A career in graphic design is a great opportunity if you are creative, love art, and have a passion for design. As a graphic designer, you can create many visual items for businesses. These items may include posters, logos, product packaging, brochures and book covers.

As most graphic designers work as freelancers, they have the flexibility of setting their own work schedules. This provides you with the freedom to work around other demands in your life. This means you can create that work life balance you desire! As most graphic designers are self-employed, they can be working on multiple projects at one time. This also means they can work for many companies at a time, therefore, increasing income potential.

If you enjoy working up a sweat, a career where you can have a good time and help others reach their fitness goals might be just what you’re looking for! As a recreation and fitness instructor, you can choose if you want to work for a business or be self-employed as an independent instructor. Either way, you have the option to book classes or clients around when it suits you.

As a result, you get more job satisfaction and enjoyment out of your work. There are many different areas you can choose from in this field. The opportunities are endless! Some examples are:

The ability to speak two or more languages is a highly specialised skill. Translators breakthrough international barriers and create a channel for communication. Therefore, if you are bilingual, you may be able to pursue a career in translating!

As a translator, you translate conversations, videos, and documents. Not only is this job easy for someone who is bilingual, but it will help you keep up your language skills!

As this job can be online, your work schedule can be quite flexible. This means you can choose your work hours and the location of where you work with your clients. Therefore, offering you to create your desired lifestyle. You may find you have a work life balance like never before.

Working as an independent contractor means that you have the freedom to have more control over your work. It also provides you with more job security, as those you work with aren’t your colleagues, supervisers or managers. They are your clients.

You also have the ability to be selective with what projects you take on. If you’re not interested in one, then you’re not obliged to accept it.

Being an independent contractor means that your work hours can be on a flexible work schedule. This means that you can choose your own work hours to complete your work assignments.

Working independently gives you more control over your personal schedule, without having to negotiate work terms and conditions. You may find yourself working on multiple projects for different businesses at one time!

Working as an independent contractor means that you are paid for the work that you do. This may be an hourly rate, production or fixed amount.

In fact, businesses are willing to pay more for an independent contractor. This is so they don’t have to pay extras, and so they don’t have to enter into a long-term commitment. Therefore, if you are offering skills or a service that is high in demand, you can make a great income. Also, if overtime is needed, you may be able to do this at a higher rate.

However, you also have the flexibility to test the market. If you aren’t sure if your field or skills have a strong market, you can always try it out before completely committing yourself to it. If there isn’t a need for your skills or services, then you can move on and try something else.

Working from home is desirable for many of us. Therefore, there are many reasons why we work from home. For example, you may find that you:

• live in a rural area where it takes hours to get to work each way
• have children and want to be around for them
• be physically unable to go outside the home and work.

Working remotely from home allows you to work on your own time schedule and take breaks whenever you need. In addition, working from home gives you the freedom to set up your own workspace in a way that best suits you. This will make your workday more enjoyable and help maximise your productivity!

Some of us have the dream of travelling around the world for many months at a time. Others may have a spouse who travels a lot for work. Either way, remote work allows you to do this.

Working remotely opens up a world of opportunities to travel and be anywhere in the world, while still earning a regular income. Therefore, some of us can work while enjoying different landscapes. However, this will depend on who you work for, and if timezones are not an issue.

You can still be productive with remote work! When working independently at your own pace, you tend to be a lot more productive and happier.

If you found from previous work experiences that you don’t like being in an office environment with other people, or you didn’t get along with your boss – you don’t have to worry about that when working remotely. Removing yourself from stresses and distractions in a workplace makes it easier to stay focused and get your work done.

Childcare can take a toll on a family’s finances. The option of working remotely provides you with the flexibility of looking after your children, and still earn an income. Therefore, minimising your childcare costs.

The decision to do remote work has saved parents the costs and stress associated with trying to balance their family with their career. Not only can you spend more time with your kids, but you can reduce your expenses.

While money is a great motivator, having the opportunity to work in your own environment and the possibility of choosing your hours, can make any employee more engaged in their work. Who doesn’t want to option of working from home or your local cafe?

Employees are also likely to feel more valued and supported by their employer. Therefore, whilst remote work motivates employees, it also reduces turnover rates within the company.

What are are the new changes?

New changes to the Child Care Subsidy, commenced on the 2nd of July, 2018. These new changes by the Australian government are in place to assist families financially.

The level of subsidy that a family can receive, will be based on three factors. There are: combined family income, activity test, and service type.

Combined family income

The graph below shows the percentage of childcare fees that the government will contribute, based on a family’s combined annual income:

Activity Test

The subsidised amount of childcare that families have access to per fortnight, is determined by a three-step activity test.

Activities may involve, but are not limited to: paid work, unpaid work in the family business, training courses to increase skills/employability, volunteering, actively setting up a business and actively looking for work.

The government will subdise families by hours, according to the hours of activity performed:

• 8-16 hours per fortnight are eligible to receive 36 hours per fortnight of subsidised care
• 16-48 hours per fortnight are eligible to receive 72 hours per fortnight of subsidised care
• More than 48 hours per fortnight are eligible to receive 100 hours per fortnight of subsidised care

The type of childcare service that your child attends, will determine the maximum hourly rate the government will subsidise.

If staying at home with your children full-time is out of the question, how about part-time? You could speak to your employer and negotiate cutting down to part-time hours. Alternatively, you could set a different schedule to only work a few days a week, but work longer hours. Otherwise, there are many jobs out there that offer a flexible work schedule, so you can cut down the childcare hours.

