit. Sort it out before you leave, it is simpler and cheaper.
Finally, the ticket. Many people arrive on a one way ticket, which is allowed, but some airlines ask for proof of onward travel at boarding.
What I prepared before leaving. My CVs, first of all. Then I looked into the paperwork to do once there: the bank card, the Australian phone number, the TFN. And I booked my first days in a hostel.
The first days on the ground
When you get off the plane, Australian customs checks are strict. Food, animal or plant products, hiking boots with soil on them: everything must be declared. Declaring costs nothing, not declaring costs a fine.
Then, the order that saves time: a SIM card at the airport, an Australian address even if temporary, then the bank account and the Tax File Number. Without a phone number and a local address, most of the paperwork gets stuck.
These two steps, along with superannuation and tax, have their own page: bank, tax and super. They are free and all done online.
Plan a hostel or a room for at least the first week. Looking for a flatshare from abroad is possible, visiting it is not, and many listings want to meet you.
My advice, and it is what I did: book two weeks in a hostel when you arrive. Time to really land, and above all to meet people. That is where you make the contacts that help afterwards with accommodation as well as work.
I split those two weeks in two: one week in a hostel in Bondi Beach, then one week at Mad Monkey Bayswater, a hostel right next to Kings Cross, closer to the CBD, the centre of Sydney. Two very different areas, which lets you form an opinion before choosing where to settle.
Phone and internet
Three providers share the network: Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Telstra has the best coverage in regional areas, which matters if you plan to do your 88 days in the countryside.
A prepaid SIM is bought at the airport or in any shopping centre, with your passport. An eSIM bought before you leave helps for the first hours, while you compare the local offers: I detailed the choice in my eSIM comparison.
An Australian number is not a comfort, it is a must. Employers call, landlords too, and many official forms ask for it.
The apps to install
None of these apps belong to me and none of them earn me anything. They are just the ones everyone uses there, and without them looking for a job or a room becomes needlessly complicated.
Seek
The biggest job site in the country. The reference for declared jobs.
Indeed
Seek's direct competitor. Lots of listings in hospitality.
Jora
Lots of small jobs and seasonal work, including in regional areas.
Gumtree
Australia's classifieds site. Jobs, flatshares, second hand cars and furniture.
Facebook Marketplace
A must for second hand items and flatshares, with the city groups on top.
Flatmates
The site dedicated to flatshares, the most used in the big cities.
Airtasker
One off tasks paid per job, handy while you wait for a real contract.
myGov
The official portal linking tax, health and public services. An account to create as soon as you arrive.
These apps cover the essentials of the first days. For the job search itself, industry by industry, everything is on the finding a job in Australia page.
Finding accommodation
The first week is spent in a hostel, while you visit places. After that, two routes: the flatshare, by far the most common, or a regular rental, which requires an application and a local rental history you do not have yet.
Listings are concentrated on Flatmates, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace and the city's Facebook groups, often very active among French speakers. All four are in the apps to install.
The vocabulary to know: rent is shown per week, not per month, the bond is the deposit, usually four weeks of rent, and bills may or may not be included in the price shown.
Beware of listings that look too good and ask for a transfer before any visit. It is the most classic working holiday scam.
À compléter : où je me suis installé, le prix réel, et comment j'ai trouvé.
Finding a job
The industries that hire fastest on a working holiday are hospitality, construction, cleaning, retail and farm work in regional areas.
An Australian CV fits on one or two pages, with no photo and no date of birth, and with references who can be reached. That is the point that surprises people most: employers really do call the references.
Some jobs need a certificate taken on the spot. The White Card is compulsory on building sites, the RSA to serve alcohol. Both are done online or in a day, for a modest cost.
Job offers are on the sites listed above in the apps to install, on hostel notice boards and, for many jobs, by simply walking in with a printed CV.
A word on pay: the national minimum wage is reviewed every 1 July and published by the Fair Work Ombudsman. A casual contract, with no guaranteed hours, pays more per hour than a permanent one, to make up for the lack of leave. If an offer pays clearly less than the legal minimum, it is not a good deal, it is illegal.
If you are aiming for a second year, check that the job and the region count before you sign. Everything is detailed on the 88 days page.
À compléter : les jobs que j'ai faits, comment je les ai trouvés et ce qu'ils payaient.
Mistakes to avoid
Arriving without a financial cushion. The first month adds up hostel, bond, transport, phone and groceries, before the first pay even arrives.
Putting off the Tax File Number and being taxed at the highest rate for weeks.
Accepting a job paid below the legal minimum, in cash and with no payslip. On top of being illegal, those days do not count towards the second visa year.
Underestimating distances. Australia is a continent: two cities that look close on the map are sometimes thousands of kilometres apart.
À compléter : mes propres erreurs, une fois sur place.
Shall we prepare your working holiday together?
Everything written here is free and detailed. But between reading the steps and putting your own application together, there is a step that many people take weeks to make.
I can do it with you: the visa application and its timeline, choosing your insurance, your starting budget, the first days' paperwork and the strategy for finding a job. We start from your departure date and what you have already done.
One single package, built around your departure, with a price decided after a first call. That call is free and commits you to nothing.
The links and codes mentioned
The banks, insurance, eSIMs and booking platforms I use are all on one page, with my referral codes. The Working holiday in Australia collection on the home page gathers the bare essentials for the departure.
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