HELP! Potential Sydney Job Opportunity for Canadian

Hello Everyone,

I'm new the forum but I have read a lot of information here about working abroad as a Canadian.

I have some open things that I want to confirm and get some advice on as to a potential move to Sydney from Ontario!

Background:

I am to work over there with a 457 visa long term up to 4 years, but first temporarily going to Sydney for some short term work while visas and all that gets straightened out. The salary package includes mention of LAFHA, vacation, one way ticket there, and one way ticket back, and relocation shipping costs, medical insurance. No mention of living allowance or car expenses etc.

I have yet to negotiate for the actual base salary and benefits like once a year flights, annual super etc.

My open questions

Salary Expectation:

I'm having just a bit of trouble coming up with a number. I will be doing software consulting in a niche market and I think with my experience I would expect 90-105k CAD. The pay will be in local AUD currency. From what I gathered, the living cost adjustment from asking others and using a site like numbeo.com that the markup is somewhere between 25-35% (i.e. 30% more). I was also advised to build in hardship allowance for having to uproot my living here and moving over there to provide a niche skill in that country.

Do you think (95-115k + 30%) = 124 - 150k CAD ~ (120k- 146k AUD at time of writing) is a good amount to ask for to maintain a equivalent living to 95-115k in canada exclusive of any hardship allowance (say 10% more or so?).

I believe also that I am eligible for employer super of 9% annual and that's something that can be taken back to Canada if I decide to return.

Any other benefits that I should ask for on top or in substitute of the base salary (allowances/fringe benefits)

This amount takes into account of the taxes between Aus and Cad as I think they about similar (I think i'll still be residence of Canada with my RRSP accounts and Financial accounts + Credit Cards and Driver License/Passport, as I'm not sure whether I will sever - read below for open issues about that).

LAFHA - Living Away From home Allowance
I understand how this sorta works. It's a tax credit based on rent, food, work expenses and on a hypothetical 100k AUD annual salary, the savings in tax can be from 10-12k AUD annual. (25-27% tax reduced to 15% tax or so?). Most 457 are eligible from what I read if they fit the criteria of intending to return to their home country (Ontario for me) after a stay of work of 2-4 years.

What I don't understand is how this works in terms of actually getting a benefit of more money in my pocket if I am still resident of Canada and have to report worldwide income (money earned in Australia working for the Australian company) and having to top up the 15% tax that I pay to ATO to the usual rate of 25-27% of Ontario, Canada on the 100k AUD salary????

Or is there something I am missing about the tax treaty between Canada and Australia that makes this a viable option.

Would I need to sever my ties to Canada for tax purposes (non-resident or deemed non-resident) in order to actually take advantage of this tax free benefit (more money in pocket with no added cost to my Aussie employer)?

Does being non-resident for tax purposes with Canada hurt my chances of being initially eligible or continuing to be eligible for LAFHA?

Residency with Canada and Tax Implications
Similar to the previous topic but more so about what you guys think on Non-Residency vs Residency Canada when planning to do a short/long term VISA work in Australia (knowing that there's LAFHA) for 2-4 years?

Is it more beneficial to be non-residence for tax purposes or stay as residence? (I have a long term girlfriend - pretty much common-law, who would come with me but maybe at a later time, RRSP account that isn't doing so well, no TFSA deposited, Driver license, a beat up car worth maybe a grand, some belongings, Canadian Passport)

I read there is departure taxes, taxes on transferring my RRSP money and would have to pay tax on it? Also something about within the first 6 months of arriving in Australia, if I claim non-residence Canada and sever ties, then I would just have to pay 15% tax on it? Basically, all money will have to be transferred out to some international bank account?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Looking to go down under...
Cheers!