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Original poster

To want to move to Australia ? Need advice

225 replies

maxbradbury · 19/08/2012 19:02

Cannot find suitable forum so posting here because of high traffic.

DH is a qualified gas engineer and we are considering a move to Australia. I dont know anybody who has done this and would like to know if anybody has done this or knows someone who has so i can get a insite of life there such as cost of living, lifestyle, education and how easy it is to get a job. Any helpful comment appreciated. Smile

OP posts:
NettOlympicSuperstar · 19/08/2012 19:04

Why do you want to move there?

HoopDePoop · 19/08/2012 19:04

'cannot find suitable forum' - did you notice the Living Overseas forum?

JumpingThroughMoreHoops · 19/08/2012 19:10

Try the Australian Embassy site.

We have friends who went 10 years ago, they took Oz citizenship this year. The first 5 years nearly broke them, mentally and financially. But they enjoy the lifestyle. And if I'm honest I'm sick to death of seeing holiday photos snorkling, lolling by the pool, fantastic holidays Envy

CaliforniaLeaving · 19/08/2012 21:07

Try the Australia board at www.britishexpats.com it's very active and has a visa section.
If you are moving cause you don't like the area you live in, first make a list of what you are looking for. It sometimes a lot easier and definitely cheaper to move within the UK that to traipse half way round the world only to find the grass isn't any greener.

honeytea · 19/08/2012 21:15

I went to live in Australia for a year with the possibility of staying longer. I liked some things but I found it really odd to be on the other side of the world with very British culture, I didn't really see the point in being there. I found the history very disturbing, I know all countries have horrid histories but the history in Australia is so very recent and I didn't feel happy living in a society that treated some people so badly.

Now I live in a Scandinavian country and I like it much better here, it's a short flight home, there are proper seasons (in the south of australia they get a winter simalar to the south of the UK) the culture is much more different to the UK but I actually like that, no point moving to a hot spider infested version of the UK in my opinion.

Sorry if I am a moaning myrtle, I have friends who are still there and love it, but for me it wasn't right.

MAYBELATERNOWIMBUSY · 19/08/2012 21:35

and,>>>> it"s culture-less!!!!

echt · 19/08/2012 21:37

what MAYBE said is not true, OP.

CaliforniaLeaving's advice is spot on.

MarshaBrady · 19/08/2012 21:39

It's very expensive. You'll need a good salary.

Whereabouts are you thinking of moving to?

Original poster
maxbradbury · 19/08/2012 21:47

To be honest we have no idea where to move to because really at the moment its just a pipe dream.

Just looking for advice at the moment.
As ive said before dh is a gas engineer and we just fancy a change and a move somewhere where he can earn a decent living and quality of life. We are open to ideas at the moment

OP posts:
shockers · 19/08/2012 21:49

I have friends (a married couple and 12 yr old son) who moved to Perth last year, they love it. Having said that, they were surfers here, the surf is great there and the weather is better for their sort of lifestyle.

They were also hugely supported by the Dh's company and are fairly affluent.

I miss them terribly Sad.

aquashiv · 19/08/2012 21:52

I had the time of my life in Australia and some of it is lovely as are the people. There is a def Island mentality there and you do feel very far away from everything.

I would go for a year first dont burn your bridges. I agree with alot of honeytea post.

echt · 19/08/2012 21:54

Go to immi.gov.au for latest info on occupations in demand. The list changes at least once a year. Lots of gas stuff going on Queensland.

Original poster
maxbradbury · 19/08/2012 22:01

Can i ask what you mean by Australian History not being nice without sounding stupid?

OP posts:
Handmer · 19/08/2012 22:06

Just a word of advice - the thing that will be constant between here and Australia will be you. There are some quite famous studies showing that the happiness generated by a move to someone new is very short-lived, and you end up being as happy as you were before. Obviously I don't know your motivations for leaving, so it may not apply. It's just something I read

honeytea · 19/08/2012 22:11

I feel that the way the indigenous people of Australia have been treated and are still treated has not been properly adressed. In the immigration museum in Melbourne there is a video introduction to Australia, it shows lots of bad things around the world, wars and natural disasters, then shows a nice suburban house in Australia with a family and the explanation that Australia has been a safe place for people to move to for years. It showed Australia as a utopia. It didn't show any of the negative history about Australia like that babies born to indigenous people, babies the same age as us were taken away from their families. It didn't show the terrible forrest fires, it didn't show the homes destroyed and people killed because they have built homes in forrest fire areas.

