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Original poster

Help please - emigrating to Australia

136 replies

sunnydelight · 01/05/2006 20:50

I'm sorry if this has been done to death, but it looks like DH may be offered a job in Sydney in the next few months and I would love any advice/experience you can offer about moving to Sydney. DH and I met there 16 years ago and we lived there for a year before our immigration status got the better of us. We always vowed to go back but it never happened; we now have three children, 12, 7 and 3 so I accept I will not be living overlooking the harbour bridge and eating out five nights a week, but I really want to go. My biggest issue is schooing - DS1 is dyslexic. The one advantage I can see is that despite the fact that he is in his second year of secondary here I think he would be starting secondary there? (He's an August birthday so was always the youngest in the class and I always wanted to hold him back a year but couldn't). I would also really appreciate any input about areas to live and house prices. We see it as a way to afford a better house for less money - we currently have a horrible south-east England mortgage. I would be really grateful if anyone has time to respond.

OP posts:
Astrophe · 02/07/2006 21:27

sunny, hope thing look up this week.

robinpud · 03/07/2006 10:18

He's taking part in a teacher exchange Astrophe. 'nuff said for now I think!!

Astrophe · 03/07/2006 12:41

fair enough! does that mean you are just visiting then?

robinpud · 03/07/2006 23:13

one year only.. unless we fall in love with Oz and then well, who knows.
I am quite happy with a year, love the uk and the green ness of it all!

robinpud · 04/07/2006 00:10

btw any of you Ozzie mums, dd is fascinated by the timetable at her new school. They have 2 breaks one is lunch 11.15-12.05 and one is recess 1.35-2.05 , both are short and both you eat during. Can you enlighten us please? Oh and the parents mann the canteen?? what about the working ones...

hannahsaunt · 04/07/2006 10:30

Robinpud - I've yet to get to the bottom of the break system - ds1 (5.5 and in gr1) has to have a snack on his desk as they pop out to the garden for 10mins at 10am then there is a bell for little lunch (which was called morning tea in preschool) where they eat a portion of their lunch and then play (this is from 1120 to 1210) and then at 1310 they have big lunch where they eat more from their lunch box and play again and this lasts until some after 2pm then school finishes at 3pm. They seem very keen on keeping them fed and hydrated which is good - I think it helps behaviour if they keep their energy levels up.

bloss · 04/07/2006 10:58

Message withdrawn

robinpud · 04/07/2006 20:48

Very informative Bloss - dd says cool and is fascinated by the ability to chat with mums on the other side of the world! 2 small snacks will suit ds as he is loathe to waste his lunchtime eating when he could be playing!

Astrophe · 23/08/2006 10:26

sunnydelight, any progress?

Original poster
sunnydelight · 24/08/2006 16:26

You are a mind reader astrophe! I'm just back from Ireland and was gearing up for a mega-post. Everything is back on track and I am really excited and terrified at the same time. DH's company have finally agreed to transfer him - to cut a long story short he was being bullshitted as we thought to try and keep him in London; when he had a chance to talk to the guy in New York who allegedly blocked the transfer it turned out he had never heard anything about it and is more than happy to transfer him as he knows that otherwise DH will resign. I am so relieved to have the security of a transfer (and obviously the associated relocation thing!). We are looking at going out for good next March/April, but we're still doing our planned holiday in October/November to try and get a feel for areas and particularly schools. I will be picking your brains big time in the next few months if that's ok! I see there are a few recent threads about people moving so I'm going to see what pointers I can pick up from them. Have your parents bought somewhere else in the Blue Mountains by the way? or maybe you/they could recommend somewhere to stay for a couple of nights with three kids!

OP posts:
Astrophe · 26/08/2006 13:07

thats such great news sunnydelight...bit scary though? you will just love it and so will your kids.

my parents have bought another place but it wont be available unfortunately as they are in turkey atm and haven't furnished it etc.
theres a link a bit earlier to a retal place in the mountains though...that would be your best bet. thyey used to lease my parents place.

feel free to pick my brains any time!

Astrophe · 26/08/2006 13:13

holidays in the mountains

link it to Blackheath, but you could search in Leura, Katoomba, Mount Victoria, Wentworth Falls, Medlow Bath.

Original poster
sunnydelight · 26/08/2006 18:39

Thanks for the link astrophe. I didn't realise domain did holiday accommodation as well - I can search there for somewhere to stay in Sydney as well as hotels with three kids are not my idea of fun!

