Moving to Brisbane Australia....need advice pls!

[midwife01]

My husband and I are seriously considering moving to Brisbane Australia next year from the UK. We have two sons aged 10 years and 5 months old. I would like any advice on nice areas and schools ect. I am hoping to get a job at Queensland Health or Maters hospital.

Don't know Brisbane very well but know it is a really nice place to live with some beautiful areas, am very envious. We plan to emigrate to M.bourne in a few years. Best of luck

Thanks. It's a huge move, but it has to be better to bring children up there then here. Just in the process of researching at the moment. Good luck to you too.

Hi, I lived in Brisbane for about 6 months, in Spring Hill. Was a really nice quiet area close to the city. My only advice to you would be to move there in winter to climatise as we moved there in November and even as an Aussie the heat nearly killed me!

hello, I'm a critical care nurse in Brisbane. I have three children aged 9,4 and 1. We love Brisbane. We live in north Brisbane near Bribie Island. A great area. Can I ask why the mater? I work for QLD health although I do casual work in the private sector too. If you want feel free to message me. Generally Brisbane is an amazing place to live. We love it. We certainly have a lifestyle here we couldn't have in the UK. My 9 year old is at a great school, although it is private, its fees are very reasonable and many "normal"people send there kids to private school here not exclusive like the UK .We started in public schools and were not happy. I guess it depends what your expectations are and which public school , DD was in one of the better public schools in the area but for us it was just not what we wanted for our children!
Workwise. ... QLD health offers the best pay and packaging and as such is a great bet. The tax system in Australia is very different to the UK, so here i salary package most of my income in one way or another to eliminate tax. (novated lease, home loan $10000 a year, electric 1300 a year, meal card...etc) QLD health also offers one of the best Superannuation packaages (Q super). They are of course not perfect... like any government dept! Recently and on going the pay roll system to be blunt.. sucks.... Regular stuff ups! Depends what area and grade you are and of course your specialty as to where I'd suggest you work or look for work. Currently we are negociating new pay and conditions under eb8 with the new government... that will be interesting.
Private sector is less governed. Pay tends to be lower and conditions not as good. with large number of agency staff. Some private hospital will match QLD health pay if they have immediate competition. Holy spirit northside do this as they are on the same campus as PCH.
Are you looking for sponsorship? or do you have visas sorted?
Have you done a cv drop of expression of interest? Different hospitals tend just like the uk to have different specialties.

Different areas depend on what you want I guess? We live on acreage 10 mins from bribie island, Bribie has large british population ( most of north brisbane does!) North lakes is known however as little britain! It is very british. Lots of great areas, depending on your preference for city or beach or rural.. Beach I'd say bribie..inland Dayboro/ samford/the gap.. city (expensive) new farm. Lots of good areas tho.. petrie, burpengary.... Im not up on good areas on the south side but I'm sure there are some there too!

just saw the name... i guess your a mad wife? The nearly every hospital has maternity. with the exception of some small rural hospitals. So you could put yourself out where ever you choose! However I believe there is some competition for midwifery jobs at present.

Hi,
Thanks for the responce. Yes I am a mad wife lol! I was looking at Mater as it was recommended to me by a friend in UK no other reason. Do you know mucha bout Mater? Just kind of finding my feet so researching like mad at the moment. We have just started looking into the prospect of emigrating seriously in the last few weeks, spoke about it for years. My son is 10 next week so need to look into good schools for him. Untill we get on our feet I am thinking public school. I have a cousin who works for Logan Hospital as a midwife, but we have never actually met, so I have got some advice from her.

I have been looking at what we need to do step by step. I need to register with Australian Midwifery Board and get the sponsorship. Mater have shown some interest and I have also contacted Queenland Health who suggested I use my cousin's contact's, but like I say, have not even met her so do not want to start asking favours. Any info you can past along will be much appreciated.

I have two son's. The other one is only 5 months old, so I will need to look into day care too. Is that costly? Its sooooo expensive in UK. My husband is an assistant manger at the Carphone Warehouse so do not know how easy it will be for him to find a job. To be honest we are focusing mainly on my profession at first as I will need him to be there for the children untill we get settled.

I am a Band 5, hopefully going onto Band 6 midwife in next few months. Do you know what they clear after tax. If you don't mind me asking, what do you think is a realistic monthly rent just going on a Band 6 midwife wage to start with?

How long have you lived in Brisbane? Did you move from UK? Just wondering what is the best step with shipping belongings. Anyway, look forward to hearing from you, and thanks again for your responce!

meassage sent ;0)

My friend from Brisbane said it is very like Manchester in vibe/feel but hotter & more humid.

oh chloeb you,ve made me feel all sad that I'm going to WA I love Bribie.

Ah giggly you can allways re locate once you are here and have more time etc to job hunt!

yup thats my plan

We will welcome you with a large glass of chilled white!

Don't live in / near Logan!

Now I'll have to name change....

Housing is expensive but most suburbs within 10 Kim's from CBD are fine and the public schools will be too (I consider myself knowledgable on this issue!)

Think seriously what you want- city, suburbia, beach, country. They're all possible within about an hour from the city- if you even need access to the city. I only go to the city about once a year.

If you're thinking suburbs think about shopping centres and areas around them. In a couple of years that's where your son will be hanging out (unless you choose beach or country) and you don't want to drop/pick up too much. Examples to google would be Chermside, indooroopilly shopping centres (westfield). There are parks everywhere.

I also prefer the north side but each to their own!

Childcare is expensive but you can't begrudge them that! It's top quality!

Daycare for 5 month old approx $78 per day. Don't know if it would apply to you but we get half back.

Hi I live in Brisbane and work as a midwife at the Mater. Happy to chat with anyone who wants to know what its like here! We love it :-)

daycare is pretty expensive, but alot of people go the au pair route