Secondment to Sydney

[MrsDe]

Hi all, I've just been told that there is the opportunity for me to embark on a secondment in Sydney for two years. Amazing opportunity and we're seriously considering it (currently live in London).

I'm chatting to HR about further details but to be honest they seem pretty clueless and I've never done anything like this before so need some guidance.

I have two children six and four and DH is a teacher so will not work initially but would like to eventually if he can. So far the things I'm discussing with HR are:

1. Salary. Apparently my salary would be the same just transferred into my account in AUS dollars. Is that normal? What happens with tax etc?

1. Holidays. It's been suggested that my current allowance of 30 days per year will be reduced to 20 which is normal in Australia. I've said this is not acceptable and I want 30 days. Again, what is usual?

1. Accommodation. I will get a contribution towards accommodation which seems good. From looking at rental sites I think I'm looking at AUSD1,500 - 2k a week. Am I foolish in thinking I'll find somewhere is Sydney with good schools on this budget?

1. Schools. We're starting to look at areas we're interested in and this will be based on good schools for my 6yo and 4yo as well as potential wrap around care. Any experiences?

1. Commuting times - probably looking at the ferry and the North Beaches - sensible?

1. Additional expenses/living costs. What happens with pensions/life insurance? Is it usual for the employer to pay these? I think that pension payment is different to the UK and obviously need to have a conversation with my employer about this but wondered what is normal?

1. Am I mad to even consider this with a young family? My job is quite full on and so potentially long hours (which I do in London anyway). My DH is fully on board and excited about the whole thing (well, he wouldn't be working for potentially 2 years!!).

But on one salary of circa $220k will this be sensible? We will rent out our current house which will cover our UK mortgage/letting fees etc and we're not big spenders or have any other debt and currently manage in the UK with private school fees etc so think we can do this on one salary but I could be just totally naive? Aware of the school fees for professionals on visas etc.

Gosh, sorry about the length of this post! Any help/advice/tips etc gratefully received!

Thanks for the tips Thumbwitch! Yes, plan on bringing most of my clothes and the Dc's too. Luckily I'm not a big clothes shopper anyway!

Was also planning on bringing all bedding too as really as much as we squeeze in a container. Silly question perhaps, but should i (can I) bring electrical goods? Thinking slow cooker, radio, music system etc).

Yes, you can - the electricity rating here is 220V, so not that different from the UK 240V, everything I brought out still works fine. You'll need some UK-->Australia adaptors though, they're quite hard to find out here (and expensive when you find them) so best off buying those in the UK. And if you have any splitter boards, bring those too - I have my toaster, iron and kettle from the UK, all run off one UK splitter board in the kitchen, and I changed the plug on the splitter board to an Aussie one. Of course, you could just change all the plugs! but it's a bit harder for the moulded plugs (although not impossible of course, you just cut the plug off).
I'd advise buying a set of replacement fuses too because they don't have fused plugs out here so fuses simply don't exist here. (Or again, just replace all the plugs when you get here - but then you'll have to re-replace them when you go back!)

Don't bother bringing white goods though. One of the good things about this country is that you can haggle in stores that sell electrical goods, like you used to be able to on the Tottenham Court Road (but probably can't any more) - so you go to somewhere like the Good Guys, and collect up what you want, and then beat the salesperson into submission and get the best possible price for everything. DH is particularly good at this - I get embarrassed so walk off and leave him to it!

Other things that I bring over whenever I go back to the UK:
• Solid stick deodorant - they only really have one here for ladies and it's shit. That's if you can even find it! But it only lasts half a day max for anti-perspiration, and I'm not even that sweaty a person! So I bring over several sticks of Sure dry stick (about 8 lasts a year, I've found)
• M&S knickers
• Bisto
• Sandwich spread - DS1 loves it and it's hard/impossible to get here
• Antihistamine cream - can't get it here, except possibly on prescription but even that's debatable, I've heard different stories about it. The Aussies have alternative preparations for insect bites but I like my Anthisan!
• Pimms! It's buyable here but OMG it's expensive! ~$40 for a bottle (which, even at current exchange rates, is still around £22 for 70cl)

Omg. How much for Pimms...!

Thanks again, really appreciate the help. You mention m&s knickers (got to love them!) but I've heard that m&s deliver to Australia now. Obvs not worth it just for knickers but just wondered what the deal is with ordering stuff online from uk websites (john lewis, m&s etc) and then delivering to Australia?

Last time I looked (a while ago) M&S stuff was £10 delivery to Australia, which was excellent - but I haven't used it myself as I go back to the UK every year, and take my little boys with me, to see my family. Not sure about JL.

