Moving to Melbourne on $150,000 AUD: A Tech Professional’s Complete Relocation Guide

Moving to Melbourne on AUD 150,000 a year leaves you about AUD 110,430 after income tax and the Medicare levy, if you count as an Australian tax resident in 2026-27. For a software engineer coming from Nigeria, the usual route is a sponsored Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa in the Core Skills stream. This guide follows the order you will face each stage: pay, visa, health cover, cash, housing and the first weeks on the ground. Every price, rate and threshold carries its date.

Last checked against official sources: October 2026.

1. Work Out What Moving to Melbourne on AUD 150,000 Really Pays

Start with take-home pay, because every later number leans on it. The second tax bracket fell from 16% to 15% on 1 July 2026. For 2026-27 you pay nothing up to 18,200, then 15% to 45,000, 30% to 135,000 and 37% to 190,000.

Here is the working on AUD 150,000 of taxable income, slice by slice.

Add the 2% Medicare levy (150,000 x 2% = 3,000) and the total is 39,570. You keep 110,430 a year, which is 9,202.50 a month or 4,247.31 a fortnight. The same pay would have cost 36,838 in tax in 2025-26, so the cut saves about 268. The ATO resident tax rates page lists the brackets.

Key Statistic: On a base salary of AUD 150,000 in 2026-27, a resident who pays the Medicare levy takes home about AUD 110,430 a year. That is 36,570 income tax plus 3,000 levy, or 26.38% of gross pay.

Residency is decided by the ATO’s tests, mainly the resides test, and it turns on your facts. A registered tax agent should confirm your case. For wider context on tech pay, see our piece on how tech professionals climb the pay scale.

Pro Tip: Ask whether AUD 150,000 is base salary or a package that includes super. Employer super is 12% from 1 July 2026, so a 150,000 base adds 18,000 on top. If 150,000 is the whole package, the base is about 133,929 and take-home falls to about 100,551 a year.

2. Check That Your Job Fits the Skills in Demand Visa

The Skills in Demand 482 replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage visa on 7 December 2024. In the Core Skills stream your employer sponsors you, and your job must be on the Core Skills Occupation List of 456 entries. The Home Affairs list we opened on 20 October 2026 includes Software Engineer (261313), Developer Programmer (261312) and Analyst Programmer (261311). Check the current version before you rely on a code.

Pay has two tests. Your employer must offer at least AUD 79,423, the Core Skills Income Threshold for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, and at least the Annual Market Salary Rate for the job. Under AUD 250,000 both apply, so the market rate is the real floor. At AUD 150,000 you also clear the Specialist Skills threshold of AUD 146,576, which is queued ahead of Core Skills, but your employer picks the stream. See the Home Affairs salary requirements page.

Core Skills asks for at least one year of relevant experience in the last five years. The “two years” you may see online belongs to the old visa. Home Affairs lists mandatory skills assessments only for named occupations, though you still need a CV, references and qualifications as evidence, as the Core Skills stream page explains.

Important Note: Sponsorship and nomination costs belong to the employer. Home Affairs warns that asking for or giving a benefit in return for sponsorship can be an offence, so have any request for money checked by a registered migration agent.

Our overview of Australian jobs that pay foreigners shows which roles hire from abroad.

3. Prove Your English and Gather Your Documents

A Nigerian passport is not on the English-exempt list, which names Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK and the USA. You can still be exempt with five years of full-time study at secondary level or above taught mostly in English, backed by transcripts and contact-hour evidence. If you test instead, tests taken on or after 13 September 2025 need IELTS 5.0 in all four skills, or equivalent scores listed on the 482 English page. The test must be within three years.

Collect the main paperwork alongside the English evidence.

For Nigeria, the Police Extract comes from the Nigeria Police Force. Reports put the wait at two to six weeks with conflicting validity periods, so confirm both. The health examination can be done before you lodge.

4. Arrange Health Cover Before You Land

Medicare is not open to you on a 482. Reciprocal agreements cover 11 countries, including the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, and Nigeria is not one. Visa condition 8501 requires adequate private health insurance for your whole stay, and the Home Affairs adequate health insurance page sets out what counts.

Cost depends on the cover level. One comparison site’s cheapest working-visa pick for a single person in April 2026 was about AUD 719 a year, while other guides quote AUD 100 to 200 a month. Ask a licensed insurer or broker which policies meet condition 8501.

A temporary resident who is not entitled to Medicare can claim a full Medicare levy exemption for days covered by a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia. The statement can take about eight weeks, you apply each income year, and every dependant must also be in an exemption category. For you the levy is 2% of 150,000, or AUD 3,000 a year.

This table shows how the same salary lands under different setups.

Important Note: The exemption is not automatic. You claim it in your tax return, and you still must pay for private cover to satisfy your visa. Ask a registered tax agent how it interacts with the Medicare levy surcharge in your case.

5. Know the Visa Cost and the Wait

The 482 visa application charge is reported at AUD 4,015 for the main applicant from 1 July 2026, with 4,015 for each additional adult and 1,005 for each child under 18. Check the Home Affairs visa pricing estimator, and agree in writing with your employer who pays.

Home Affairs gives no fixed processing time. Migration agents reported in late September and early October 2026 that half of Core Skills applications took about four months and 90% about nine months. Under Ministerial Direction 121, from 19 September 2026, priority sectors go first, then Specialist Skills, then applicants who lodged inside Australia, then those outside, so a Nigeria-based Core Skills applicant waits behind several groups.

