AUSTRALIA

Sydney

Suite 2, 46 Tennyson Road, Mortlake (Sydney) 2137 NSW

Email:
sydney@ibng.com

Contact persons: Peter Kane 
Hayden Read

 

Melbourne

Level 40
140 William Street  
Melbourne 3000 VIC 

Email:
melbourne@ibng.com

Contact person: Simon Chelper

Brisbane 

Level 30, Gold AMP Building 
10 Eagle Street 
Brisbane Qld 4000

 Email: 
brisbane@ibng.com

Contact person: Jacqueline Dadd 

Adelaide

Level 24
91 King William Street
Adelaide SA 5000

Email:  
adelaide@ibng.com

Contact person: Steve Chalmers

 

Cairns 

6 Alexandra Street 
Cairns 4870 QLD 

Email:  
cairns@ibng.com

Contact person: Karen Cobavie

 

For Australia-wide contact with any of the Australian offices dial toll free: 

1300 726 333

 

To view a larger and clearer map, click here.

General Information

Click here for essential information on planning, starting and running a business in Australia (content provided by business.gov.au)

Principal Trading Partners

Export Destinations
Japan 20.3%, China 11.5%, South Korea 7.9%, US 6.7%, NZ 6.5%, India 5% (2005)

Import Destinations
US 13.9%, China 13.7%, Japan 11%, Singapore 5.6%, Germany 5.6% (2005)

Australian Overview

Geography & Population
Australia is an island-continent extending more than 5,000 east to west and 3,000 km north to south. It is an industrialized country with a population of over 20 million people.

Language
The official language English. 

Government and Law
Australia has a parliamentary form of government based upon the Westminster system. It became an independent Federation from the various British colonies on 26th January 1901.

Climate
Due to the vast expanse of Australia it enjoys climates ranging from tropical in the north, temperate in the central and southern regions through to Antarctic in the far south. Extremes of temperatures vary from region to region ranging from temperatures in excess of 50 degrees celsius in the outback (desert areas) through to minus 40 degrees celsius in the Antarctic region in the south.

Religion
Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3% (2001 Census)

Australian Calendar

Business travellers to Australia should note that Australia enjoys a wide range of public holidays due to religious, national and other festive events. 

IBN clients are recommended to consult with their regional Business Centres to obtain more specific regional travel advice in relation to public holidays as they may impact upon visit schedules.

Exhibitions and Conferences

IBN clients should consult their regional Business Centre for detailed information on exhibitions and conferences including exhibiting, booking requirements etc.

For a useful link on exhibition details, please visit the Fair Guide - www.fairguide.com.

To contact us, click here.

Travel Information

The major international airports are located in the cities of Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Cairns and Brisbane. Sydney is the principal gateway to Australia.

Australia has a large number of international seaports located throughout the country. The largest ports are the ports of Sydney (2 locations) and Melbourne.

The following information is provided to assist travellers when planning to visit Australia:

IDD:                                                      +61
Time:                                                    GMT +8 - +11
Voltage:                                                 240V
Cell Phone System:                                 Dual Band system (GSM and CDMA)
Dress:                                                    Business Suit
Taxi Fare to city from airport (average):     Various
Departure tax:                                        Yes (usually included in ticket price)

Foreign Visa Requirements

Not all foreign nationals require visas to enter Australia. Should a visa be required then they may be obtained ranging from Tourist (60 days) through to Long Term (multiple entry for up to 3 years).

As visa requirements vary for visitors from country to country travellers should consult their respective Australian Embassies or Consulates for specific advice. IBN clients are able to obtain specific information including supporting Letters of Invitation for business travel (if required) from their respective Business Centres.

Health Considerations

Australia is a modern country with world standard medical facilities located throughout the country. Whilst this is the case visitors to Australia requiring specific medication should carry medication with them for convenience. Very few diseases are prevalent in the country as Australia maintains extremely strict quarantine and health regimes.

Whilst Australia has a world class medical system it can prove to be expensive for non-Australians. Visitors should therefore consult their respective health insurance providers to ensure that adequate health cover is available in the event of an emergency.

Local Currency

The local currency is the Australian dollar. The dollar today is found in denominations from coins (5 cents) through to notes of up to $100.

Currency exchange facilities are readily available in most cities, however visitors should ensure that they obtain sufficient local currency prior to travel in remote regional areas as exchange facilities are not always available in particular for selected foreign currencies.

To use our Real-Time Converter, click here. 

Export Assistance Programs

The Australian government provides a number of Export Assistance programs for Australian companies to grow their business offshore such as the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG), Research & Development Grant (R&D), START, Export Access etc.

To find out more about export development assistance Australian companies should view the Austrade website, click here.

Useful Links

For business, national and regional news as well as current affairs, government and a more in depth view of Australia today, the following links should prove to be useful:

Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) - www.atc.australia.com
Austrade - http://www.austrade.gov.au
Australian Financial Review - http://www.afr.com.au
The Australian - http://www.theaustralian.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald - http://www.smh.com.au
The Asian Wall Street Journal - http://online.wsj.com/public/asia
Asia Today - http://www.asiatoday.com.au

Disclaimer

Whilst IBN Group Pty Ltd (IBN) has taken due care to obtain and provide the country information detailed on this site, it cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy of the same information and data. As this country information and data has been received from various sources, accepted by IBN as being reliable, IBN itself makes no representation concerning its completeness, truth or accuracy or its suitability for any particular purposes.