Another thing - books are heinously expensive here and there is no Aussie Amazon. Book Depository do cheaper books with free delivery but not as good as Amazon. DVDs are mostly more expensive here too, although you can get some good deals. It is possible to buy all-zone DVD players here, or you can bring your UK one with you to be on the safe side, but you might need to get a cheap Aussie one for any Aussie DVDs you buy here.

thumbwichh. FYI sandwich spread is available in my local big IGA (used to be Franklins) for $6 a jar. I'm in Sydney, southern area. It's a tiny bit cheaper than the imported sweet shop prices so I buy a few jars at a time. Can't live without it. Sorry for hijacking MrsDe!

Really? if it's buyable in any IGA I should be able to get it in to my local one (I discovered this at a recent GF foods expo :) ) so thank you Cornedbeefpie, that's really useful to know - DS1 loves it! :)
My nearest IGA man isn't going to be so keen when I go in with a list though

Hijack away. Sandwich spread, who knew?

Bagh haaa. Shopping just cracks me up
Target sales or Myers sales. Cheap kids clothes.
Bisto is sold at wollies and coles. Heinz salad cream at iga.
However it's always possible to go without and try new study too!

I think that sounds correct that they are paying you in UK£ still - but increasing it by giving you the rent allowance (which will be tax free I assume). That makes your salary presumably more in line with Sydney salaries. You also then have all the benefits of being on a secondment so usually you would still be contributing to your UK pension, any share schemes, and are permanently contracted in the UK when you go back.

The way we had to do it when we moved for DH's work was go to a "local hire" job. So he got a big pay rise to bring him in line but due to the other aspects (no rent allowance, no UK pension contributions, etc) we ended up not significantly better off than we were before. That was fine for us as we did it as a lifestyle choice - DH is Australian and wanted us all to live here for a while - but we won't make money from the experience if that makes sense.

Totally second all the advice about bringing your electricals and the adaptors (I ordered 30 on amazon and brought them in the container!).

We were paid our relocation expenses (as much as it cost to ship as much of our stuff as we wanted) so brought all our furniture and everything with us. Most rentals here are unfurnished (the only furnished I have seen are corporate appartments etc which are fine with kids for the first few weeks but wouldn't have suited us beyond that).

Also, definitely bring all your clothes and linen with you!! Shop up and get it packed in the container... Although you can order from M&S (usually free delivery) and it arrives v quickly - ditto Next. A Kindle is your friend as you can download your books at UK prices - my oldest DC (9) has a Kindle too and I get mum to bring books for the younger DC when she comes - or use the library! Book depositry is good though. I also order some cosmestics from Beauty Bay (things that are expensive or harder to get here) and have ordered from Boden (£12 delivery) and ASOS (free delivery I think). I haven't yet ordered from John Lewis, but you definitely can I'm not sure about the cost.

I get mum to bring kids nurofen and calpol as it is extortionate here, esp the nurofen, (could pack a load in a sealed plastic box and put it in your container), same with batiste dry shampoo (but you can get it all here so not really the end of the world, just makes mum feel a bit useful!) Also there isn't a direct equivalent of readybrek, which my DC really like, so she brings that too! Bizarrely it is hard to get applicator tampons here and superplus absorbency don't seem to exist so I really wish I had put a year's supply in our container as it would have made my life a lot easier (v heavy periods)! That will be one of the things I bring back when I visit UK next!

I'm stunned by some of the comments on this thread regarding salary! DH and I are currently living of 110k/year, and feel we're able to live quite comfortably on that. We'd be on 180k if i went back to work, but don't feel like we need the extra money. Maybe we move in different circles...

Food here really isn't that expensive (though I've never lived in London). Of course, it depends where you shop. Local IGAs can be more expensive, as are organic food stores; shopping at Aldi and farmers markets is much cheaper.

Crack away, chloeb
Actually, no. Gravox isn't an option for me as it contains wheat flour. I have used the Orgran GF gravy but it isn't a patch on Bisto powder, and neither our local Coles nor Woollies sell it; but then we don't live in Sydney but a fair way outside of it.
Target and Myers do have sales, yes, but I still prefer to stock up on kids' clothes in the UK where the quality is better for the price.
No one mentioned salad cream? And there is no alternative to sandwich spread.

Aldi is cheaper than Coles and Woollies, yes, but our local one is too far away for me to shop regularly there.

Totally agree on the clothes @thumbwitch, most of my Aussie friends order clothes, books and cosmetics from the UK regularly. You just don't get the same range and value here.

That's it, Mutley. One of my Aussie friends ordered all her DS's school polo shirts (red) from M&S because they were the only affordable ones she could find that were 100% cotton (he has eczema and allergy problems and can only wear cotton) - and she got a set of 3 100% cotton shirts for the same price as she would have paid for 1 here, including the P&P (which was £10 then, although it might be free now, I don't know)

Amazing comments everyone. Really great tips and I am writing a list of everything we should bring (kindle and calpol currently top at the moment!).

Littlebluehermit, that's really great to hear and has made me feel less panicked!

