Australia, with its stable economy and business-friendly environment, is definitely one of the most attractive destinations for Italian entrepreneurs wishing to expand their business.
Of course, bringing your company to Australia is not immediate or even simple, especially if you are not sure how to move and who to turn to. The tasks are many and the process of bringing your company to Australia requires careful planning and a very thorough knowledge of local laws and regulations. That’s why we advise you against doing everything on your own, but to rely on an agency that specializes in this type of paperwork.
First, however, let’s take an overview of what steps you need to follow to move your business to Australia and some useful considerations for those wishing to take this step.
How to bring your business to Australia? 5 useful tips
The first thing you need to know is that bringing your business to Australia takes time and proper planning.
Here are some essential steps.
Study the target market and the context in which you are going to enter. You should be aware that if a business does well in Italy, the same thing will not necessarily happen in Australia. Australia is a huge and extremely diverse continent so it is important to assess the best social, economic and cultural environment to make your type of company work. In big cities, a physiotherapy practice might be very successful (as was the case with our partner Applied Motion) but the same may not necessarily happen in rural inland areas.
Choose the form of corporation you wish to form based, of course, on Australian laws and the type of company you have. Depending on the corporate form, the obligations, taxation and type of liability you will have also change. In addition, you will have to decide whether it is an Australian-law company or a foreign-law company (which means that the registered office can also remain in Italy).
Check for the need for special permits based on your type of business and the industry in which you operate. Basically, you will need a dedicated visa for those with business objectives, but in addition to this, you may need additional documents, permits and specific licenses. Some sectors, for example health, education and food, are subject to very strict regulations in Australia.
Register your company with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which is the government body responsible for legislatively regulating business investments on Australian soil. This step is very delicate because it requires several bureaucratic steps so you will probably need to be followed by a professional. Among the various tasks, the most important is the application for the ABN (Australian Business Number), which is essential for paying taxes and obtaining the certificate that your company complies with Australian regulations.
Make arrangements to move your employees. In fact, consider that if you also want to move your employees to Australia, you will have to provide a dedicated mobility program for them. You will need to plan carefully and in advance for employee movement because all of them will need to have a valid work visa to enter the country and work for as long as necessary.
Do you want our support in bringing your business to Australia?
As you may have gathered from the previous paragraph, bringing your business to Australia is not exactly something that can be done overnight. There are many steps and the timeframe can get very long. For this reason, our advice is to rely on an immigration agency that has experience and expertise in business transfers: being able to rely on professionals will allow you to do all the steps correctly, without wasting time and money.
In fact, first you will need to apply for the most suitable Business Visa for your situation, and then proceed with all the other steps.
One of our partners is an immigration agency that also specializes in business practices: if you want to contact GreenWings Migration, you can do so from here!
For our members, there is also a 15% discount on the first consultation.