Its Territory covers about 7, 612, 930 square kilometers of land, surrounded by the Indian and the Pacific ocean. Australia is known as The World's Smallest Continent because of its size and is often referred to as "the Island Continent" because of its isolation. It is also the 18th most urbanized country in the world, even though the population is just about 23 million people. Australia's capital is located in Canberra, while its biggest cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.
Wikipedia confirms that Australia is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world. It is highly ranked in terms of life expectancy, which is 83.5 years for women and 78.5 years for men, health, education and many more. The commonwealth of Australia, as it is officially known, is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The country has six states and two territories. It practices the constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary system of government with the Governor General and Governors acting on behalf of the queen (Queen Elizabeth II) at the federal and state levels respectively.
Australia has no known official languages because of the diversity in the cultural heritage of the people, but the National language is English. Some other languages spoken by Australians are Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Greek, Arabic and so on. There is no Religion imposed on Australians. As a matter of fact, the constitution of the country, prohibits any law that imposes religion or hinders anyone from practicing any religion of their choice. But, majority of Australians are Christians, while the lesser number of them practice religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and so on.
The Economy
Australia is rich in Agricultural and Mineral resources and is naturally endowed with one of the best climates in the world. Revenue is generated from the exports of Agricultural products like Wheat and Mineral resources like Iron ore, to countries like the US, Japan, China e.t.c. Revenue is also generated from Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Exports e.t.c. It has a free and flexible economy, which is by the way, one of the largest in the world. With an estimated population of 23.6 million people, the standard of living in Australia is high compared to other developed countries, while the cost of living is relatively low.
Considering the Global Financial Meltdown in 2008, Australia is the only developed economy that did not suffer a recession. Its GDP represents 2.52% of the world's economy, with a GDP estimated at $1,435.8 billion, growing at the rate of 2.6%. The GDP per capita is $61, 137.
The majority of Australia's Labor force are educated, since Education in Australia is compulsory. It has 99% adult literacy level, ranking as one of the countries with the best education systems in the world.
Challenges
As much as the government of Australia has made the process of starting a business in the country easy, there are still some challenges that investors face when starting a business in Australia.
The first issue is the bureaucracy involved in the Imports and Exports of goods to and from Australia. One will need to obtain seven documents in eight days when importing goods, while exports will take nine days and six documents to fill. This does not include the 112 days you will use in getting a construction permit (11 procedures), or the 75 days it will take to get Electricity, despite the fact that the Land acquisition system is reliable and the Electricity is stable.
Taxation is another factor that investors consider when going into business in a country. At the Federal level alone you have to pay Superannuation levies and also Pay as You Go, while you pay Payroll tax at the state level. The business environment is very strict in terms of payment of taxes.
Another issue is that, Australia is a country with the lowest density in the world. This means that, its territories are not well populated. With each square kilometer occupied by just about two people, there will be difficulties in the transportation of goods to diverse locations. At first, it will be time consuming, unless you take your time to strategize, putting distance into consideration. Find a way to make the distance work for you, just like its doing for EziBuy, an online cloth retailer based in New Zealand. The company expanded to Australia in 1993 and has ever since been growing significantly.
Also, the Australian government has a Federal government, State government and Local government. All of these levels of government have laws regarding businesses and also mode of employment. This means that you need to familiarise yourself with all of the Federal, State and Local government laws. So that, your business will conform with all of their requirements. For instance, Tax payments at state level, differ from the Federal Tax payments. Payroll tax is at the state level, while Pay as you Go is at the federal Level. As an investor, you are required to adhere to both the Federal and the State laws, including that of the Local government.
Why You Should Do Business In Australia
Notwithstanding all of the pitfalls one may face when doing business in Australia, the fact still remains that Australia has one of the most stable economies in the world presently. It is politically stable and has a secure and transparent legal framework in support of foreign investments.
According to the Australian Government, the country is in its 23rd year of uninterrupted annual growth. Its economy is diversified and based on Services such as, Tourism, Finance e.t.c. Doing business in Australia is also relatively easier compared to other developed countries.
The government of Australia has put in place strong protection for Intellectual property. It supports research and has some of the best modern ICT infrastructure. Don't forget its free, open and flexible economy.
Also, consider that most of the Australian workforce are educated. So, you don't have to start struggling with illiteracy and incompetence, in terms of employee. The more reason why you should start a business in Australia is because the benefits outweigh the challenges by far.
When you have decided to start a business in Australia, here are some steps to Legalising and commercialising your business:
- Seek proffessional advice in order to decide the size of your business in relation to your start-up capital and legal requirements.
- Choose a company name and check its availability. You can as well reserve the name, until you are ready to register it as a company.
- Know and ensure that all the company's office holders understand their legal obligations.
- Register your company at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and acquire your Australian Company Number (ACN) or Australian Business Number (ABN).
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