Working in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands as a French National: Visa, Jobs, Contributions and Tax

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are an external territory of Australia: a French national’s right to work depends on the Australian visa they hold. France Diplomatie describes for Australia an eVisitor electronic authorisation for a stay of 3 months at most, intended for tourism, business or a family visit, and a visitor visa (subclass 600) for a longer tourist stay. None of these is presented as opening employment on site: an employment contract requires a suitable visa, the list and conditions of which are on the website of the Australian Department of Home Affairs.

France Diplomatie also mentions the working holiday visa (subclass 417), for which the upper age limit for French applicants is 35 inclusive, and reminds us that people who apply for a second or third visa on the basis of inaccurate grounds are sent back to France within 72 hours. The France Diplomatie page provides no rule specific to the Cocos Islands: before committing to an employer on the island, you must confirm with Home Affairs which visa allows work specifically in this territory. See the page working in Australia for the country’s work visas and living in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands for life on the island.

The Cocos Islands have a few hundred inhabitants spread over two islands, which mechanically limits the supply of jobs. The Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands indicates that West Island houses the airport, the government offices and most of the housing for government employees and its contractors: employment revolves around public services. These include the Shire itself, which publishes its job offers and calls for tenders, the territory’s health service (Indian Ocean Territories Health Service), the Cocos Islands District High School, run under an agreement between the Commonwealth and the state of Western Australia, and Parks Australia for the North Keeling reserve.

The Australian census notes that labourers form the largest occupational group, a sign of a market centred on field trades. On the community side, the Shire’s history recalls that a workers’ cooperative, the Cocos Islands Workers Co-Operative Society, was created in 1979 as the commercial arm of the community after the Australian government bought most of the land of the Clunies-Ross family. For a French national, the most realistic route is to apply for a specific post, sponsored by an employer, with a visa obtained before departure rather than looking for a job on site.

CLEISS describes the Australian system as non-contributory and financed almost entirely by taxation. The employee does not pay social contributions comparable to French contributions: health cover is funded by a direct levy on salaries (the Medicare levy), and the employer must pay retirement contributions (superannuation) for each employee, as well as premiums for insurance against work accidents with state and territory insurers. The superannuation rate is set by Australian law and can be confirmed on the ATO website.

CLEISS also specifies that Medicare covers citizens and permanent residents, including those of the Cocos Islands, Christmas, Norfolk and Lord Howe. A French employee holding a temporary visa benefits only if their status is covered by a ministerial order (Australian Department of Health): the contract must therefore specify whether the employer provides health insurance. See healthcare reimbursement in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Australia has a national minimum wage, set and reviewed by the competent Australian authority: its amount changes regularly and can be read on the Fair Work Ombudsman website before signing a contract. No official source read publishes a pay scale specific to the Cocos Islands; the Australian census does, however, measure weekly household and personal incomes in the territory, to be consulted for the most recent value. For a sponsored post, the contract specifies the salary, the benefits (housing, air travel, health insurance) and the length of the associated visa.

The tax convention between France and Australia was signed in Paris on 20 June 2006 and has been in force since 1 June 2009 (BOFiP, the French tax administration’s official guidance). Its article 3 defines Australia in the geographical sense, excluding external territories, with the exception of six, including the territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Légifrance): it therefore applies to the Cocos Islands.

• Residence (article 4): a person is a resident of the state where they have a permanent home; if they have one in each state or in neither, the centre of vital interests decides, then nationality.
• Salaries (article 14): remuneration from employment is in principle taxable in the state of residence, unless the employment is exercised in the other state; an exception exists for a stay not exceeding 183 days in total over 12 months if the employer is not a resident of the state of work and the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment.
• Profits from self-employment (article 7): taxable in the state of residence, unless there is a permanent establishment in the other state.
• Elimination of double taxation (article 23): a resident of France obtains a tax credit for Australian tax, capped at the French tax corresponding to that income; France also calculates an effective rate.

The Australian tax scale changes every year and can be consulted on the ATO website; the ATO also indicates whether a tax benefit attaches to residence in a remote zone, a point to check for the Cocos Islands. French tax residence is determined under domestic law and the convention, with the French tax administration (impots.gouv.fr).

With no bilateral agreement, two routes exist according to CLEISS. Secondment to a country with no agreement keeps the employee in the French scheme for 3 years, renewable once; care received abroad is reimbursed on paid invoices sent with form S 3125c, but local contributions remain due if the country’s legislation requires them. Family members accompanying the employee are not entitled to French family benefits. See seconded or expatriate.

Expatriation with a local contract brings the employee into the scheme of the country of work: they cease to be covered by French social security, return their carte Vitale and inform their fund, their CAF and France Travail. CLEISS adds that pension rights are examined separately by each country, that local periods are not taken into account for the rate at which the French pension is calculated, and that voluntary French insurance remains possible in addition to compulsory local membership, for example with the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’Étranger, the French overseas social security fund) for health. See the glossary entry on the local contract.

According to CLEISS, the self-employed person contributes to private retirement schemes and is not covered against work accidents: they arrange their own protection (see digital nomad insurance). Remote work for a French employer from the island is not described in the sources read: the possibility of carrying on an activity, even remotely, depends on the visa, and the eVisitor only covers visiting stays. You should also enquire with the Shire about the quality of the internet connection before planning remote activity.

No economic statistics specific to the territory are published in the sources read; the economic benchmarks block of this page reproduces the national indicators available. The sources read mention, among the players in economic life, public services, the Shire, the community cooperative and a visitor information centre; the currency is the Australian dollar.