moving to australia
Discussion
I employ people in Australia, we have people who have moved there and love it and others who haven't, probably in equal measure, it's a personal thing.
Don't be misled by salaries, it's a very expensive place to live. To get there you need a visa, that means having the right skills assuming you haven't go an employer sponsoring you. Look at the Aussie government immigration site.
Of you want any helpful advice though you need to say age and skills before anyone can say much.
Don't be misled by salaries, it's a very expensive place to live. To get there you need a visa, that means having the right skills assuming you haven't go an employer sponsoring you. Look at the Aussie government immigration site.
Of you want any helpful advice though you need to say age and skills before anyone can say much.
Siscar said:
I employ people in Australia, we have people who have moved there and love it and others who haven't, probably in equal measure, it's a personal thing.
Don't be misled by salaries, it's a very expensive place to live. To get there you need a visa, that means having the right skills assuming you haven't go an employer sponsoring you. Look at the Aussie government immigration site.
Of you want any helpful advice though you need to say age and skills before anyone can say much.
Any reason why people dont like it? The heat or home sick or another reason?Don't be misled by salaries, it's a very expensive place to live. To get there you need a visa, that means having the right skills assuming you haven't go an employer sponsoring you. Look at the Aussie government immigration site.
Of you want any helpful advice though you need to say age and skills before anyone can say much.
pistonmember said:
Any reason why people dont like it? The heat or home sick or another reason?
Heat, yes, urban-ness as well, almost everyone lives or at least works in a city and certainly for our unrepresentative sample they need to work in the middle of Sydney so there's a lot of commuting. But cost is a big one as well.Home sick? Hard to tell really, nobody is going to tell us that they want to come home because they miss their mum even if that's really what it is.
A lot of people love it though, I'm not knocking the place, I like it too. But it is different in lots of minor ways as well as the big stuff, things like not having our light evenings in the summer, beer is s
te (in the main), supermarkets are also pretty poor, roads aren't that great and speed limits fairly strictly enforced, TV is pretty bad, it's a long way from anywhere and so on. But then it's warmer, got great beaches, less of a work ethic, lots of sport and so on.Personal choice, as I say.
Siscar said:
pistonmember said:
Any reason why people dont like it? The heat or home sick or another reason?
Heat, yes, urban-ness as well, almost everyone lives or at least works in a city and certainly for our unrepresentative sample they need to work in the middle of Sydney so there's a lot of commuting. But cost is a big one as well.Home sick? Hard to tell really, nobody is going to tell us that they want to come home because they miss their mum even if that's really what it is.
A lot of people love it though, I'm not knocking the place, I like it too. But it is different in lots of minor ways as well as the big stuff, things like not having our light evenings in the summer, beer is s
te (in the main), supermarkets are also pretty poor, roads aren't that great and speed limits fairly strictly enforced, TV is pretty bad, it's a long way from anywhere and so on. But then it's warmer, got great beaches, less of a work ethic, lots of sport and so on.Personal choice, as I say.
A few families I've known move over there, the father really likes it, but its the woman who struggles and that is often the reason for coming back.
There is no such thing as utopia, where-ever you go you still have to work and still have to pay taxes.
A very open ended question OP!
I went there on a Working Holiday Visa in 2006 and had a great time. Seriously considered staying on and had an offer of a job with sponsorship but ultimately decided against it.
It's a lovely country in many ways, but the main reasons I decided not to stay were:
Isolation - it really is miles from anywhere. There's no hopping over to France or Italy for a long weekend. Everywhere is a long haul flight.
Cost - Almost everything is significantly more expensive than the UK and even though some salaries in some sectors are very good, it doesn't add up. Taxes and super annuation (kind of like NI) add up too.
Authoritarian - If you've ever thought a British policeman was a stickler for the letter of the law, or just a bit over zealous in his policing then never set foot in Australia.
Lastly, exactly as Siscar said above, for most jobs you are pretty much tied to being in one of the big cities, which are big, urban sprawls. Sydney is a brilliant city and there are worse places to be "stuck" but if you like getting out into the countryside you're looking at a 2 hour drive to be out of it.
