Top 10 Benefits of becoming an Australian Permanent Resident
Australian PR (Permanent Residence, in short)
So many people aspire to get Australian PR but many of them don’t know what are the benefits of becoming an Australian Permanent Resident.
In this article, we will discuss about top 10 benefits that you get as a permanent resident in Australia.
1. Live indefinitely in the country
As an Australian Permanent Resident, you can stay in Australia for as long as you want.
Now there is a bit of misconception that Australian PR is only valid for five years. That’s only half of the truth because as long as you stay in Australia and don’t leave the country, you don’t need to renew your permanent residence.
So, if after getting permanent residence, you don’t intend to travel overseas, then you don’t need to renew it.
But if you want to travel overseas, then you’ll need to get this visa renewed (which is for five years), so that you can return back to Australia. Read more about overseas travel as a permanent resident here.
2. Unlimited working rights
While some visa holders like student visa and temporary visa holders usually have some work restrictions, Australian PR holders don’t have such restrictions.
As a permanent resident of Australia, you have unlimited working rights which means you can work as many hours you want or for any employer you want except some public services jobs and some defense jobs. These can only be applied by Australian citizens, not permanent residents.
But apart from those jobs mentioned above, you are basically free to work for any sort of job and any amount of hours you would like to work.
3. Healthcare entitlements
You can access Australia’s public health care system also known as Medicare.
It gives you access to free public health care especially in public hospitals and general practitioners clinics. There are also subsidies for specialised medical services and some medications as well.
Many mandatory immunisations (and including COVID-19 vaccines) are free for Australian PR holders.
If you’re pregnant or if your spouse is pregnant, then the delivery of the baby is also free in public hospitals.
4. Social security benefits
Social security in Australia is also known as Centrelink. The organisation that run these services is Services Australia.
But basically if you are unemployed or a student or have a disability, then you are entitled to get social security benefits. The amount you get for social security will vary based on lots of factors including your personal circumstances.
You can also get some social security benefits if you have a family with your kids, which brings us to the next point.
5. Privileges for children
If you have kids who are born in Australia after you getting a permanent residency, then they will become Australian citizens (by default).
As a parent of newborn kid, you get new born payments, paid parental leave and you also get some other family tax benefits as well.
After your kids grow up and start going to child care, that’s where you get child care subsidy. Currently, up to 85 of the child care fees is covered by the government. Obviously, depending upon your income, you will get higher or lower subsidies.
For example, if you are in the higher income bracket which means you earn a lot of money then you may get less subsidy and if you are on lower income scale, then you may get higher subsidy.
After finishing child care, when your kids go to school, that is also free until year 12 in public schools.
When your kids go to university, they can access the higher education loan program to study for the university courses.
Plenty of benefits for the children of Australian Permanent residents.
6. Access to various loans
Once you get Australian permanent residence, your credit score gets a big boost which means it significantly increase.
Your credit score or credit rating is based on a lot of factors which helps credit giving agencies like banks to decide if they should lend you money or not.
The general rule is “higher the credit rating, the better it is”.
If you have a higher credit rating, you can access different types of loans like home loan, car loan, study loan and various other types of loans.
7. Access to government grants
If you’re planning to buy a house after becoming Australian permanent resident, then you can also access some government grants.
These grants and schemes are usually designed for the first home buyers in Australia. Make sure to check both federal and your state government grants as sometimes you can access two grants when buying first home in Australia.
Make sure to check all the relevant information about grants on this page.
8. Access to free English language classes
If your level of English language is very low or you have no understanding of English at all, then you can attend government subsidised English program also known as AMEP (Adult Migrant English Program).
This program is completely free of charge for Australian PR holders.
It’s Australian government’s initiative to get migrants to learn English so that they can integrate better into Australian culture and society.
9. Possibility of becoming Australian citizenship
Australian Permanent Resident can become a pathway to get Australian citizenship.
There are some conditions that you need to meet in order to become Australian citizen.
For example you must be living in Australia for at least four years and one of that year must be as a permanent resident in the country. There are more conditions, you can read all of them here.
Becoming an Australian citizen give you access to some of the jobs like public services and defense jobs. It gives you a right to vote in the country.
And you can leave and come to Australia for as many times as you like as there is no such five years visa that you need to apply if you get Australian citizenship.
10. Visit, live and work in New Zealand
lf you’re not happy living in Australia after getting your permanent residency (which we wonder why would that be ;)), then you are welcome to take a flight across Tasman and can go visit or live and work in New Zealand.
Australian Permanent Resident holders can live in New Zealand indefinitely and they don’t need a visa to travel to New Zealand.
They can study, work or travel around New Zealand as there are no restrictions on Australian PR holders
So these are the top 10 benefits of becoming an Australian Permanent Resident.
