Has anyone made the move to Australia in the last 10 years?

[sat1983]

.....

Wondering whether to make the move with the family including my 1 year old son.

I lost my dad 3 years ago and my mum is alone and I know she'd follow. This is not a Corona led idea by the way- just ready for something new.

Can anyone give me a realistic opinion of what the move feels like. I can only see positives bar the distance. How does it feel being psychologically so far from everything?

Thinking Brisbane.

[caziques]

Assuming you qualify...

You will have to pay usual tax rates, but not be able to claim any benefits.

Any rights to a UK state pension, when it comes to claiming it, it will be frozen at that rate for ever.

Brisbane is quite hot in summer.

Commit various crimes and you will be sent back to the UK.

Poor driving standards

Expensive cars (but no rust)

Australia is full of of Australians.

[Saul Goode]

Moved from UK to Australia just over 7 years ago, and I'll never move back although I do miss several things;
Family
Friends
Pubs
Locality of everything (Australia is BIG)

The positives overwhelm the negatives though, and I'd say your 1 year old would benefit from the lifestyle much more.

Also, don't assume your mother would be able to emigrate too. My father in law is in the process of applying for a parent visa and has been waiting nearly 4 years and it costs close to $40,000. You might want to investigate this before getting on the prison ship.

[GT03ROB]

My sister moved around 12-15 years back. They won't ever come back, my niece has Australian passport.

They have created their own life there, just outside Sydney. They are perfectly settled. My parent bought a place there as well & spend part of the year there with them.

I don't think they really miss much about the UK, they've only come back a couple of times since they left.

The one thing to watch is that things are not as cheap as you may expect.

[Triumph Man]

I went on holiday to Australia last year and second the “vast” comment. They seem to think nothing of it though! We stayed in a B and B south of Cairns. The owners husband said he was “just popping to Cairns”. Cairns was 2.5 hours North!

[Teddy Lop]

We'll likely do it in a couple of years, my mrs is from there.

Biggest thing we'll miss is the broad range of culture/events we enjoy, although there's few cities in the world that can compare to London for breadth really.

Other than that if one stereotype is true its the laid back straightforwardness you generally encounter everywhere.

[r159]

caziques said:

Assuming you qualify...

You will have to pay usual tax rates, but not be able to claim any benefits.

Any rights to a UK state pension, when it comes to claiming it, it will be frozen at that rate for ever.

Brisbane is quite hot in summer.

Commit various crimes and you will be sent back to the UK.

Poor driving standards

Expensive cars (but no rust)

Australia is full of of Australians.

+
Most animals appear in a top 10 deadliest list somewhere.

It’s a long way back to friends and family in the uk - just observation of a mate who hast the rest of his family out in Oz, impacts on events good or bad

Good chance you’ll pick up an accent and all your mates back in the uk will start calling you Rolf.

[Quhet]

Have you thought of NZ? I moved out there for a year about 5 years ago with an ex. We both got jobs and were seriously thinking about staying there for good, but the distance from family and a friends got to us in the end.

It's a fabulous country with so much to offer and a lot more 'British' than Aus we found. There are skills gaps in most things so if you have a profession you'd be okay sorting a visa. It's got sensible weather, is a lot smaller and is more 'liveable' IMO, nothing wants to kill you (aside from the odd shark), and is not full of Australians....plus the quality of life is epic.

[anonymous-user]

I moved in 2009 and then moved back to Europe in 2012.

Thoughts, Stunning cities, Clean, Great public transport, Great lifestyle, Great pay. Beaches are amazing although swimming in the sea you always have an image of a shark in the back of your mind. Work life balance is excellent, Wine is amazing, (Beer is st)

Downsides, Taxation, lots of taxation, Driving is just terrible. speed cameras everywhere, cars are expensive, roads are over policed, driving standards are abysmal, 60 mph on a motorway for 500 km enforced by cameras gets very tedious.

Property is expensive and terrible quality, No insulation, double glazing, heating etc. (Heating isn't a problem in Brisbane but in Sydney its needed) Summer electricity bills are huge as due to the above the AC needs to be on constantly.

All isn't as rosey as they would have you believe, Parts of western Sydney for example, Gang shootings are quite common, there are some no go areas etc. (International media doesn't report this) Brisbane has similar areas as does Melbourne,

If you think the UK is a nanny state Australia is something else.

As for feeling far from home the biggest thing for me was you can drive 700 miles and still be in the same country, Theres no real cultural differences state to state and I couldn't just drive home. getting back to visit family and friends is a couple of grand minimum every time.

