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!

chips are soooooo bad

Mosman is not beachy and is great if you're two young professionals in terms of cafés, bars, etc but possibly not if you're a family. Manly and Freshwater (northern beaches) are fab but be prepared for long commute.

We're living in the inner west and love it. It's very residential and family/pet oriented with great schools, cafés and on your budget you could get a great place with a garden. Balmain and Birchgrove are fab and on the water, but not beachy.

I lived in balmain for years and loved it. We're in the next suburb along now as balmain is vv exxie to buy in and we wanted a house rather than a unit.

Also, PPs are correct in that the marginal tax rate is high here at 47% and you need to find out if your salary is inclusive of your 9.5% compulsory super. The cost of living is very high so I would be seeking a corresponding pay rise for the length of the secondment.

Apart from that, I say go for it! I've been here 6 years and love it! Married an australian and first baby on the way so unlikely to go home

ps if you want more info on northern beaches suburbs let me know which you are looking at and I can give you some local knowledge and more in depth answers on lifestyle schools commute times etc - due to my job I'm pretty clued up on the northern beaches and the pros and cons of each

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/living_overseas/2202256-Sydney-MN-meet-up-all-welcome

Just a bit of cheeky hijacking - any Sydney MNers who fancy a meet up, a few of us are arranging one soon, prob Sun 9th November, although not set in stone yet :)

All welcome

When we move back to Sydney w our DCs, we are looking at Killara, as it has buses and trains from the CBD, so we could commute easily. The houses and gardens are v big. Very approximately, the land of avg Paddington properties is 130sqm, Mosman is 300sqm and Killara is 900sqm, all for the same prices (very very ball park).

If I was looking for beach proximity, good commute into the CBD w option for buses or taxis after hours, decent sized property, I would consider Randwick. Bits are bad, but there are some fab houses on good sized blocks, lots of buses into the CBD (limited train network in the eastern suburbs), you are close to Centennial Park (I'm getting homesick writing this), but also close to Coogee beach.

Overall, IMO:

• Northern beaches are too far to commute to w a prof job involving long hours - go on weekends, but everyone does, too, and the traffic is bad at certain timed
• inner eastern suburbs are fab but are $$$ and the closer suburbs to the CBD have small blocks of land. Bellevue Hill is $$$ but v popular w professional families
• Eastern suburb beaches eg Bondi, Bronte etc have transport issues
• North Shore has great schools (inc state), but check train line accessibility. Mosman is v $$$ and the traffic can be dire, so ferry would be better from lower north shore.

When our DCs grow up and move out, I'm thinking Potts Point or Elizabeth Bay flat.

That sounds great, Thumbwitch

Come and sign in on the linked thread, chaircat - then I'll know to PM you with mobile contact numbers if you're interested in coming along :)

Sorry if this has already been said, but are you getting $220k pa and then $2k a week for rent on top of your salary?? In which case you are going to be pretty comfortable. Rent eats a substantial portion of our take home pay (food pretty much finishes the rest of it off).
I would definitely recommend Eastern Suburbs: Bronte and Clovelly are lovely for families and both have really good (non-fee paying) primary schools. DH has a 10 min walk to Bondi Junction train station and then a 10 minute train ride into the CBD. We are between Bronte and Bondi Junction.
Daycare places are a bit of a nightmare to get round here, you have to put their names on the waiting list within days of conception (I'm not joking). Nannies and family daycare places are easier to get. You might have to pay $5k pa for a school place depending on your visa.

Re Eastern Beach Subs, not sure what Belinda's issues with transport are - generally extremely fast bus/train connections. Bondi/Bronte to CBD is 25-30 mins door to door for DH.

Daycare places can be hard to find, as Seymore mentioned, but our relocation consultant found us a choice of 3 places with about 2 months notice (sexual favours?? Goodness knows how she managed it, but it was very impressive!!)

No one is going to say that $220k is a bad salary and you will be just fine on that kind of income, but be aware that if you choose an expensive suburb (Mosman, Bellevue Hills, Vaucluse, Bronte etc) you will find that a large proportion of the families will be on double or triple that, so it's all relative. There will of course be plenty of families on less as well.

