Tom Said:

how is the job market for part-time/student jobs in melbourne, australia?

We Answered:

It depends on the size of the company you work for. The larger the employer, the less likely they are to employ you over your quota. If you work for a small business, they are more likely to employ you off the books, however the per hour rate is much lower. If you want to be on the books, choose a job like commercial cleaning, being a market research interviewer or customer service officer (around $25 p/h if working in a foreign language) or data entry as these jobs are at least $20 an hour. Avoid retail and hospitality as these industries pay less, but they are more likely to give you off the book work.

It is actually quite difficult to be 'caught' doing off the book work unless you tell someone and that someone dobs you in, and this is usually because of spite, jealousy or both. Don't do over your student visa quota on the books though.