Your Finances
Financing Options
The Australian financing industry is well developed and offers a range of financing options to meet your needs.
Australia has a large range of Banking, Insurance, Superannuation and Investment products and services.
Financial products and Services may only be provided by businesses or individuals that have been licensed through recognised bodies. The Finance Industry is strictly controlled and monitored by regulatory bodies such as ASIC, APRA and MIAA through licensing and education. The public may access the websites of these organisations for any information on the industry and its members.
ASIC : tel: 1300 300630. www.fido.asic.gov.au
APRA: tel: 1300 131060. www.apra.com.au
MIAA: tel: 02 9967 2889. www.miaa.com.au
Skilled migrants:
- The lending institutions will generally only provide finance to new migrants if they can prove that they have full time employment.
- You need to work on getting a good credit rating from the day you arrive.
- If you are on a temporary visa, it is DIFFICULT to get finance when you first arrive.
- The local lending institutions may take into account any credit history your have from you home country.
- Open a bank account as soon as you can, even if you’re only here on a “look see decide”, as it is impossible to open an account from offshore. A 100 Point identification check is done when opening an account and the client needs to be there in Person. (see the banking system for further details on the 100 Point system)
Business Owners
- Finance options are limited before you have a credit rating and have proved yourself in Australia.
- A temporary visa generally makes it difficult to get any form of financing.
- In some cases, especially with franchises, financing options are available when you purchase your business.
- Getting a mortgage to buy a house whilst still on a temporary visa
can prove to be difficult. Often larger deposits are required and in
some cases lenders will need to see the business operating for 2 years.