I think most Australians have their heads around eating fruit and veg seasonally, eg strawberries, apricots, mangoes etc in summer, which is good for health and the environment and I think this is a way to manage some food costs.
OP, Sydney can be a pain as it is a big city, but it has the most sparkling beautiful quality which is second to none if you are near the water. I think you said on the other thread that your DH sails - he will think he is in heaven. There are a number of yacht clubs, lots of like minded people, lots of evening sailing after work etc.

M&S deliver for free if you spend over £30. John Lewis do deliver but it's daylight robbery. Debenhams also deliver and I think the flat rate is about £10. Tesco delivers clothes too. And Next is free shipping.

I'm the opposite to some above and I'd say bring white goods. I still haven't recovered from the amount we paid for a washer and dryer .

Ditto about packing nice tampons - they're rubbish here.

Coles has quite a good British aisle if you feel a bit homesick and there's always a British Shop somewhere.

Tea bags are good to pack too if you're picky.

Bring nice stuff from Boots.

Eat plenty of proper chip shop chips before you leave, they're not the same. And curry, good curry is hard to find (certainly in Melbourne).

Hit up the dentist, optician etc and fill any prescriptions.

Oh I'd disagree re. the chips - but I don't know about Melbourne, or even Sydney in that respect, we live up near Lake Macquarie and have some of the best fish'n'chip shop chips!

We brought out white goods (except fridge), in fact we brought pretty much everything! But you can pick a lot of stuff up on Gumtree, especially if you move to an area where people are transient.
Chips are not the same! But the fish and chips are good. I just miss that soggy texture of British chips!

Hmm, were thinking of leaving our washing machine/fridge etc here (as we'll have tenants). Perhaps we'll do that but buy cheap versions here to ship over? Tricky one I hadn't thought of that (had assumed to be honest that they would come part of rental place).

Will definietly eat loads of chips then before we go. What a hardship!!

Look at the Good Guys website first and bear in mind the haggle aspect, including multiple purchase reductions.

If you buy new in the UK and ship over, you might get charged GST when you get here (Aussie equivalent to VAT) - they're on to this sort of thing, sadly. :(
you could buy cheap new for your rental house and bring over your old stuff, but then what if travel doesn't agree with it? Check with rental properties too - I think most rental places will actually supply basic white goods as part of the deal, but you need to check.

We decided to leave our house (rented out) with no white goods as it saved us having to replace them if they broke!! Our UK property is in a high demand area for rentals though so people didn't bat an eyelid at not having the white goods. In fact we left our dishwasher (always provided in Aussie rental properties if there is a space for one) and fridge (too old to bother shipping - may not have worked at other end) - and the first tenants bought them off us....

We bought our fridge freezer here (they are much bigger and more practical than the ones you buy in the UK - although can be expensive).

Yes to fish and chip shop chips - they are never soggy here which I really miss. Plus Indian/Nepalese/Bangladeshi food is v hard to find - much easier to find good Japanese/Thai/Vietnamese/Malaysian though.... And my big issue when we arrived was no decent ready meals - no Waitrose curry for 4 deals or M&S dine in for £10. Nightmare.

Come to our local chippy, Mutley - soggy chips a-gogo here. But the one a bit further away does the best chips - with battery bits in too.

MrsDe - I live near Manly so if I can be of any help, please let me know.

We bought a new fridge/freezer here as our old one was giving up anyway. Definitely bring linen, oh how I miss browsing through the home dept of John Lewis.
As for areas, Mosman is lovely, the beach is beautiful but is very expensive although I don't think you will struggle with your salary and housing allowance. Big gardens are not the norm in Sydney, I guess most people use the space either for a pool or they live in a townhouse type place. Have you looked at schools yet?
Good luck with the move and as I said let me know if I can help.

I wouldn't touch Mosman - highly over-rated, extremely expensive and traffic through there is often a nightmare plus no good beaches

transport to the northern beaches is great and much cheaper than UK commuting. if you pick a suburb on an express bus route you can be in the city in c 30 mins - google 131500 it's the transport planner you can put in your office address and the address to suburb you are thinking of and it will tell you travel times. we live in a southern northern beaches suburb 5 mins from beach and bus in rush hour is 40 mins to central business district 20 mins any other time Do consider your walk from the bus to the office too tho. Ferries are excellent and the fast ferries now from manly cut commute to 18 mins however parking in manly is non existent at best so unless u r renting it's not good to get to. If you rent in manly biking to the wharf is extremely popular

2k a week in rent will give you good choice on the northern beaches - manly is great for the city/beach lifestyle but it is exxie and can be busy plus lots of English people around

lifestyle is amazing there aren't many people who don't love it in my experience

if you are on a 457 visa you will pay for state schools so you might as well look at catholic schools too which are 'private' but affordable. in my opinion education is pretty good.

Retail therapy is abysmal at best I'm loving now that marks next white company etc ship here for free. I nearly died when I first moved here at the terrible shopping.

hope that helps.