If you want to immigrate to Australia, it’s worth considering moving to one of the regional areas. Aside from being attractive in terms of work-life balance and beautiful scenery, it also provides more opportunities to advance your studies and career, notes Sam Hopwood, director: Australia and Oceania Region at Sable International.
What is considered regional Australia?
When someone says the phrase, “regional Australia”, what do you think of? Do the words conjure up visions of the red, desolate Outback? Kangaroos having boxing matches in your backyard? One horse towns with one main road and not much else going on? If so, you’d be very much mistaken.
While the Outback is part of regional Australia, that’s not all there is to it. Any city or region outside of the major metropolitan areas is considered regional, including areas like the beautiful Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, which are both only around an hour’s drive from Brisbane, said Hopwood.
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Surprisingly, he said, the capital city of Canberra is also considered a regional area as well as these other popular areas:
- Adelaide
- Perth
- Newcastle/Lake Macquarie
- Wollongong/Illawarra
- Geelong
- Hobart
Life in regional Australia
One of the biggest draw cards of living in regional Australia is that you will be surrounded by nature and a slower pace of life. Whether you choose the waterfalls and forests of the Blue Mountains, coastal South Australia or the tropics of far North Queensland, regional Australia is rich in natural beauty.
“The regional areas of Australia are also ideal locations for families. Housing prices are significantly cheaper than property in the cities, and you’re more likely to find a larger property with a lovely yard for the kids. Public schools are generally smaller and well-funded, meaning children can get a great education. In some states and territories, like New South Wales and ACT, the school fees may be waived for dependants of those who hold a subclass 491 visa,” said Hopwood.
Regional Australia not only offers spectacular scenery, a relaxed atmosphere and strong family culture, but also a low population density, and fantastic opportunities for those seeking a way to make Australia their permanent home, he said.
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Benefits of the Skilled Work Regional visa
To encourage skilled migration into areas most in need, the Australian government has a General Skilled Migration (GSM) programme that’s open to applicants under the age of 45.
Every year, the national, state and regional governments put out lists of required skills. Each regional area has its own list, based on local regional labour market shortages, and these lists have a wider spread of occupations than the state or national lists. You’ll often find occupations like “restaurant manager” or “graphic designer” on these lists, whereas the state and national lists are usually seeking rarer skills, noted Sable.
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“If your occupation is on one of these lists, then you can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) and a State Nomination application to that State with the hopes that the State would nominate you and the Australian Department of Home Affairs would then select and invite you to apply for a Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491), said Hopwood.
“This year, in a bid to boost Australia’s economic recovery post-pandemic, the government has increased quotas for the subclass 491 visa by 123% – there are now 25,000 of these visas available for the 2022-2023 Australian financial year, compared to 11,200 last year, making now a great time to apply.”
The subclass 491 is a temporary residence visa. However, it has a defined pathway to permanent residency. You and your dependants (such as your spouse and children) will be awarded a five-year temporary visa to start with. After three years of living and working in a regional area, you may apply for permanent residency via the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa, subclass 191.
While in Australia on your subclass 491 visa, you can work in any occupation you like and you can live and work in any regional area and are not limited to the State that nominated you for your subclass 491 visa, noted Hopwood.
“What also makes the subclass 491 so attractive is that it provides access to Australia’s Medicare system. While all permanent visas in Australia have access to Medicare, this is not the case for temporary visas – the subclass 491 is an exception to this rule.”
Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa requirements
To be eligible for the subclass 491 visa, you must:
- Be under the age of 45
- Have an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL), Short-Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) or Regional Occupation List (ROL)
- Have competent English
- Pass a skills assessment with the appropriate assessing authority in Australia
- Score a minimum of 65 points. (Points are awarded for factors such as education and experience.)
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