Hey, sorry, on the road at the moment so haven't been here for a while! Still in Australia but now on holiday for the next 3 months while I drive round it
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You can get a holiday Visa if you haven't had one before and are under 31. There are valid for 12 months as Getting2Dizzy says. You can't work for one company for longer than 6 months, but you can change around as much as you like within the 12 month period. My company got me out initially on a holiday working visa because it was cheap and quick for them + I only had a 3 month contract. Since I stayed with them for over a year, they had to sponsor me at the 6 month point. This was arranged (by my company) through a 3rd party company who specialises in visas. I had to have a chest x-ray and provide copies of my contract and qualifications. Once the visa was granted it was only valid for while I was employed by that company. Have a look at:
http://www.steppingstonerelocations.com/
I would send them an email explaining what you want to do and they would advise you on the best course/visa. The holiday working visa shouldn't be written off though as it would allow you to come to Australia and work for a year without being tied to any company.
Once you have a visa, getting things like a bank account is straightforward. I also got an Australian Drivers licence as most insurance companies won't insure a bike (though they will a car for some reason!?) on a UK one, even though it is valid. This was super easy and they didn't take my UK one either, so now I have 2!
Not sure what else to say really.... Cost of living is hard to gauge because it is dependent on where you live and what your job is, but for me it was better here (Sydney) than in London. Oh, and the weather is pretty sweet!
Probably won't be back on here for a bit, but if you have any other questions then PM me and i'll see if I can answer them (just might be a week or 2)