I'm going to go out on a limb and say "probably not, but you never know". I rent out a room in my house for a ridiculously low about and I run a credit check - just because someone has the income now to pay the bills does not mean they are responsible enough to remember to OR that they will actually put the money they make toward paying rent.

Do you have any rental references in Aus? If so, I would imagine those would help - I know I would give them some weight.

If this is not a permanent "for the rest of your life move" and you intend to go back to Aus at some point: Has your company possibly considered making your rent payment for you in lieu of compensating you extra? That is what my company is doing with my housing here in NYC - they are paying for the housing through AP. The contract was very quick that way -all they needed was the company's EIN (Tax ID) number and a signed contract.

I am not a tax expert, but I believe this might be a deductible business expense for them - meaning they would not have to pay you more so you can pay for the apartment net of tax.