Australia is genuinely friendly to new business; registrations are fast and mostly online. The catch for newcomers is sequencing: visa conditions first, structure second, registrations third. Done in that order, the setup takes days; done out of order, it can take months to untangle.
Start with your visa conditions
Work rights and business rights are not the same thing. Some visas permit running a business freely, some restrict hours or employers, and business-specific visa streams carry their own requirements. Confirm what your visa actually allows (through a registered migration agent, not a forum) before committing money to anything.
Choose the structure before the paperwork
Sole trader, company or trust determines your tax, liability and ability to bring in partners, and changing later has costs. Residency status adds wrinkles: company directors need a director ID, and at least one director of an Australian company must ordinarily reside in Australia.
The registration stack
- ABN: the business’s identity for invoicing and dealings with the ATO
- Business name registration (unless trading under your own name)
- GST registration: required once turnover passes the threshold, optional before
- PAYG withholding if you will employ staff; workers comp from the first hire
- Industry licences: state-based and easy to miss
Set up the money side properly from day one
A separate business bank account, simple bookkeeping software and a tax-money habit (set aside a slice of every payment) prevent the classic year-one disasters. This is also when an accountant earns their keep: structure, registrations, software and your first BAS, set up once, correctly. That first appointment usually pays for itself before the business is a quarter old.