AUSTRALIA

[twotimestrouble]

Hi. We are seriously thinking of moving to Australia. I lived there in the 80s and haven't been there since. Has anybody spent a long period of time there recently (or do we even have any Australian mumsnetters)?

Which are best cities to live in rather than visit? .....and I know all about the good but what is the bad? Is the healthcare as good (worry with the kids), what is flexible working like?

Any advice gratefully accepted!

Also, does anyone know of a good parents forum down under?

Hi TTT,
I'm Australian living in UK.
Deciding on a city is pretty dependent on what you like and what you can afford really. Sydney is by far the most expensive city and is my favourite, but might not be yours. I would imagine that a good deal will come down to where you find work and how much you can earn. What kind of work would you be doing?
Healthcare is excellent. A large proportion of the population have private health isurance (which I would recommend) but there is also a free public system which you might be entitled to depending on your visa.
Education is also excellent.
Not too sure what you want to know about flexible working? Do you mean part-time? Job-share? Anyway - both available.

TTT - you are best off looking at the "living overseas" topic - there are lots of threads there with the Aussie crew on there - both native Aussies and Brits who have emigrated.

If you are looking for a good advice forum (but not aimed at parents) have you tried www.britishexpats.com ?

Thanks HM - didn't realise there was a living overseas topic (doh!)

Bubba - really we'll be driven by DH's job (he's a Chartered Accountant who works in industry at a v senior level). Whether he could find similar over in Australia I don't know. Q - do you feel that Aussies might discriminate against Uk candidates?

I am hoping to do part-time work (professional) but don't know how common that is over there.

I guess realistically, we are not looking for city living as we have two little DS (4 & 2). But I don't want to be in the outback either. I had considered Melbourne or Adelaide because I guessed Sydney would be v expensive and v busy. However, I haven't been to any (used to live in Perth) so you might be able to give me an overview?

Re Health System - I remember we all used to go private but wondered in the NHS equivalent existed if we could get private.

TTT

I used to recruit accountants in Aus!! Anyway, there is unlikely to be any descrimination against UK candidates. It would be worth his while contacting some headhunters/recruiters in Aus to have a chat about demand levels in the industries in which he has expereince.
Part-time work (like here) is out there, but not as easy to find as full-time. Most likely you would find this by appraoching firms directly rather than thorugh recruitment agencies.
Re the different cities, you will find that most major companies are headquartered in Sydney, but this differs from industry to industry. You might find things harder in Adelaide though as it is very small.
Sydney offers plenty of areas which are out of the hustle and bustle and great for kids, but it is obviously $$$. Melbourne is less expensive and still has many big-business operations ditto Brisbane.
The Aus version of NHS is called medicare. Everyone (so long as you qualify on your visa) gets this. You can then see a private doctor, medicare pays part of the cost, and your insurance pays part and you pay a small charge on top normally. Otherwise you can just go to a public doctor. Public hospitals have private options available too. Is that what you meant?

Thanks Bubba. It' just that I heard somewhere that Skills Based Visas excluded you from receiving medicare. Not sure if all jobs come with private health or cover families as opposed to individuals. So was a bit concerned at potential cost.

My Dh is a bit sceptical about finding work and leaving a v well paid job and all his share options etc behind here. In your experience would headhunters/agencies consider someone still based in the Uk with the visa or would we have to move out jobless and then search.

No, you could def start the process while working in the UK, especially at a senior level. This way he could get sponsored and get all the benefits.
What industry does he work in?

He's in finance - Chartered Accountant. Currently he works for a European energy company in charge of all their finance.

A brilliant website telling you everything in a format similar to mumsnet is www.britishexpat.com

www.britishexpats.com even (I'd left the s out).

Thanks, just looked at it and it looks v good. Will register later.

If he's not particularly interested in staying in the energy industry then your choices are pretty open I guess.
I think talking to a couple of head-hunters would be a good jumping-off point. They will be able to give him an idea of the level of demand for someone with his expereince, the kind of salray he could demand and will help with visa stuff too.