The political issues around water are still very unfair in my opinion.

The country where I live now has a fairly brutal past, the difference is that it was such a long time ago that you don't see the after effects in people today.

Original poster
maxbradbury · 19/08/2012 22:21

I see what you mean honey. My husband is half Iraqi and we have two children. I dont really want to move to a place where race and colour is still an issue for some.

OP posts:
vigglewiggle · 19/08/2012 22:24

I lived in Melbourne 12 months ago. It was a temporary move with DH's work, we had no intention of moving there permanently, but when the time came, I was glad to come home.

There were plenty of positives - nice weather, beaches, loads of play areas, friendly locals etc. But, it was VERY expensive. Thankfully our accommodation was paid for, but I had an almighty shock when I did my first weekly shop.

I found that it seemed very heavily influenced by America and the majority of television programmes are American. Partly because of this and also because much of the architecture is very new, and there is little racial integration, it does seem to be a bit devoid of culture in a general sense.

From your post you seem to be under the impression that you will experience a higher standard of living over there, but do your research. This was the case a few years ago but from my experience you are likely to find that your finances are even more stretched than before.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

jandymaccomesback · 19/08/2012 22:25

honeytea we went to that museum last year. I know what you mean, but it did show some less appealing aspects of migration as well.
Agree that wherever you go you take yourself with you, so if you are unhappy here you will certainly be unhappy there.
DD lived in NSW for 6 months and what she felt most was how far away it is. She had already lived in Spain for 18 months and Germany 6 months so she thought it would be easy, but from Europe you can get back to England easily and people can visit you. Not so easy with Australia.

CaliforniaLeaving · 19/08/2012 22:25

Have you looked at Texas for the gas industry, or maybe that is only Gasoline. Are you talking natural gas? Still look in the US board in expats too, there have been a lot of engineers from the Gas industry end up in Texas. Not my cup of tea, but then I hate the heat. Once it's past about 32 and I'm useless.

melonsmaygotobed · 19/08/2012 22:29

We lived in Melbourne. I loved it - close to beaches, liveable weather, outdoors lifestyle. But it was very, very expensive. Although the salaries seem bigger than in the UK, they don't match the price of living. Just as an example, the cheapest cinema tickets we found were $20 per head and the shopping bill came to around $500 per week... We paid $750 PER WEEK to live in a 3 bed house. Having said that, I pine for Melbourne. I have dreams about going back. The people are so friendly and will do anything for you. I made friends very quickly, and I am still in contact. I will never forget driving down the beach road to collect my children from Kinder. (sigh)

Iamgiulietta · 19/08/2012 22:30

EEEK!! I was just going to post a similar thread. Won't hijack here but just to say i am worried about the cost of living out there... and best of luck whatever you decide to do :)

honeytea · 19/08/2012 22:30

I actually found max that race and colour wasn't an issue, so long as you were not aboriginal. The Australians were very open to ask people directly what their background was, most Australians are not from a long line of Australians so there was lots of talk about being of irish/chinese/iraqi decent.

It isn't nice to see a group of people in a bad situation, the only aboriginal people I ever saw were drunk homeless people :( I did live in a big city I know there are areas where that is not the case.

I never visited new zealand but I had a good friend from there and she said there was a lot more respect for the maori people.

jandymaccomesback · 19/08/2012 22:31

Some parts of Australia are allegedly cheaper than others (Darwin, if Wanted Down Under is to be believed) but that could be because Australians don't want to go there. Sydney is meant to be one of the modst expensive cities in the world. It is such a vast country and different states have different climates.
I've seen a magazine in Tesco about emigrating to Australia and New Zealand which might be worth a look.

echt · 19/08/2012 22:31

I drive down that road to go to work, melons. It's fab.

Original poster
maxbradbury · 19/08/2012 22:34

He does domestic gas, installations of fires, cookers, boilers etc.
We did look at texas but he mentioned something about there systems being very different to what we use in the uk

OP posts: