Facts checked on 9 October 2026 against the sources linked below. Rules change often — check the official page before you act. This is shared experience, not legal, migration or financial advice.

Which visa lets you work

There is no job-seeker visa: you can work only on a visa that allows it.

  • Skills in Demand (482). A job with an approved sponsor. The Core Skills stream needs an occupation on the 456-occupation list, at least A$79,423 and the market rate, a year's experience and IELTS 5 in each part. The Specialist Skills stream starts at A$146,576. The visa fee is A$4,015. The sponsor pays the Skilling Australians Fund levy (A$1,200 or A$1,800 a year) and may not recover it from you. If the job ends you have 180 days at a time, 365 across the visa, to find a new sponsor.
  • Points-tested visas. 65 points to lodge, but in the June 2026 189 round only trades were invited at 65; nurses and teachers needed around 75, engineers 80–95.
  • Temporary Graduate (485). After an Australian degree, Indian passport holders get two, three or four years, aged 35 or under, for A$5,750.
  • MATES. 3,000 places a year for Indian graduates aged 18–30 from a top-100 NIRF institution in a listed field, graduated in the two years before the ballot opens: an A$25 ballot, an A$365 visa, no sponsor. The 2026–27 round had not been announced by 9 October 2026.

Where to look

A Core Skills employer must advertise the job for at least four weeks on two national platforms first, so sponsored jobs sit on the ordinary boards: SEEK, Indeed, LinkedIn, Jora, and Workforce Australia for entry-level and regional work. The state health services run international recruitment campaigns. The Australian Public Service engages Australian citizens only, with rare exceptions.

To get past "local experience preferred": have your skills assessment in hand, find Australian referees, convert rupees to dollars, and keep the résumé to about two pages, with no photo, date of birth or marital status. Expect six to twelve months from India; send fifty tailored applications, not five hundred identical ones.

Skills assessments: usually the hard part

  • Nurses: AHPRA and the NMBA — an A$640 assessment fee, the NCLEX-RN, an OSCE in Adelaide for A$4,000, IELTS 7.0 in each band or OET B. Plan on twelve to twenty-four months.
  • Engineers: Engineers Australia, usually a Competency Demonstration Report for A$1,034.
  • Trades: Trades Recognition Australia, A$795 in about 120 days for sponsored applicants.
  • IT: the ACS. With no licence or board, IT is the easiest field to be hired in and the hardest to be invited in.

Pay, tax and super

  • The minimum wage is A$26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026. Full-time adult ordinary earnings were A$2,083.70 a week in May 2026.
  • Tax for 2026–27: nothing to A$18,200, then 15%, 30% from A$45,000, 37% from A$135,000 and 45% from A$190,000, plus the 2% Medicare levy. If you are not entitled to Medicare, you can claim an exemption from the levy.
  • Your employer pays 12% super on top of salary, on payday from 1 July 2026. If you leave for good, the DASP is taxed at 35% on the taxed element.
  • Apply for a free tax file number once you are in the country. If your employer does not have it within 28 days of your start, tax is withheld at the top rate.

Scams

You never pay to be hired or sponsored: asking for or taking payment for a sponsorship has been a criminal offence since 2015. SEEK never asks for money at any stage of hiring. Check any adviser on the OMARA register, and if you are underpaid, the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) helps visa holders.

What to ask here

  • Is my employer an approved sponsor, and how long did your nomination take?
  • Which assessing body covers my occupation, and how long did yours take?
  • Is this offer at the market rate for my job and city?
  • Has anyone seen this recruiter or this offer letter before?

The full Namaste guide: Jobs in Australia for Indians.