GUIDES

Where to check, before you pay anyone to tell you.

A lot of what gets sold to kababayan — by agents, by “consultants”, by whoever is in the group chat — is information that is free and official. This page is a shortcut to the source for the questions that come up most, in Australia and in New Zealand.

These are signposts, not advice. Every card sends you to the government or agency that actually decides the thing. We are journalists: we can tell you where to look and what a rule means in plain English, but only a registered migration agent or a lawyer can advise you on your own case, and only the department can tell you what your visa permits.

Work and pay

Your rights at work in Australia and New Zealand do not depend on your visa. Most of what people are frightened into paying for here is free.

What am I actually allowed to be paid?AU Award rates, penalty rates and what an employer may lawfully deduct. Your pay rights in Australia do not depend on your visa. CHECK IT → fairwork.gov.au I think I am being underpaid. What now?AU The Fair Work Ombudsman handles this, free, and you can ask anonymously. Visa holders are covered like anyone else. CHECK IT → fairwork.gov.au What are my rights at work in New Zealand?NZ Minimum wage, holidays, breaks and how to raise a problem with an employer. CHECK IT → employment.govt.nz Is this recruiter allowed to charge me?AU Check anyone charging for migration advice against the official register before you pay a cent. CHECK IT → mara.gov.au

Visas and migration

The only source that is never out of date is the department itself. Check what you are told by an agent against these.

What does my visa actually let me do?AU Work hours, study, travel and the conditions attached to your specific subclass. This is the only source that is never out of date. CHECK IT → immi.homeaffairs.gov.au Check my visa conditions and entitlementsAU VEVO shows what your visa permits, straight from the department, free. CHECK IT → immi.homeaffairs.gov.au New Zealand visasNZ What each visa allows, and the official application route. CHECK IT → immigration.govt.nz Getting a qualification recognisedAU Skills assessment and recognition for trades and professions in Australia. CHECK IT → immi.homeaffairs.gov.au

Money

Tax, super, and the cost of sending money home — which is rarely the number on the sign in the window.

Getting a tax file numberAU Free, from the ATO. Anyone charging you for a TFN is charging you for nothing. CHECK IT → ato.gov.au Superannuation, and getting it back when you leaveAU What your employer must pay in, and how to claim it if you depart permanently. CHECK IT → ato.gov.au Sending money home safelyAU Compare what a transfer actually costs once the exchange rate is counted. Run by the Australian government, not a remittance company. CHECK IT → moneysmart.gov.au Centrelink: what am I eligible for?AU Payments and services, and the residence rules that apply to them. CHECK IT → servicesaustralia.gov.au

Health, housing and help

The services you are entitled to, and the free ones people most often do not know about.

Medicare, and what to do if I am not coveredAU Who is eligible, and what the reciprocal agreements cover. CHECK IT → servicesaustralia.gov.au Renting in New ZealandNZ Bond, rent increases, repairs and how to end a tenancy — the official tenancy service. CHECK IT → tenancy.govt.nz Free help in your own languageAU The national translating and interpreting service, free for many services. CHECK IT → tisnational.gov.au Mental health supportAU Free, confidential, 24 hours. You do not need a Medicare card to ring Lifeline. CHECK IT → lifeline.org.au

Consular and official

The Philippine government offices that serve kababayan abroad, and where to report a scam.

Philippine Embassy in Australia Passports, consular services, and official announcements for Filipinos here. CHECK IT → philembassy.org.au Department of Migrant Workers The Philippine agency for overseas workers: advisories, programmes and repatriation. CHECK IT → dmw.gov.ph OWWA Membership, benefits and assistance for overseas Filipino workers and their families. CHECK IT → owwa.gov.ph Report a scamAU Scamwatch in Australia. Worth filing even if you lost nothing — it feeds the work that shuts these operations down. CHECK IT → scamwatch.gov.au

This page will grow. The plan is a proper explainer behind each of these — written in plain English and Taglish, by people who have been through it — rather than only a link out. We would rather publish a short honest signpost now than a long confident guide we have not checked.

One gap we have deliberately left blank: renting in Australia. Tenancy is state law, so there is no single national page to send you to, and pointing every reader at one state’s authority would be wrong for most of them. A state-by-state guide is next.

If there is a question you keep being asked, or one nobody could answer for you when you arrived, tell us and we will work on it.