Wanting to move from UK to Australia.....early days but looking for advice please??

[surfingbabies]

Looking for any advice please, it's early days but my DP job is on the list :-)
We have a 13 year old, 9 year old twins and a 1 year old......
Where is the best place? Schools? Best place to look for jobs from uk? Renting property? Health care? Shipping? Regrets? Please share your experience, good or bad :-)
Thanks x

These threads tend to 'kick off'.

There's another somewhere in this forum that went ballistic very recently!

Work is where you start. What do you/your DH do?

I guess the first thing to do is decide where in oz you would like to go, you may not be as free to choose where as you think.

Next-concentrate on your application. Are you going with an agent or DIY. If you are going for PR, the process can be long and drawn out. Is your DH self employed? Can put a spanner in the works if there is not a good reference from someone who can substantiate your DH's experience and length of time in that role - you can kiss goodbye to the whole thing.

The next focus should be jobs, with which everything else should fall into place-where you live, best schools in the area etc.

here's Mamma Thread

As above.. Depends what dh does.. Australia is huge! Also depends what you like.. Beach,, bush..

Hello surfingbabies, we are just at the start of the process. My job is on the list so we are looking at getting a 189 visa.

Just at the minute pulling paperwork & references from previous employers etc together as need to send it all off to the institute of Australian accountants so they can sign off on my quals and experience. I have my ietl exam next week as I need 7's for the institute and 8's as we need the extra points. Am scared I won't get the grade we need. Argh!

We have dd 8 and ds 1 but have not told anyone yet - waiting till we get the visa. We are looking to move to Melbourne as dh works in IT and there should be jobs there for him.

Whereabouts are you heading? How far into the process are you?

Xxx

If you have a good and close family do not underestimate the emotions of being 26 hours and $8000 for a family ticket away from them, just saying

I'm an Aussie but spent 7 years living in London before returning.
I'll have a crack at the questions
Where is the best place?
It depends what you want. So country or city, inland or coastal, tropical or temperate.

Schools?
This is a tricky one for me because I'm a huge fan of local state funded education unless there is a massive problem with the child. There are some excellent state and private schools in Australia. It also has world class Universities. School starts much later in Australia 5 or 6 years old and I think people think that makes it backwards.

Best place to look for jobs from uk?
Seek or Career One are decent job websites

Renting property?
Right Move or Domain are good property websites. Remember the country is much much much cheaper then the big cities

Health care?
It is a very different system. There is some free health care under Medicare but there is also a big private practice both hospitals and GPs. Lots of people have health insurance to help cover the cost of health care but for us the cost of the cover to meet our needs was just to high. Instead we save a set amount each pay to cover the cost of doctors/dentists/optometrists.

Ambulances are not free in Australia! You need to get ambulance cover it's pretty cheap I think we paid $80 for a year. How you purchase the cover depends on which state you are in.

Shipping?We shipped the things we felt we couldn't replace.

Regrets? No the whole no even though we have less cash on a day to day basis our life is better. I think the biggest regret I have is that I came back to Australia just be for the change of government. it's been a bit heart breaking to have suffer this new government and their lack of concern for human beings. That's for you Tansie

Well said hazchem..

It does vary state to state too.. Silly things like school! In qld we now have a " compulsory". Prep year at 4 Turing 5.. But the jury is still out if it's compulsory nature will ever be enforced!
Ambulances used to be charged via the electric bill. Now they are a Medicare " free" service in qld. Different state to state.
Tv... Absolutely shocking terrestrial tv! It has improved with free to sue digital stuff.. But no I still can't cope with the 10minutes of tv before adverts.. But we have fox we record terrestrial and then just fast forward.
Depending what your job is there are differences. For example.. Dh is a business consultant. He used to drive around the UK.. Now he flys everywhere! In and out if Sydney in a day. Travels to nz.. Interstate... Back to the uk even! Very different. He was plane phobic when we first came over too! Now sees them like taxis!
I'm a nurse.. I have found the transition ok. But the culture is very very different. Bullying is hugely rife here. I don't remember that in the uk!

School again is a huge regional issue! We live about 45mins from Brisbane Cbd. The local demographic is ... Urrr ... Improving? The schools are mixed! We have opted for privet education. Hugely cheaper than the uk system! But .. Big but for some... It is religious. Our current school is baptist. We are not religious.. But it teaches the kids morales. And as a friend of mine said... Really we don't choose a school because of what the report says.. It's about who they play with in the playground that will shape the people they become and aptitude to school and life.
Climate is important to where you move.. But a job is the top issue!
When we moved to qld my dh said he would give it 4 years ... If it's too hot/ humid he would move.. Still here and spend all winter talking about a move north!

I work in IT and recently did a comparison of the cost of living between the UK and Australia and worked out that I would be significantly better off if I moved back home (UK). Make sure that you don't underestimate the cost of living & housing here.

I hear that it's very difficult for "outsiders" to get jobs in Brisbane, there's plenty of IT work in Sydney. Where you live will depend on your income and how long you are prepared to commute for - www.domain.com.au and www.rightmove.com.au will give you some indication of prices (weekly prices shown, multiply by 52 & divide by 12 for monthly).

We're on a 457 visa so went the private route (we'd have to pay for state), it's pretty eye-watering.

www.seek.com.au is one of the main job sites, I do tend to find that a lot of the jobs advertised don't actually exist. Your DH might find it difficult to get a job while he's in the UK too. Which area of IT is he in? If I think of the list there's only PM, BA, hmm, Network architect and one other I think. PM roles are a bit scarce at the moment, Network architect roles are around I think, not sure about BA.

Er, what's for me, hazchem ?

Did I miss something?!

Tansie My political statement. Just laying my I'm not a racist Aussie cards on the table before the shit hits the fan. ( as it always does on these threads) :)