It's a wonderful country with a lot going for it, and I do sometimes still think "what if." On the whole though I am pretty sure the answer to that is that after a couple of years I'd have started getting fed up with it and moved on again anyway.
I went there on a Working Holiday Visa in 2006 and had a great time. Seriously considered staying on and had an offer of a job with sponsorship but ultimately decided against it.
It's a lovely country in many ways, but the main reasons I decided not to stay were:
Isolation - it really is miles from anywhere. There's no hopping over to France or Italy for a long weekend. Everywhere is a long haul flight.
Cost - Almost everything is significantly more expensive than the UK and even though some salaries in some sectors are very good, it doesn't add up. Taxes and super annuation (kind of like NI) add up too.
Authoritarian - If you've ever thought a British policeman was a stickler for the letter of the law, or just a bit over zealous in his policing then never set foot in Australia.
Lastly, exactly as Siscar said above, for most jobs you are pretty much tied to being in one of the big cities, which are big, urban sprawls. Sydney is a brilliant city and there are worse places to be "stuck" but if you like getting out into the countryside you're looking at a 2 hour drive to be out of it.
It's a wonderful country with a lot going for it, and I do sometimes still think "what if." On the whole though I am pretty sure the answer to that is that after a couple of years I'd have started getting fed up with it and moved on again anyway.
AJS- said:
A very open ended question OP!
Isolation - it really is miles from anywhere. There's no hopping over to France or Italy for a long weekend. Everywhere is a long haul flight.
Cost - Almost everything is significantly more expensive than the UK and even though some salaries in some sectors are very good, it doesn't add up. Taxes and super annuation (kind of like NI) add up too.
I disagree with the above really.Isolation - it really is miles from anywhere. There's no hopping over to France or Italy for a long weekend. Everywhere is a long haul flight.
Cost - Almost everything is significantly more expensive than the UK and even though some salaries in some sectors are very good, it doesn't add up. Taxes and super annuation (kind of like NI) add up too.
Whilst Australia is pretty isolated, you can still fly to NZ, SE Asia, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji etc with a pretty short flight (3-5hrs ish). All of which are places I'd be more interested in visiting than Europe (personally).
I agree that it is more expensive than the UK, but the wages reflect this, and everyone I know over there I would consider more 'well off' than their equivalents over here. Plus, if you look at WA instead of the usual places like Sydney, then costs reduce significantly meaning your high wage goes much further.
I would say that an equivalent role in WA would pay twice as much as what I get here (UK), whilst costs would probably be something like 20% more.
witko999 said:
I disagree with the above really.
Whilst Australia is pretty isolated, you can still fly to NZ, SE Asia, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji etc with a pretty short flight (3-5hrs ish). All of which are places I'd be more interested in visiting than Europe (personally).
Sydney is just slightly closer to Auckland than London is to Moscow. London is closer to New York than Perth is to Auckland. But yes, some of the places you mention are well worth going to and I'd choose above France or Spain.Whilst Australia is pretty isolated, you can still fly to NZ, SE Asia, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji etc with a pretty short flight (3-5hrs ish). All of which are places I'd be more interested in visiting than Europe (personally).
witko999 said:
I agree that it is more expensive than the UK, but the wages reflect this, and everyone I know over there I would consider more 'well off' than their equivalents over here. Plus, if you look at WA instead of the usual places like Sydney, then costs reduce significantly meaning your high wage goes much further.
I would say that an equivalent role in WA would pay twice as much as what I get here (UK), whilst costs would probably be something like 20% more.
Well, for most people that wouldn't be the case, but obviously it depends on what you do. Perth is one of the most expensive bits though, the mining capital of Australia, our Sydney people think it's pricey.I would say that an equivalent role in WA would pay twice as much as what I get here (UK), whilst costs would probably be something like 20% more.
But I don't want to be putting people off, it's a great place to go, if you have no commitments and can give it a try then go for it, you may well love it, many do.
It does depend where you are. Sydney is still a long old way from say Singapore. Even Bali is about 6 hours. As compared to London where you can go to pretty much any European city in 2-3 hours flight it's a big difference. Not that everyone can or wants to go to Europe regularly but it was a factor for me.
I found WA more expensive than the east for some things, but this was a few years ago now so I may well be out of date.
If you're eligible I would go for the working holiday visa and try it out before a big commitment.
I found WA more expensive than the east for some things, but this was a few years ago now so I may well be out of date.
If you're eligible I would go for the working holiday visa and try it out before a big commitment.
My brother lives in Melbourne and loves it. When I've talked about moving there the points he brings up are it's expensive there and the exchange rate is bad when coming back here. But the biggest draw back is the distance, if anything happens to a family member here it's a long time to get back - a friend's mum was taken ill and died while he was flying back (can happen anywhere but it's a 22ish hr flight)
In-laws are going through the process now and have been for several months. It's a very lengthy and expensive process. They are both on the limit age wise (45 this year) but have just passed medicals and are awaiting police checks to return to their case worker I think. FIL is panel beater/welder/coach builder so the MIL is going on the back of him I think. (oo err!) Seems to be a large demand for that kind of expertise.
They are aiming for the West Coast. They are however going in completely blind and have never even visited, but good luck to them, I admire them for giving up what is essentially half a life times work (25 years in the same job, mortgage, car) at a fairly late stage in life and chasing a better (or at least warmer) future.
I spent a month traveling the east coast in a camper van and absolutely loved the place. Just seemed to gel with it.
They are aiming for the West Coast. They are however going in completely blind and have never even visited, but good luck to them, I admire them for giving up what is essentially half a life times work (25 years in the same job, mortgage, car) at a fairly late stage in life and chasing a better (or at least warmer) future.
I spent a month traveling the east coast in a camper van and absolutely loved the place. Just seemed to gel with it.
JimmyJama said:
But the biggest draw back is the distance, if anything happens to a family member here it's a long time to get back - a friend's mum was taken ill and died while he was flying back
My grandma died while I was out there. 
Was working in the bush so no phone signal, found out as I went through town on my way to the Melbourne GP. Even if I had left then I wouldnt have made the funeral so my Dad just told me to enjoy the F1 and accept it as one of those things. Not the easiest thing in the world to be at your first F1 meeting, knowing that half way round the world a close relative is being buried. But yeah, you can be home in 26 hours if needs be. In some ways its no time at all, in other ways it can be a very long time. And of course last minute flights arnt cheap.
After almost 10 years in Hong Kong, for me in a job that was in demand in 2005/2006, it was a great move to go to Brisbane. Had a work sponsored 457 visa, that included paying less tax. However, Australia is an expensive place to live; cars, groceries, clothes, houses. Nothing is cheap, especially home grown fruit and veg. But great place to live, weather, lifestyle, scenery, work/life balance, schooling, safety (generally).
All down to personal expections/values/opinion though.
All down to personal expections/values/opinion though.
jamie128 said:
What kind of salary should a couple be bringing in to live a nice life, not necessarily super rich but a nice life.
Not lived in Australia, but I have done a lot of research due to work opportunities in the future.Somebody more knowledgable will probably be able to answer in more detail, but I'll give you what I have learnt.
It depends where you live, but a joint income of circa £60k ($100k AUS) will give you a basic life. From what I've seen, rent on a 3 bed house with pool is around £500 ($900 AUS) a week. If you want a nice life, you probably want a joint income of circa £80k ($140k AUS).
What career are you in?
Anything engineering is pretty high paying. I've seen quite a few jobs in my area paying $150k AUS plus car/benefits.
Be aware that if you are putting yourself through the visa application, most now exclude you from working/living in the major cities. I assume this is to stop over population within the built up areas.
Read the fine print; an ex work friend moved over last year and didn't realise his visa excluded working and living in the centre of Sydney for the first 12 months.
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