I missed the diversity of Europe, family, friends, being able to jump in the car and be in a totally different country within a day. Cheap flights,

Some people love it but for me it always felt a little bit fake and a compromise.

[Jader1973]

Just a few points.

As mentioned above, be aware that your mother may not be able to get here. You’d have to sponsor her, and they are really tight on pre-existing health conditions etc.

Brisbane isn’t that hot in summer (maybe 30 odd) compared to Melbourne which gets up to 40 odd. The issue with Queensland is the high humidity - it is grim in the summer.

The cities are like any city - get out to the country to experience the real Australia.

Check realestate.com.au for an idea of house pricing. There are websites that have crime stats but if you drive through a suburb and the houses only have Fords, Holdens, or jacked up Hiluxes etc parked in the front yards (including broken ones) then look someplace else You’ll quickly learn to spot a bad bit (as in relative to other parts - there are no bits as bad as parts of the UK).

New build housing tends to be crammed in (but no where near as dense as the UK) compared to older suburbs.

Depending on your job they may not recognise overseas qualifications. IIRC things like electricians, plumbers have to re-qualify here.

Petrol and V8s are cheap

Quality of food both cafe / restaurant and supermarkets is far higher than the UK. It is cheaper too.

You have to commit to the move. If you come thinking “we can always go back” you will go back. There will be something that tips either you or your wife over the edge: the heat, a snake, a big spider, not understanding the beer glass names (they vary by state!).

[anonymous-user]

it’s become very expensive the past 10 years.

The chip on people’s shoulders in the Melbourne vicinity got a bit annoying at times.

The racism also gets a bit annoying from time to time. There was a pretty strong racial divide between whites, Lebanese and aboriginals. Not sure if that’s calmed over the years or not but it was precedent.

Sports are great for the kids and have lots of potential if they are good and take to it.

Holidays in Asia are reasonably close/cheap.

[CallThatMusic]

Lived in Sydney 2010 to 2015 then returned home for family reasons.
It is very expensive.
Climate is great.
Outdoor lifestyle great for bringing up kids
Food is excellent.
It is very expensive.

[21st Century Man]

Everyone I know came back, five groups of people over the last twenty or so years, two families, two couples and a single bloke.

[Origin Unknown]

Did a tour for work last year in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore. As others have said, it is REALLY fking far away. Like really really. Then you go to NZ and it's a really really far away place from a really really really far away place.

Loved the vibe in Sydney but very expensive . One of my best mates moved to Sydney 2 years ago, they pay 8k AUD in rent to be close to the action which is crazy. Melbourne was lovely, it had more of a European feel.

However, talking to various foreigners whilst there (SYD, MELB), they all said the work life balance was good, the standard of living was good but it was just so far away. One guy said he missed his own father funeral in Turkey because of a missed connection.

Finally, anything IT related, you will need to get used to working evenings. ANZ folks know that if they're dealing with suppliers or customers, the world is asleep when they are awake.

[GT03ROB]

Origin Unknown said:

Did a tour for work last year in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore. As others have said, it is REALLY fking far away. Like really really. Then you go to NZ and it's a really really far away place from a really really really far away place.

If you are used to going to Europe I agree....otherwise it's really not.

I can fly to Oz quicker then I can drive to most of Europe.

[Origin Unknown]

GT03ROB said:

Origin Unknown said:

Did a tour for work last year in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore. As others have said, it is REALLY fking far away. Like really really. Then you go to NZ and it's a really really far away place from a really really really far away place.

If you are used to going to Europe I agree....otherwise it's really not.

I can fly to Oz quicker then I can drive to most of Europe.

I guess our experiences differ Rob or perhaps we are wired differently. The majority of our holidays for the past 5 years have been driving holidays in Europe. I'm half Swiss and so there is always a 2 day swing by visiting family. I can do Interlaken to Home in ~14hours, including the chunnel.

For the past 2 years, it's been slower with a 27' caravan in tow but still we can cover good ground.

Flying to SYD via SG was a 14hr flight to SG, 2 hour layover, 10hr to Sydney (5 of that is over OZ itself... huge). Then there is an adjustment to timezone, etc etc. There is no getting away from it, it's far far.

I run a technical pre-sales, consulting/pmo and CX group covering everything outside the US. What really struck me when I was there is just how isolated ANZ is. Every deal we have ever done as a company has demanded multiple disciplines and has involved many people from the company. BAU for us in the UK, US and IN. Yet we're generally in bed asleep when ANZ are awake and the fall back is either 0400 demo's, trying to find someone on US West coast to cover or asking ANZ folks to join in their evening. It is my opinion that if a non-ANZ business is looking to expand into the ANZ market, and there really is an addressable market there, you need to build local resource across all disciplines from lead gen, tech pre-sales, sales, support, consulting and CS/X. Or you find a local partner which is what I've done.

The majority of my travel is EU, I've long since binned the same day in-and-out flights as it destroys me over the weeks. It is an order of magnitude easier to travel within EU that it is to ANZ IME.

Thread derail but perhaps useful to the OP.

Not to start an argument Rob just a different perspective.

[GT03ROB]

Origin Unknown said:

I guess our experiences differ Rob or perhaps we are wired differently. The majority of our holidays for the past 5 years have been driving holidays in Europe. I'm half Swiss and so there is always a 2 day swing by visiting family. I can do Interlaken to Home in ~14hours, including the chunnel.

For the past 2 years, it's been slower with a 27' caravan in tow but still we can cover good ground.

Flying to SYD via SG was a 14hr flight to SG, 2 hour layover, 10hr to Sydney (5 of that is over OZ itself... huge). Then there is an adjustment to timezone, etc etc. There is no getting away from it, it's far far.

I run a technical pre-sales, consulting/pmo and CX group covering everything outside the US. What really struck me when I was there is just how isolated ANZ is. Every deal we have ever done as a company has demanded multiple disciplines and has involved many people from the company. BAU for us in the UK, US and IN. Yet we're generally in bed asleep when ANZ are awake and the fall back is either 0400 demo's, trying to find someone on US West coast to cover or asking ANZ folks to join in their evening. It is my opinion that if a non-ANZ business is looking to expand into the ANZ market, and there really is an addressable market there, you need to build local resource across all disciplines from lead gen, tech pre-sales, sales, support, consulting and CS/X. Or you find a local partner which is what I've done.

The majority of my travel is EU, I've long since binned the same day in-and-out flights as it destroys me over the weeks. It is an order of magnitude easier to travel within EU that it is to ANZ IME.

Thread derail but perhaps useful to the OP.

Not to start an argument Rob just a different perspective.

No argument. Perspective is everything.

It's 23 hrs from London to Sydney flying. My last trip back from this 'stan was an hour less (and officially at least we are in Europe).

In & outs in Western europe from the Uk is easy, in & outs to Singapore in Y harder! My worst trip (aside from singapore) was getting up at 5am in Saudi working 6am-5pm.... over to Bahrain 2am flight to London.... arrive LHR 6am,,,home by 9am... leave by 10am..arrive LGW noon... flight to Orlando arrive 7pm... in villa by 10pm. Think thats a lot longer than UK-Oz.

Longer flights are easier... you can sleep. 13hrs to singapore followed by 9 to Sydney is 2 nights sleep, 2 6 hours flights is no sleep. Driving to the Costa is an overnighter.

I've had a long running discussion with the better half about an overseas retirement home, she wants Spain, I want Caribbean. Her only objection to Caribbean is its too far. I've told her that we can leave home 1st thing in the morning & be swimming in the Caribbean in the afternoon. Same as the Costa. 6hrs difference is nothing in context.

[Teddy Lop]

GT03ROB said:

Origin Unknown said:

Did a tour for work last year in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore. As others have said, it is REALLY fking far away. Like really really. Then you go to NZ and it's a really really far away place from a really really really far away place.

If you are used to going to Europe I agree....otherwise it's really not.

I can fly to Oz quicker then I can drive to most of Europe.

not quite sure the analogy makes much sense.

Australia is really far away in ways more subtle though. you could have an emergency that needs you and Europe would be easy, America or Africa not too difficult to arrange imminently, but oz, you're days away real terms from dropping everything and getting there should you have to. That plays on the mind when you have family apart. FFS Even arranging Skype calls is a fking ballache.

[GT03ROB]

Teddy Lop said:

not quite sure the analogy makes much sense.

Australia is really far away in ways more subtle though. you could have an emergency that needs you and Europe would be easy, America or Africa not too difficult to arrange imminently, but oz, you're days away real terms from dropping everything and getting there should you have to. That plays on the mind when you have family apart. FFS Even arranging Skype calls is a fking ballache.

There is a time difference sure. but I can still leave Oz late morning/early afternoon & be back in the UK 1st thing next morning.

I'm in "europe" if there is a problem it's still next day before I can get home.

[mart 63]

We went to Melbourne in March for the GP and a wedding. The flight there was ok, but the Singapore to Manchester leg back was a killer.