I am 31, and considering moving to Australia…

My son is in Melbourne and loves his life,as a Mum I am struggling but I want what is best for him .

I had the opportunity to move to Perth years ago. One of my biggest regrets is not giving it a go. Don’t think of it as a forever decision but as a potentially great experience. Enjoy a change, meet new people, see new places, soak up the chance to embrace something new and different. And if you hate it, just come home!

My DS1 (now 31)moved to Adelaide (3 weeks before lockdown here!) and has been there ever since. He met an Aussie in the UK, went out for a year, then she came here for 2 years and then he applied for a couple's visa, and now they are married and he has a resident's visa, and plans to take citizenship.
Getting a job that first year was tricky but he found work (and has a permanent job now)
Living costs are high, finding places to rent, difficult. Some things are worse... Definitely a lack of culture in respect of theatre etc and more racism. But in general he loves the lifestyle and the people. And the weather (not too hot in Adelaide but a damn sight better than the UK... Summer is fab) We go out there every other February and love it. It's definitely worth a year of your time!

I did it

Working holiday visa for a year

Had a lot of fun. Applied for a permanent job over there (which would have led to permanent residence) but my old boss gave me a terrible reference (did she confuse me with someone else??) so it didn't happen

Lack of history, except for some indigenous, high level of mysoginy. Backward

The only thing that would stop me at your age is that if I met someone and fell in love with him over there and wanted to have a family with him then I wouldn't be able to move back to the UK with my child unless he agreed, which I doubt he would. The idea of being trapped in another country is horrifying to me.

It’s quite a marmite place (well Vegemite!) I know people who moved there, loved it and stayed and others who came back within 3 years because it didn’t suit them. They were on permanent visa track rather than the simpler 1 year working holiday ones.

im going in a year or two myself but as dh is Australian and ill be retired no working issues

We’ve even had 40C in the UK, so she got all her ‘facts’ wrong.

https://news.sky.com/story/uks-2022-weather-which-saw-40c-temperature-record-to-become-typical-12927481

This person is under 35.

You can get all this bar the 40C in the UK.

And it's not 40C everywhere; Australia is a continent as well as a country so avoid parading your ignorance.

Should add I wish I did something like this before having kids and settling down. I’m only 32 so plan to do it when I’m older instead.

I’m mixed raced Brit and DH is Aussie. 40C is rare in Melbourne, wild fires are also rare, their government is more left wing than ours, they have no Farage and ‘island of strangers’ speeches from their PM, they don’t have marauding racist idiots with trigger fingers on social media spreading rumours about criminals who cause countrywide riots and force the police to scream ‘white British man’ after a car tragedy to beat said trigger fingers from kicking off again, last time I checked Andrew Tate wasn’t Australian.

My friend did it when she was 30 and loved it! They were in Melbourne. She did do it with her boyfriend though. They were there just over a year I think.

If you can afford to support yourself DO IT. Take it from an old hag, don't let life pass you by. Do the things. Travel the travels. Make new friends. Meet new loves. Do it.

I'm Australian & always regret not having the courage to move overseas for a year or two when younger. I say go when you have the chance.

There's jobs here in Aus in certain industries, but try to find something before you arrive. It's also very expensive so make sure you can afford it.

Also consider going rural & trying a couple of different places. It's a completely different experience to the cities!

We permanently migrated without ever visiting, with the proviso “we can always come back”. Been here 15 years.

I live in Australia. I do often see spiders and snakes, but generally they won’t bother you. I’ve lived here my whole life and not been bitten by either.

I would definitely do a year travel round, live in a few different places. It is expensive yes, but I don’t think as bad a London.

I think people on this thread are massively over thinking this

jusy go for a year and do something fun !! Work at a bar or something, learn to surf, live in a share house! You don’t need to go and do a big career thing - travel around in a camper van and work in something they you can do in various places so you actually see the country.

i quit my job at 28 and went around Asia for 6months (turned into 12)

Then moved to London on the way home randomly after deciding a week before to see if I could make it work (my parents house was my back up back in Ireland)

It did all work out and I’d bloody do it again too - life’s too short ! I’d say just go for

40C heat, wild fires, racism and boorish misogyny. Go for it 👍

We appreciate the local culture so much we are doing everything we can to destroy it with every mine expansion. Every single week.

A relative who was a similar age to you did this during lockdown. She absolutely loves it and posts some amazing pictures. I think her mum finds it hard though.

Definitely give it a try, you can go on a 3 year working visa and see which parts you like the best (Perth in the West was my preference)
Do lots of research so you have a clue about distances between places, it can be shock when you are used to the UK.
Join lots of facebook groups for info.
What is your career now? It is expensive so if you need to work it’s worth looking at comparable openings / rent prices to see what you can expect to live on!

I'm in Australia, not NZ, but work there is clearly an issue: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/09/leaving-new-zealand-record-departure-numbers

Go for it and get the vibe for a few years. However do your homework because the cost of living might hit you hard. Some cities are amongst the least affordable in the world.

I say do it! Life is for living! ❤️

i'm trying to figure out how to travel with my dd, so wish I'd travelled before becoming a mum! xx