Anyone moved to Perth from the UK? WA Police transfer

[JustAnotherMidnightPost]

Hi everyone 👋

Just wondering if there are any UK mums or families on here who have made the move to Australia — particularly to Perth, WA — and even more specifically, if your partner transferred through the WA Police recruitment pathway?

We’re seriously considering making the move (my partner is a UK police officer), and we’re looking at the WA Police international transfer route. We’ve done a lot of research already, but I’d love to hear from people who’ve actually done it or are in the process — especially what life in Perth is really like day-to-day, how the transition was for your partner into WA Policing, and how your family settled in.

Also curious about:

Schools & family life in Perth

Cost of living vs UK (especially groceries/housing/healthcare)

How long the visa/transfer process took

Any regrets or things you wish you'd known before going

Whether you found the community welcoming

We’re in the early stages, but feeling excited (and slightly overwhelmed!). Would really appreciate any advice or stories.

TIA 🧡

If you have not seen it already, you may enjoy this tv series: https://u.co.uk/shows/brit-cops-down-under/series-1

There’s this comment from a couple of days ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/perth/comments/1mnt0em/why_uk_cops_are_a_welcome_addition_to_wapol/

https://www.reddit.com/r/perth/comments/1mtne07/what_to_expect_as_a_brit/

Here is another thread from the Perth community on Reddit.

I am in Sydney, the most expensive city in Australia, but a few things might be relevant to Perth as well.

Healthcare. The most astonishing aspect of healthcare is how private health insurance is structured. I have lived in many countries, and Australia is the only country in which you can't see a GP, a specialist, get imaging or any test done with you private health cover, despite being by far the most expensive we have ever had. Private insurance only covers in hospital procedures. Then you have the bits of extra they cover such as glasses or dentist.
Public healthcare is not free. Medicare only covers around 50% of what GPs charge. The free ones (called bulk billing) are very hard to find, and quality can vary. It is almost impossible to see a specialist in the public system.
In a way, Australian health care works very well if you are extremely healthy or extremely sick .

Flights. Prices have become insane. It is now very expensive to fly to Europe or even domestic sometimes, compared to pre-covid.

The value of AUD. Compared to when we moved, the value of the $ is going down and down. Which might be an advantage for you right now, as technically things are cheaper for you, but once you are paid in AUD, this might be a struggle especially for your kids wanting to travel.

Last, consider if this will be your forever-country. If not, there is the high chance that your kids will like to stay there and it will be hard to move back.

@JustAnotherMidnightPost what happened - I would love an update!