Definitely push hard to keep your 30 annual leave days, this can be accommodated (you are going out as an expat right?) Also say you want your super on top of your current salary as that's how it's done in the UK.

HR won't be able to advise your of taxes etc, they are clueless as you say, because that's not their job! If you show you are definitely keen (without fully committing) you should be provided with some time to speak to tax experts (billed to your company of course).

I lived in Sydney on a LOT less than that! I also shock horror lived in the borthern suburbs while having a professional job and partying too hard a lot in the city. There are 24 hour buses that run to the northern beaches, designated bus lanes etc. When I first moved there I took the ferry and while that was lovely in summer in winter it was shit (I knew the ferry wasn't going to tip over but it always frightened me how much of a rock it got!) so I started taking the bus and couldn't believe how much easier and quicker it was (and cheaper). Don't believe just because you live near Manly etc that you HAVE to take the ferry!

The northern suburbs IMO are more family friendly and probably nicer for your DH if he's at home with the DC. My BF (now DH) lived in Surry Hills and while it was very cool - I didn't personally like it and was glad when we moved.

Hi and thanks all! Sorry for the delay, haven't checked this thread for a while and so many more helpful responses which is great.

The rental allowance would be $1k a week and we've been working out whether we could afford to top upto another $1k a week. Sadly with the super being taking into account then I don't think we could, so looking at a rental allowance of $1k a week definietly and then probably we could top up a bit. So, I think Mosman is out!! Lots of other options though and so that's great. Still in dicsussions with HR and Australia and getting v frustrated as just want to either get it formalised or not now. We want to be out there for mid Jan so it's getting tight.

On the 30 days holiday I've been told this is a complete no. I have the option to buy more holiday but I don't think we could do that (on top of losing a salary, tax etc). Also slightly worried what happens to my UK pension and NI contributions when I'm over there (nothing apparently!).

Thanks again all, and will definietly sign up for the Sydney meet up if we get out there.

Just to update you all that we've decided to go for it! We're in the process of Visa applications and arranging for shipping etc with a view to moving out mid/late January 2015. Very exciting and thank you all for your tips and help. No doubt I'll be asking loads of questions between now and then!

How exciting! Pack your cosies in your carry-on it might be hot when you get here!

Oh, and I found stopping for a couple of nights in Singapore made the jet-lag soooo much easier to deal with. Jet-lagged kids are not a good way to start a new adventure and can set a bad tone from the start.

Book some tix for the Sydney Festival when they are released. If you wait until you get here you'll be too late.

Woohoo!! Happy packing!!

Thanks for the tips surfsip. Feeling slightly sick but very excited!

An update from me - our removal company is booked for the 15/16 December which is great. I've got a list of things from above which I should take with me - any other tips on what we should pack in our crate!?

Nothing much. Better off having some spending money to buy stuff here ..... Except pickled onion and prawn cocktail chips...

Just thought I would come back to this thread and update those that are interested. The secondment went through and we are now in Sydney! Amazing.

We arrived late January and have moved to Paddington, which is great. Close to the beaches (have already been to Clovelly, Blamoral, Sharks Bay, Parsley Bay and of course Bondi) and close to CBD. Kids have started school and appear to have settled in quite well and I'm just getting to grips with my new job!

Thanks to all of those who gave advice and tips it was all appreciated and really helpful.

So, count me in on the next Sydney meet up!

How good of you to update, MrsDE

I'm not a Sydneysider myself, but welcome on board.

at the Tony Abbott apology

Great update MrsDe and so jealous, love Sydney! :)

Just discovered this thread. Great to hear that you've made it, am sitting here feeling very jealous right now! We've literally just returned from 11 days holiday in Sydney CBD and Northern Beaches and absolutely loved it and DH is going to explore moving out there with his company as we loved it so much (currently in Asia) so there were some very useful tips in this and fingers crossed we will join you out these soon!!

Also very jealous - we came back from a two year secondment to Sydney almost 3 years ago now, and miss it soooo much! Hope you have a fantastic two years.