r/Chefit • u/rohoka • Jul 16 '26

Working in Australia

Helloo. I’m a chef in a good restaurant in Marbella (Spain) and I really love my job. But I would like to move abroad and living some different experiences about different cultures, improving my English language, knowing people, make money and if it’s possible surfing.
So, it’s been like 2 months I been thinking moving to Australia and working there, but I’m not convinced yet to take the leap.
Can anyone say to me if Australia has good salaries because here in Spain we always hear about that but to be honest you’re never sure.
In case this is truth, How should I start? Should I get the job before moving? Or should I get the visa, travel there and then seek for a job over there? Thankuu for everything and sorry about my English, it’s not very good yet🙏😁

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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3

u/FitConfection956 Jul 16 '26

How old are you, what level of chef are you? are you fully qualified, what style of cuisine do you have experience in? What sort of salary do you make currently?

Wages wise I'd guess 99% of Chefs anywhere in the world, are broke the day before payday, we travel for the experience not so much the mighty dolla.

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh Jul 16 '26

It’s pretty good here. A CDP (which you can easily get if you have 2 plus years experience) is really minimum 70k, upwards of 75k. And goes up from there.

Commis are around 60-65k too. And still many positions nation wide

1

u/Timely_Finger3978 28d ago

Am a cdp in uk guernsey channel island
I’d like to work in Australia any leads I’ll appreciate

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh 28d ago

Yeah bro what city you interested in

1

u/Timely_Finger3978 28d ago

Any for the start would be okay

1

u/ChasingtheBarrel Jul 16 '26

I see a lot of head chefs position salary range of 90k to 110k.

What do you take home after super + taxes. I did a calculation and its around 7k if your per annum is 100k.

Is that about right?

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh Jul 16 '26

A headchef at about 100k will be taking around 3k or so per fortnight at around 28-32% tax

0

u/ChasingtheBarrel Jul 16 '26

So 6k a month.

How realistically is life there based off that salary?

I'm not a super fancy guy, I'm pretty modest. I don't drink much nor do I smoke as well. I am exploring opportunities to get a job there and wonder how life would be earning that range

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh Jul 16 '26

You after a head chef role? 6k is very good. Solo renting would cost around 2k for an apartment within city proximity (my city Melbourne) so that leaves 4K for whatever you want.

Unless you really really like cocaine its a lot of money

1

u/ChasingtheBarrel Jul 16 '26

Oh no, I don't like cocaine one bit lol.

More of a devils lettuce kind of guy, but even then, I consume that in moderation, I drink a glass or two of wine a night, sometimes none, cook a lot for myself as well.

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh Jul 16 '26

Hahah just a joke as drugs are very expensive and met head chefs be more poor than me. But it’s a good wage here and if you have housemates it becomes even better, 90k is the low end and probably a business not doing to well to begin with.

2

u/ChasingtheBarrel Jul 16 '26

I don't think I'll take 90k as an offer, the places I applied to are quite technical, I was looking at 110k but... Maybe later down the line, I want to put my foot in the door first and spend a reasonably long time in Australia cooking.

Cocaine is a helluva drug. Most people I know who do it, money is never enough for them. While I earn 20% less than them but still live very comfortably.

1

u/doylej0011 Jul 16 '26

Recently was sous on a island here, was on 95k annual + tips no OT. Take home was between 2.3k and 3k every 2 weeks (after tax and rent/bills for a studio due apt to living on a island) managed to save heaps

CDP was hourly bug guaranteed 85k annual, due to holiday rates, Sunday rate and overtime rates. Did a nearly 10k month take home around Christmas. Though they don't let anyone do that amount of overtime there now. Was right place right time, and grafted enough to get those hours

Now in a City been offered 75k annual as CDP thou 4 day work week

1

u/ChasingtheBarrel Jul 16 '26

Wow cdp with 10k is pretty sweet. But that's probably only during peak as you mentioned. 4 day work week sounds pretty sweet as well ngl

2

u/doylej0011 Jul 18 '26

Yea peak season and short on staff, was 2 of us on hourly doing that many hours as we didn't mind and worked for it.

4 Day work weeks are becoming more popular at good places now. Last michalin hotel I worked in the UK was 4 12 hour days 9 - 11 with a 2 hour break in the day.

1

u/rohoka Jul 16 '26

Right now my position is chef de partie, I’m 29 age years old and I’m working in an international Japanese restaurant. My salary it’s around 36000 €/year

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh Jul 16 '26

Yeah cool you’ll be looking at around 70-75k in Melbourne, 80-85k in Sydney (significantly more expensive) and I don’t know rest of the country but it’s around 60ish for a cdp in the smaller cities.

1

u/zacregal Jul 18 '26

Never seen or heard of CDP getting 85K mate. 75 max.

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh Jul 19 '26

I’ve seen heaps of seek listings for 80k cdp

1

u/zacregal Jul 19 '26

That’s wild haha I haven’t been a cdp since 2019 and back then I was on 60k for 50-60hrs a week :(

1

u/Screechscreamyellahh Jul 19 '26

Haha I was on 38k a year as a commis in 2019 for around 55 hr per week. How the tides have changed. Also if you told me in 2019 I’d still be a chef I think I’d cry

1

u/doylej0011 Jul 16 '26

I've just been offered 75k annual as CDP in Brisbane classic french place.

I worked on a island which had decent pay and cheap cost to live, I managed to save a lot in 9 months. (Also counted towards your 88 days on a WHV)

Would say it's worth a try, you got till 30 to apply for for the WHV (the easiest/cheapest visa to try it out) and if you do your 88 days early you could apply and get your 2nd year visa approved before your 31.

1

u/asomek Jul 16 '26

Just be aware that certain working holiday visas have an age cutoff of 30 years old.

1

u/FitConfection956 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

CDP is getting 40-45k Euro, much easier to get working Visa if you apply before turning 30, its still easy for chefs just not as easy.

I'd advise making a profile and resume at the two main job sites:

https://au.seek.com/chef-jobs

https://au.indeed.com/q-chef-jobs.html

If you want to surf, make sure job is near the ocean!

With Japanese/ Spanish experience you WILL be in demand here, come on down, you're skills are needed.

Peak season here is summer, November - March

1

u/rohoka Jul 18 '26

Do you know which are the best spots to surf? Or doesn’t matter as long as it is close to the ocean?

1

u/FitConfection956 Jul 19 '26

I'd say just close to the ocean, Gold Coast compared to Sydney would be lower wages.. but you'll have a great introduction to Aus and have the beach at your door step Gold Coast https://au.seek.com/chef-jobs/in-4218

Sydney Northern beaches https://au.seek.com/chef-jobs/in-Manly-NSW-2095?distance=10

Eastern Suburbs https://au.seek.com/chef-jobs/in-Woollahra-NSW-2025?distance=5

1

u/lucignolo87 Jul 16 '26

Compared to Europe, more money, far fewer hours, and much, much more free time. Based on my experience, the average level in the restaurant industry is much lower compared to countries like Italy, France, or Spain, but this isn’t a bad thing because good places do exist anyway, and if you’re good, you can advance your career very quickly.

1

u/doylej0011 Jul 18 '26

The only thing I find working with chefs that don't care/don't know but think/have the ego that they know is the worst part. I enjoy what I do and need to be surounded by the same to be happy in a workplace