Victoria: Doing business & staying in touch
Doing business in Victoria
Suits are a must when conducting business in well-dressed Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, and all appointments must be arranged in advance. Like much of Melbourne life, business is conducted over coffee. Breakfast meetings or drinks at a stylish bar are also favoured, although long business lunches are generally a thing of the past. Australian businesspeople are, on the whole, very approachable, quite informal and quick to use first names. Business cards are used. If invited to someone's home, a bottle of wine, flowers and/or chocolates would be appreciated as a gift for the host.
Normal business hours are Monday to Friday 0900-1730, although many executives work longer hours; government offices may close at 1700.
Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city and gateway to the southern region, has convention facilities to match international standards - the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre is the largest exhibition space in the southern hemisphere with 50 meeting rooms, 10,000 sq m (108,000 sq ft) of exhibition space and three state-of-the-art theatres.