The visa allows up to four years. You can work only for your sponsor in the nominated occupation, and you must start within 90 days of arrival. If you lose the job you have up to 180 days to find a new sponsor or leave.

Your partner and children can be included and can live, study and work in Australia. They must be named in the nomination and cannot be added after you lodge, though they can apply later as subsequent entrants.

6. Budget Your First Three Months of Moving to Melbourne

This illustration is for a single renter in a unit at AUD 600 a week. It leaves out flights, the English test, the medical, the police certificate, translations and food. No direct Lagos to Melbourne service was listed, and an undated aggregator snippet showed one-way fares from about USD 900.

Rent in advance is part of the 7,800, not an extra. A partner adds 4,015 in visa charge and two children add 2 x 1,005, so a family faces another 6,025. Electricity under the 2026-27 Victorian Default Offer averages about AUD 1,591 a year at 4,000 kWh, and market offers vary.

Send money through a licensed transfer provider and compare the total cost, including the exchange rate. We have not converted amounts to naira.

7. Find a Home and Understand the Bond

Rent figures differ by source, so name the source every time. Domain reported a September quarter 2026 median asking rent of AUD 600 a week for houses and units. The Real Estate Institute of Victoria put the metro Melbourne house median at 600 for September 2026, and the SQM Research asking-rent index for all units was 590.43 in the week ending 20 October 2026.

Rent of 600 a week is 31,200 a year, or 2,600 a month, which is 28.3% of 110,430. That is a share of pay, not a rule. Our guide to short-term housing for immigrants in the USA covers another country but shows why a first address matters.

In Victoria the bond is generally capped at one month’s rent. It can be higher only if weekly rent is above AUD 900, or if VCAT sets it, as the Consumer Affairs Victoria bond page explains.

A provider can ask for at most one month’s rent in advance, or 14 days where rent is paid weekly. Rental bidding, meaning offers above the advertised rent, has been banned since 25 November 2025.

8. Set Up Your Tax File Number, Bank, Transport and Licence

You need a tax file number before payday. The online application requires you to be in Australia with work rights. From overseas, use the ATO paper form NAT 2628 with certified ID copies, and allow up to 28 days after the ATO receives it.

Commonwealth Bank is one example of a bank with pre-arrival terms. In October 2026 it let eligible migrants open an Everyday Smart Access account online up to 14 days before arrival, then visit a branch with a passport within 20 days of opening. Nigerian passport eligibility is not stated, so ask the bank. Our walkthrough on opening a US business bank account as a non-resident covers another country but shows how to prepare ID paperwork.

Public transport in Victoria is half price from 1 June 2026 until 1 January 2027, and the zone 1 and 2 daily cap drops from AUD 11.40 to 5.70, according to the Victorian Government.

You may drive on a valid overseas licence for up to six months after you start living in Victoria. RACV’s recognised-country list, citing Austroads, does not include Nigeria, so expect a learner permit test, a hazard perception test and a drive test. Confirm with VicRoads.

9. Plan for Super, Tax Returns and What Comes After

Employer super is paid on top of salary at 12%. After you leave and your visa has ceased, you can claim it through the Departing Australia Superannuation Payment, taxed at 35% on the taxed element. Funds must transfer unclaimed super to the ATO six months or more after you depart.

From 2026-27 you can claim a $1,000 standard deduction for work expenses without receipts. At your income it is worth about 390, and it arrives as a refund after 30 June 2027. The $250 Working Australians Tax Offset starts in 2027-28, not this year.

A 482 cannot be extended. Staying longer means a new nomination or permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186). Home Affairs generally expects two years of sponsored full-time work with the nominating employer in the last three, among other conditions on the 186 stream page.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

Is AUD 150,000 enough for moving to Melbourne as a single person?

It gives you about AUD 110,430 a year after tax and levy, and rent at the reported median takes about 28% of that. Comfort depends on your lifestyle, and we have no dated figures for groceries.

Do I need an ACS skills assessment for the 482?

Home Affairs lists mandatory assessments only for named occupations, through Trades Recognition Australia or VETASSESS. You still give a CV, references and qualifications as evidence.

Can my partner work on a 482?

Yes. A partner included in your application can live, study and work in Australia, but must meet health and character requirements.

Does a 482 holder get Medicare?

Not with a Nigerian passport, because Nigeria is not on the reciprocal agreement list. You must keep private health insurance under condition 8501.

What happens if I lose my job?

You have up to 180 days to find a new sponsor or leave Australia. A new sponsor means a fresh nomination.

Can I get permanent residence after the 482?

Your employer may be able to sponsor you through the 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream. It depends on your employer, your occupation and your own circumstances.

11. Next Steps for Moving to Melbourne

Use this list as your working order.

1. Confirm with the employer whether AUD 150,000 is base or package, and which stream they will use.
2. Check your occupation code on the current Core Skills Occupation List.
3. Book your English test or gather the study evidence for an exemption.
4. Request your police certificate and arrange the panel physician.
5. Get quotes for working-visa health cover and apply to Services Australia for a Medicare Entitlement Statement.
6. Set aside the first three months of cash from the budget table, and add family visa charges if they travel.

Official pages change, so check each figure against its source before you act. Talk to a registered migration agent about visa questions and a registered tax agent about tax, because your case may not match this guide.