Busking in Oz-- permits and visas

[Spark]

Okay, I need to get info on what is probably the most overdone question ever asked on P.net. I'm searching the database but not coming up with anything current or satisfactory, so let's ask again.

Jimbo and I (Spark) are heading to New Zealand and Australia for the first time to busk with our circle shows. We've already got our tickets and have been planning this trip for a while. We are hoping to have success on just a tourist visa, but since the new no foreigners lisencing policy in Amsterdam, I'm worried about our success in NZ and Oz, perticularly due to Dom's observation (original quote):

"...we now have a clause that states that no non-Australian can be issued with a Sydney Busking licence without producing a valid work permit. For several years everyone has more or less thankfully ignored it (except when Haggis applied) but with the arrival of new Council staff recently it's been revived and apparently more severly implemented."

How severely is this implemented? What should we expect to deal with? How about busking in other tourist towns such as Byron Bay, Noosa, Cairns, Kuranda and such? Do we need to get permits for all these places and will we likely be refused because of our tourist visa? Can we just set up on a pitch and be ignored by the 'authorities'? Am I just over worrying?

We should also be going to the Adelaide fringe if working the streets in Wellington doesn't work for us. What about us evil foreigners working there?

Any other guidance? We've been looking forwards to working the streets in Oz for too long to be disappointed about not being able to do our shows.

I've already had a working holiday visa so I can't do that thing again. Is it possible to get a working visa somehow? We need to have an employer in that case, so does anyone have any ideas on how to scoop gigs with just a month to go before arrival?

Please, any guidance soon will be appreciated!

confused.gif

[Glyn_Mo]

Hi Spark

Myself and a friend were busking on the Bagpipes in Sydney in October and early November. We came in on a 3 month holiday visa.

We went to the office at the back of Sydney Town Hall and asked the forms. We were given the forms and rules to go away with to fill out. The forms said that you must have a minimum of a working visa and some other sort of tax stuff in order to get a licence.

Well we certainly had none of this stuff and we gave her the forms and paid the 10 bucks for a three month licence and there was no problem. I reccommend that you take your passport with you. We were dressed in our kilts and kind of looked smart and ready for business. I suspect that this always helps when having to deal with any sort of officials. Maybe on another day we would have been refused. Some people we met who were on holiday visas vertainly were. The Sydney City Rangers do check you as well. However, this may because we were playing pipes which have a bit more volume.

That ws the only place in ASustralia I busked so I don't know about anywhere else.

[bacchant]

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/cs_busking.asp