Yes, you can work remotely for a Melbourne-based startup while on a Subclass 491 visa, provided you strictly adhere to Condition 8579.

The key to compliance is not where your employer is physically located, but where you are physically located while performing your duties. Under current policies, remote work is a fully accepted way to fulfill your visa obligations, as long as you perform your routine work from a Designated Regional Area (DRA).

The Rules for Remote Work Compliance

To ensure your remote work arrangement supports your path to Permanent Residency (Subclass 191), keep these rules in mind:

• Routine Work Location: You must “routinely” perform your work duties from your home office located within a DRA. Your primary residential address must also be within that same DRA.
• Employer Location is Irrelevant: Your employer can be based in a metropolitan area (like Melbourne CBD), overseas, or anywhere else. The Department of Home Affairs is concerned with where the work is being done, not where the company headquarters sits.
• Avoid “Hybrid” Pitfalls: You cannot use your remote work arrangement to regularly commute to an office in a non-regional city. While occasional, short-term visits to metropolitan areas for training or essential meetings are permitted, you must not establish a routine of traveling to work in a non-regional area.
• Evidence is Critical: Because you aren’t working in a local office, you must “over-document” your compliance. The Department will look at your bank statements, tax records, and your home address to ensure you are truly “living and working” in the region.

Protecting Your PR Pathway: Recommended Evidence

When you eventually apply for the Subclass 191 Permanent Residency visa, you will need to prove you met Condition 8579 throughout your 491 visa period. Maintain a “compliance folder” containing:

1. Employment Contract: Ensure your contract explicitly states that your “usual place of work” is your home address in the designated regional area.
2. Employer Support Letter: Ask your employer for a letter confirming that your role is a 100% remote position and that you are authorized to perform these duties from your regional residential address.
3. Proof of Residence: Keep copies of your residential lease or property title, utility bills (electricity, water, internet), and local council rate notices to demonstrate you have consistently lived in the DRA.
4. Proof of Remuneration: Your payslips and bank statements showing your salary being deposited into an Australian bank account are vital evidence of your active employment.