No, the ETA subclass 601 is not the right visa for this purpose.
To quote the Department of Border Protection and Immigration website:
Business visitor activities include:
- making general business or employment enquiries
- investigating, negotiating, signing or reviewing a business contract
- activities carried out as part of an official government-to-government visit
- participating in conferences, trade fairs or seminars, as long as you are not being paid by the organisers for your participation.
Business activities do not include short-term work. If you want to work in Australia, you can apply for a Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) visa (Subclass 400).
(Emphasis mine)
Now some anecdotal evidence (see the answer by @pkaeding) suggests you can get away with this visa anyway. Enforcement of these things often varies by nation enforcing, and the ethnicity and class of the visitor (white people in expensive suits more likley to be waved through). However I know that in the UK trying to do this could cause you a lot of trouble, and that in the US sometimes you might get waved through with the answer "business", sometimes you might get asked more questions at the border, and then turned around.
If we look at the page for the aforementioned subclass 400:
The Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) visa (subclass 400) is a temporary visa that lets you enter Australia to:
- do short-term, highly specialised, non-ongoing work
- participate in an event or events on a non-ongoing basis at the invitation of an Australian organisation.
- in limited circumstances, participate in an activity or work relating to Australia’s interests.
Generally you can stay in Australia for up to three months where required, but depending on your work or activity a longer period of up to six months may be allowed in limited circumstances.
Which sounds like exactly what you want. The wording of the site implies its not too difficult to get, but who knows.
