There are ways to gain permanent residency in Australia directly without having to be sponsored. Look up SkillSelect: http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Skil
That visa is probably more useful for jobs where there are regional shortages such as nurses in rural towns.
Basing on the OP posting on HN, I'm taking a wild guess that he is in tech, and unfortunately there are a ridiculously small amount of tech jobs outside of Sydney and Melbourne - one of my biggest hates about Australia.
Basing on the OP posting on HN, I'm taking a wild guess that he is in tech, and unfortunately there are a ridiculously small amount of tech jobs outside of Sydney and Melbourne - one of my biggest hates about Australia.