Doing Business in NSW

NSW remains an attractive centre of investment for world-wide businesses due to its:

• strength, stability and open government
• time zone advantage
• favourable tax system
• competitive business costs
• world class infrastructure
• educated workforce
• business migration policies

Strength, stability and open government

Australia is a politically and economically stable democratic nation that provides easy access to Asia Pacific markets. New South Wales (NSW) has one of the lowest risk business environments in the Asia Pacific.

Flexible, accountable financial practices, open regulation and transparent government policy make NSW an advantageous base for international companies in the Asia Pacific.

NSW has a deregulated financial system with no controls on foreign exchange and a deregulated telecommunications market.

The legal system in Australia is a mixture of common law and statute and both domestic and foreign companies have the same standing before the law.

Australia has among the world's best competition laws and an independent judiciary. Australia's intellectual property protection is ranked number two in the Asia Pacific and number ten globally.

Time zone advantage

Sydney's time zone, ten hours ahead of GMT, spans the closing of the North American business day and the opening of business in Europe. Sydney's market trades ahead of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Favourable tax system

The company income tax rate is 30% in Australia. There are no restrictions on capital flow, profit remittances, capital repatriation, transfers or royalties and trade-related payments.

Competitive business costs

NSW continues to prove its competitive advantage as an Asia Pacific business base by offering the threefold benefits of lower salaries for highly skilled labour, economical operating costs and comprehensive, low-cost infrastructure.

Sydney offers global city status at an affordable price and is a less expensive city than Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Paris and Singapore.

Outgoings for salaries and office space in Sydney are well below those of other major international business capitals.

NSW has a highly educated population and almost 25% of NSW residents were born overseas, with more than 200 languages spoken in the State.

Australia's immigration system may allow entry of specialist staff into Australia on a temporary or permanent basis where vacancies cannot be filled from the Australian labour market or through training programs.

World class infrastructure and communications

NSW offers reliable communications, transport, utilities, business support services and superior commercial property, at more competitive costs than other major Asian business centres.

In regional NSW, the NSW Government has increased business appeal by cutting power bills for regional businesses, reforming rail freight, reducing port charges and streamlining the land-use planning approvals process.

Sydney has a world-class telecommunications infrastructure. Four high-capacity international fibre-optic cable networks, with 1.2 terabit capacity, link Australia with the US, Europe and Asia. Sydney is also a major internet exchange point and telecommunications hub. Competitive pricing and a choice of carriers make international call costs among the lowest in the region.

Australian domestic networks consist of fibre-optic, wireless, satellite and microwave systems. Fibre-optic is the predominant technology. Major networks are Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) based, enabling an easy upgrade.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology provides data speeds between 256 kbps to more than 2 Mbps, giving companies and homes access to Internet speeds 30 to 50 times faster than standard dial-up service.

The NSW Government is committed to providing an extensive, low cost wireless broadband network, initially to seven cities surrounding and including Sydney.

Educated workforce

NSW is home to a multilingual and well educated workforce. In 2006, more than two million employees in NSW or 64% of the total held post-school qualifications.

More languages are spoken in NSW than in any other State, with almost 1.2 million residents speaking a language other than English at home in their homes as at the Census in 2001, and 91 per cent of them located in Sydney.

These language skills provide a cultural advantage for export-oriented Australian companies.

Business and skilled migration

New South Wales welcomes business migrants who plan to set up a business or invest in New South Wales. See Business, Skilled and Regional Migration for more information.