Untitled Document

Doing business in Australia - a handbook

Introduction

Australia’s history is a story of the struggle for survival by Europeans perched on the fertile fringe of an essentially arid land.

They prevailed in that fringe, and by and large have stayed there. As a consequence Australia’s population is fairly dense around the south coast and in pockets along the southern and south west coasts of the continent. This means that a people populating an area which is, in total, about the same as the populated west coast of the USA have a hinterland of some 2 million square kilometres as their backyard.

It also means that Australians, the youngest Western style society on the planet have been living a life of urban settlement and commuting to work from dormitory suburbs for longer than any other western cultural group. Business, industry and closely settled, egalitarian democracy have been the reality of Australia for longer than anywhere else in the world, despite the image of the “Crocodile Dundee” bushwacker that many people hold in their mind’s eye.

The country is divided into six states and two territories which reflect the original sovereign colonies from which it was federated in 1900.With a population of just under 20 million, a pleasant healthy climate and an educated, industrious people, Australia makes a prime business destination.

That’s the upside.

Regulations, regulations and then some