UK to MELBOURNE · Working Holiday Visa 417
Move to Melbourne.
On site in your first week.
The widest choice of civil work in the country.
Nobody spare to do it.
26°C
summer average
Afternoons in January, on Bureau of Meteorology averages.
$602/wk
A WEEK TO LIVE
Rent, food, getting to work and a social life. Broken down below.
5.4M
PEOPLE IN GREATER MELBOURNE
Big enough for the work, small enough to find your feet.
Civil and commercial builders across Victoria are competing for the same crews, which is what has pulled rates to where they are. Rates from our own salary guide. Rents and everyday prices checked 24 September 2026.
WHAT MELBOURNE IS SHORT OF
More work than there are people to do it
Civil and commercial builders across Victoria are chasing the same crews. You are not asking anyone to take a chance on you, you are filling a seat that has been empty for months.
Operators. Sparkies.
Plumbers. Chippies.
Every trade we recruit, and what each one pays, is on the Australia guide. Not listed? Send your CV anyway.
living in melbourne
Big city living, on a trade wage
Melbourne has more going on than anywhere else on this list, and a trade rate goes a long way in it. Get a vehicle sorted early for site work, then leave it at home for everything else.
THE WEATHER
Four seasons before lunch
The cold you know at home does not happen here. What does happen is all four seasons before lunch, so carry a jacket in January and you will look like you live here.
GETTING A CAR
Sort one early, you will need it
Site work means tools and a different address most weeks, so a vehicle is part of the kit. Trams and trains cover the rest of your life here, which is why nobody drives into town.
THE WEekends
Coffee, food and the coast road
The best coffee and food in the country, and the city will argue with anyone who says otherwise. Live music seven nights a week. The Great Ocean Road is a morning's drive.
SPORT
The best sporting city in Australia
The MCG fills for AFL and you can hear it from outside. The Australian Open is in January, the Grand Prix runs at Albert Park, and the Melbourne Cup is a public holiday here.
a room
$220 to $350
weekly shop
$100 to $200
getting around
$57
a pint, outside of happy hours
$13 to $15