OP posts:
mogwai · 26/08/2006 21:12

This thread is so useful

We are hoping to be in Sydney for a year from January. DH just being interviewed (he's a doctor and has applied to most of the major hospitals; POW, St Vincents, RNSH, Prince Alfred). And is pretty confident he at least has an offer of RNSH and St Vincents.

The salary issue is concerning me - he's looking at about $100k and I won't be working. That's a major drop in our income.

My other main concern is what we do when we first get there. We will have our 18 month old daughter with us, we'll be jet lagged and we'll need something fully furnished while we look for something else.

Has anyone used the website "Gumtree"? There seem to be plenty of short-term lets on there

Original poster
sunnydelight · 27/08/2006 14:01

The salary thing bothers me a bit too Moqwai. DH has yet to negotiate his package but we have been warned by people in the Sydney office that it will be a pretty huge drop (he's in IT). I have been reassured by lots of people on here that the cost of living is significantly lower than in the UK, but what concerns me most is that housing isn't. I won't be working either and there are five of us. I've been told (again on here) that companies can do things like pay your rent out of gross salary, but I haven't a clue who is eligible. Might be worth looking into.

OP posts:
Astrophe · 27/08/2006 15:31

Mog, not sure what you're used to and I know eveyrone has different expectations/lifestyles BUT...you will be so fine on 100k! We lived on half that, with a baby, ran a car, rented an apartment in a nice suburb, ate out now and again...we didn't have loads of money to throw around, but lived comfortably.

You could check domain hilidays for a furnished place in sydney until you get settled. (link below)

Astrophe · 27/08/2006 15:39

sunny, don't have much experience, but i don't think its a matter of being 'eligable', its just a matter of you convincing the company to pay your rent/car allowance/school fees/whatever instead of paying you directly. your dh just has to negotiate.

ooh, just asked my dh what he knows and he thinks you still have pay tax on those things though (its called fringe benefits tax, rather than income tax) but maybe at a lower rate?

Try googling 'fring benefits tax nsw australia' or similar. I'd chat to an accountant in sydney when you go for your holiday. can give you names if you like.

SueW · 27/08/2006 16:13

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request.

Astrophe · 27/08/2006 16:29

oh, sorry Mog, the link is called 'holidays in the mountains'

Original poster
sunnydelight · 27/08/2006 21:48

Thanks Astrophe. Accountant details would be useful; it would be good to have some understanding of the tax system before we go, and also some advice on how best to bring money out, etc.

OP posts:
Astrophe · 27/08/2006 21:51

i will ask my dh and get back to you...accountants are his territory!

katyjo · 27/08/2006 22:17

We just came back from Melbourne (can't remember why!) my hubby qualified for LAFHA (living away from home allowance) the aussie government make tax allowances if you are not a resident. Not sure on all the details but the company need to claim it for you, but it means you don't pay tax on rent or food allowance it made a huge differnce to us. Good luck guys, maybe we'll be joining you soon

Astrophe · 02/09/2006 12:40

sunny, have not forgoten, dh is getting hold of accountants details, although not sure if he will be able to help you as he often works from home away from sydney. he might have a mate though...

Sandcastles · 02/09/2006 12:56

"and also some advice on how best to bring money out, etc"

We have just moved out here so maybe able to offer some advise on this. We banked with Barclays before we left England, their advise was to get a bank account once we were here in exactly the same name as the Barclays one. They gave us their international banking info & told us to ring them once we had the account set up. We transfered 5k a time and their was a small fee (30 pounds i think). It transfered within hours.

We still have our Barclays account open as we still have some unfinished business in the UK, but we did it several times & not once did we get a hitch. It was, we feel the easiest & safest way to do it.

Other than that we brought a small ammount with us we were in slightly diff situation as we were staying with inlaws, so no money needed for accomadation).

Oh and look into getting tax file numbers as soon as you arrive, dh will need for his job & you will need to claim family assistance (like child benefit). Which you can claim as long as you have a visa that allows permanent residence. This is all you are entitled to to start with (and perhaps rent allowance, I was told we could claim, so am looking into.

Good Luck

robinpud · 02/09/2006 13:02

Funnily enough Sandcastles I have just been talking to Barclays about transferring dh's uk salary to aus each month. You do it by Swift transfer and it costs £ 20 a go. The problem is that you have to initate it from this end by contacting Barclays so am off to see whether a proper online bank like First Direct will allow you to transfer from them to an Oz bank each month via the internet.

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