FAQ

There’s no such thing as a typical Australian lifestyle. Each city offers its own unique culture and vibrancy. We’ve put together a list of the top trendy suburbs in cities where we have offices that you can check out across Australia

Top suburbs in Sydney:

• Sydney – Surry Hills, Newtown, Mascot and Bondi Junction
• Melbourne – Brunswick, Carlton and St Kilda
• Perth – Northbridge, Mount Lawley and Fremantle
• Brisbane – West End, Paddington and New Farm
• Adelaide – Kent Town, Hindmarsh, Wayville
• Canberra – Canberra City, Braddon, Kingston
• Gold Coast – Burleigh Heads, Southport, Broadbeach Waters
• Sunshine Coast – Noosa Heads, Peregian Beach, Mooloolaba
• Albury

It’s likely you’ll need to travel to work once you’ve chosen your ideal city and area to live in. Depending on where you’ve chosen to live this journey can sometimes be longer than you’re used to. Large metropolitan cities have a wide range of transport options including buses, trains, trams, light rails and ferries. Sydney and Melbourne also use smartcard ‘touch-on’ – ‘touch-off’ tickets, the Opal Card and Myki, which are pre-paid cards that are used on public transport and can be bought from news agents and train stations. Alternatively, you can now also tap your bank card on and off transport to pay. There are a number of transport apps and websites which will help you plan your journeys. Some of the best are Sydney Transport, TripView and TripGo

When you arrive in Australia there are several options for short term accommodation before you find a more permanent home. In most cities there are hostels centrally located which cater for backpackers and most hostels offer a discount if you stay seven nights or longer. If hostels are too short term, you can also look into the below options:

• Gumtree: www.gumtree.com.au
• Flatfinder: www.flatmatefinders.com.au
• Stayz:www.stayz.com.au
• Airbnb : www.airbnb.com.au

Medicare is Australia’s public health insurance scheme.

It provides access to:

• free treatment as a public patient in a public hospital
• free or subsidized treatment by GP’s

Medicare does not cover routine dental and vision care. People who reside in Australia are eligible for Medicare if they meet these criteria:

• a citizen from a country with a Reciprocal Health Care
• Agreement (RHCA)
• holding Australian citizenship
• having a permanent visa
• having applied for a permanent visa

Applications to enrol in Medicare can be made in person at a Medicare Office. When enrolling, applicants will need to show that they are eligible to apply by providing their visa letter, a birth certificate or passport. For more information on Medicare and the services provided visit www.medicare.gov.au

Contributions to the Australian health care system are made through your tax. If you earn over a certain threshold each year, and do not have private medical insurance, you will also be charged a Medicare Levy that will be calculated at the end of the tax year. To work out whether you need to pay the Medicare Levy visit www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy.

Some GP’s in Australia offer Direct Billing which is often referred to as ‘Bulk Billing’. This allows the GP to bill Medicare directly accepting the Medicare benefits as a full payment for the services provided. This means that the GP cannot make any additional charges to you the patient.

If the GP charges you then generally you pay the account at the time of consultation and then claim the approved benefit owed to you from Medicare which is transferred directly into your nominated account.

Many Australian’s belong to private health insurance funds. These cover your treatment as a private patient in public or private hospitals and can include some services that Medicare does not cover, such as dental and vision care. The costs and types of cover vary widely.

Your Recruitment Consultant will be able to give advice on which private health insurers are the most popular.

Salaries in Australia are dependent upon a number of factors, for example:
 

• the state that you work in
• how experienced you are
• if you are in a permanent position or casual (agency)

For details on nursing grades and salaries please visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website www.fairwork.gov.au.

You may have heard employers or colleagues use the term ‘super’ to refer to a part of your salary. ‘Super’ is a widely used name for personal superannuation money that’s put aside and saved while you’re working, so you can enjoy a regular income later in life when you retire. In Australia it’s compulsory for employers to make super contributions on behalf of their qualifying employees. Your Recruitment Consultant can tell you how to claim back your super if you leave Australia.

If you work in Australia you are required to apply for a Tax File Number (TFN). A TFN is a unique number that is issued to individuals by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Once you have received your visa you can apply for a TFN online at www.ato.gov.au/individuals Your employer will need to know your TFN for taxation purposes otherwise you may be taxed at a higher rate. You can find the most up-to-date tax rates for your visa at www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Individual-income-tax-rates.

Looking to move your nursing career to HSGA? We can help get you started with HSGA today. Get in touch!