You and your spouse could also coordinate work times to reduce the need for childcare. For example, if you work 7am-3pm, and your spouse works the standard 9am-5pm, you may only require childcare 8:30am -3: 30pm, which would be a significant daily saving.

If you have access to family members or friends nearby, such as grandparents, aunties, and uncles, they may be able to help reduce the cost of childcare. Ask them if they would be willing to look after your children while you’re at work.

Even this can’t be a full-time arrangement, if they are able to do it a couple of days a week, this would be able to reduce childcare hours, therefore, saving you money. You may want to consider paying them or pay for any transport and food costs for each child, that the family member may encounter during the day.

Alternatively, you may know other parents who are also looking for childcare. If so, you could organise a nanny to watch both sets of children. This way you can share a nanny with friends or neighbours. With hiring the one nanny, you would be sharing the costs. Therefore, you could be saving more than half than what you’re spending now!

Au pairs are international students who are looking to live in Australia for a year, or so. They are usually employed by a family for a cultural exchange while living in the family’s home. According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, an au pair’s duties may include:

• assist parents with childcare (but aren’t sole carers)
• assist with general household tasks, not related to children
• complete light household duties related to children, such as folding and tidying up.

Au pair’s may also look after school-aged children anywhere between 15 to 30 hours a week.

In Australia, childcare experience with references, as well as a police check, and working with children’s check may be requirements for an au pair. In addition, they are not covered by an award, however, they are entitled to the national minimum wage and the National Employment Standards. This usually works out to be cheaper than a nanny. As they would be living with you and your family, they would be able to provide more flexibility, compared to childcare.

With telecommuting, your work hours can be on a flexible work schedule. This means that you can choose your own work hours. This gives you more control over your personal schedule, without having to negotiate work terms and conditions.

Commuting to and from work takes up time that could be spent elsewhere. It can also be stressful when spending hours in a car or public transport to and from work each way. By only travelling from your bed to your laptop, you will save time on commuting from home to the office.

Not only will you see a difference in your bank account from not commuting to work every day, but you will also save money in other areas. You will no longer need to spend money on your daily coffee and lunch, and you won’t need to spend money on your work wardrobe – you can even work from home in your pyjamas!

When working independently at your own pace, you tend to be a lot more productive and happier. You will find that you are more focused and productive if you remove yourself from stressors and distractions in a workplace.

Childcare can be expensive. Therefore, the decision to work from home has saved parents the costs and stress associated with trying to balance their family with their career. Not only do you get extra time with the kids, but you don’t have to worry about such a big expense.

There are many jobs that you can do in healthcare. But rarely you will find one more flexible or consistent as a medical transcriptionist.  This means that not only can you work from home, you can also decide when you would like to work.

A career in medical transcription involves listening to audio files from doctors and converting them into written files. This will then form part of the patient’s medical record. As healthcare is a basic need, the work of a medical transcriptionist tends to be fairly constant and consistent. This means you don’t have to find new clients all the time, as they are usually repeat-clients. They will continue to send you their work if you’re consistent, accurate and reliable.

Medical transcription is one the best jobs in Australia, as it provides you with the opportunity to work from home and choose your own hours. Being a primarily an online occupation, it gives you the freedom to set up your own workspace in a way that best suits you. This reduces the juggle between your career, family, and lifestyle.

One of the best jobs in Australia from the construction industry is a lead carpenter. With the recent boom in the construction industry, carpenters are very in-demand.

Carpenters usually work with wood, however, they may also specialise in cabinetry or fine furniture. They are responsible for cutting, measuring, and shaping timber, keeping to specific measurements. There is a lot of variation in their role. This will depend on the project and the company they work for.

According to the Australian Financial Review, every 11 of the 13.7 million filled jobs are related to the professional, scientific and technical services industry. In particular, there is a driving demand for front-end developers.

Front-end developers are responsible for implementing the structure, design, and animation of everything you see on a screen. This may be when you open a webpage, as well as computer and mobile phone applications. We know the importance of keeping our websites and applications user-friendly. If a company is losing visitors due to poor navigation, then they’re losing money. Therefore, front-end developers play a vital role in creating these webpages and applications.

In education and training, teachers are one of the best jobs in Australia. The population growth in major cities has led to the establishment of more childcare services and schools.

In Australia, the strongest demand for teachers is in primary education. According to Job Outlook, over the past 5 years, the demand for primary school teachers grew very strongly and is expected to keep growing strong until 2022. Over this period of time, it is projected that there will be around 80,000 job openings due to workers leaving, and new jobs being created.

There is also a demand for teachers in secondary education. In fact, there has particularly been a large demand for secondary teachers in areas for science, technology, mathematics, and language.

Being a good provider for your family doesn’t mean you have to be away from them. Many dads work 60-hour weeks, two jobs, long commutes, frequent business trips. However, if you’re working from home, you can still be earning an income to contribute to your family. With being a stay at home dad, you’re constantly teaching them, encouraging them, and overall, providing them with quality time. This is something that is invaluable and you can’t put a price on.

Working from home while your kids are growing up and reaching those milestones, is important for every parent. Being present in these special moments, makes parenting very rewarding. It also allows you to create memories to reflect on in the years to come.

Stay at home dads get to know their children more, as they are being actively involved in their children’s activities. Therefore, they are able to build a stronger relationship and bond with them. This is very important in their formative years. In addition, when spending time as a family, many dads find this to be much more rewarding than their old workplace achievements.

Childcare is great for social interaction, however, it can be very expensive. The decision to become a stay at home dad has saved parents the costs and stress associated with trying to balance their family with their career. Not only do you get extra time with the kids, but you don’t have to worry about such a big expense.