Emigration to Australia maybe Perth?

[Sasha1976]

I'm looking for information to moving to Australia to good areas, good rental properties, schools and possibly good beaches. Also nearby hospitals as I work in an hospital.

Just want some advice as never been to Australia but want a better lifestyle for my family. We won't be moving for 3 years until I have completed my degree and my husband his HGV licence, we just need no anything and everything as to where to start and what to look for on starting a new life in Oz. TIA

Hi sasha
Have a look at the Pomsinoz website, loads of info there from different areas to live to how to get a visa. Huge amount of information. Would take far too long to reply properly to you here.
There are pros and cons of Aus, we moved here last year and for us it has been excellent. There is no doubt though that separation from family and friends is hard. It is a very long way from the UK. Perth is particularly isolated.
Whether you can get a better lifestyle here will depend on your occupations and therefore wages. Living costs are on the whole higher here (massive electricity bills, groceries slightly more). But the sun shines pretty much every day so getting out is easy.
Have a look at Coles online shopping so you can see how much a shop will cost, check out rentals on realestate.com, factor in high electricity bills but lower petrol costs. Clothes and shoes are painfully expensive (same pair of Clarks school shoes that are £45 are $140 here). Look at Seek for job searching.
You will be alone without family support to help when the kids are ill.
It'll cost you the best part of £20000 to get here.
In short, figure out what "better life" you're trying to achieve and whether your occupations will give you the income you'll need. Decide if seeing your family once every 2 years is enough and accept that however much family and friends say they'll visit, the likelihood is that they won't.

Sorry if that sounds doom and gloom- as I said, it's been great for us. Just don't come expecting things to be much easier financially. The British pound isn't worth so much these days.

And for goodness sake visit before you move here!! If you can't afford the holiday here to look at various possible places to live, you honestly can't afford to emigrate IMHO.

I echo everything HP said.

We moved here 7 years ago. It does depend what you are moving from as well. We moved from a pretty rough part of the north west, to probably one of the most expensive suburbs in Sydney, so you're not comparing like for like. The friends we have that have found it the hardest are the ones who had a great life in a great place in the UK, and the ones who are close to their family.

It has been a struggle financially, especially if you are not a professional (DH in hospitality and I am a PA). Wages are high but so is cost of living, so it balances out. Unless you compromise on location you are not going to get the big house with the pool by the beach. We live in a 2 bed apartment with two boys but we refused to compromise on location.

Having said that, I wouldn't change our life for the world. The sun shines all the time, we have an amazing group of friends and a pretty comfortable lifestyle, but it does depend what your priorities are. I love where we live, but a lot of people (my parents included) would shudder paying what we do for a small place.

Seriously though, do not move unless you have visited first!!

Another one here who thinks you need to think it through I think it's often looked at through rose tinted glasses and it's not the huge financial benefit I think was once touted about

Location is also important we have been here 3 years and have moved from Melbourne to Sydney already

Don't get me wrong we love t but it's expensive (Sydney especially so)
I have struggled to make any friends especially as only just moved to Sydney
Renting in Sydney is hard

However the sun shines , my daughter loves it , we have an outside lifestyle so wouldn't go back but in a weird way as I miss my friends and family I am bnt sure I would move without thinking it through better if I had my time over

Sorry, don't want to be negative but it's by no means a better lifestyle - those days are long gone. I am in Adelaide which is probably the cheapest city but still the cost of living is horrendously high. You will pay for medical( not just prescriptions but gp visits, tests, contraception, $1000 to call an ambulance and pay for children too) dental treatment, orthodontist, schools (even public have fees and you provide all books and stationery). Public transport is very poor so you will need to run a car too.

The sun shines, of course, but you'll need air conditioning, a shit ton of sunscreen and there's not much joy in a sunny day that's too hot to leave the house anyway!

They have just built a brand new hospital in Adelaide so possibly some job opportunities here for you and the beaches here are lovely. Hopefully you like sport too, there's a lot of it here- playing, watching and talking endlessly about it.

I have been to Australia three times and loved it but I wouldn't want to lived there. So pleased the aboved posters were realistic.
I also suggest you read some online Australian newspapers, and I get Sunrise (Channel 7?) on my phone. You will soon see that there are pretty much the same problems as here, just with more sun.

Whippetty, why wouldn't you get Ambulance membership which is about $100/family/year and covers you all for ambulance transport?

I am Australian (currently in U.K.) and agree with most of what's been said above.

Depending on where you live in the U.K., rent is heaps cheaper in Aus (we pay double here compared to what we would at home, and our flat vs large house with garden in Melb).

Public transport and petrol is heaps cheaper. You have to pay road tax (registration) on all vehicles which is around $800/year.

Insurance is a lot more expensive in Aus.

Food is about the same overall, but depends on what you buy. Some things more expensive but others are lots cheaper.

I find clothes and shoes a lot cheaper in Aus., but I work off the premise that £1 = $2 when doing my comparisons because that's where the pound 'should' be.

Salaries are good, tax is reasonable, weather is usually awesome.

Getting there, visas etc will be the most expensive part. It's not easy to get a visa and I would really recommend getting professional assistance.

Finally, I would never live in Perth. Very expensive due to mining boom and culture is not great.

I love in Perth. I disagree that the culture is not great - this is something the rest of the Australia seems to love saying about Perth. It depends what you're into of course, but we have art galleries, theatres, jazz clubs, comedy clubs, an annual Perth arts festival and Fremantle arts festival. I took up writing when I moved her me as there is a great amateur writing 'scene' (several small clubs that do events etc) whereas there was nothing like that where I lived in the UK.

The mining boom is on the way out. I have travelled to Sydney and Melbourne and did not find them cheaper than Perth. In fact Sydney was more expensive.

Rent has come down massively. We pay $500 per week for a 3 bedroom house (house built 2 years ago and all new fittings) with a big garden and garage in a nice street in the catchment of a great primary school. We are a few mins drive from the freeway so it takes about 10 mins to get into the CBD. It takes about 15 mins to get to the beach.

Life here isn't perfect. Like pp have said, the distance is hard. We have a toddler and a baby on the way and we do feel isolated. It isn't like 'england with sun' - I think Aussies are different to Brits and that difference in culture has made me feel alienated in the past.

There's a lot of money in Perth and I feel that there's a lot of emphasis on material things and how much xyz makes, how much xyz costs (in my experience)

It is crazy hot in Jan/ Feb. We can hit 45 degrees, the kids can't play outside. You need good conditioning!

I find the summer suffocating.

It's a long way from anywhere. You cant just pop in the car for a couple of hours and visit another city.

I don't find the healthcare expensive. Yes you do pay for some doc appointments unless they are bulk billed to Medicare. On the other hand, I can always get an appointment and can book one for whatever day I like - couldn't do that in the UK. We pay ambulance insurance, can't remember how much but it isn't expensive. My dentist does cost me about $150 per visit but the treatment is far better than I got in the UK.

Definitely visit! I moved here without visiting because my DH was offered a job here for 2 years and it all happened v quickly. 6 years later we're still here and have a family. I still can't believe I just got on a plane! If I knew I was moving long term to somewhere I would raise my family I would definitely have visited.

Hope all that helps a bit. Happy to answer any questions you have a out Perth.

Hi CWG17. We do have health cover - another massive expense. But it's something that's taken for granted in the U.K. that in an emergency you can call an ambulance, not rush to check that your insurance is up to date first and worry about the bill if you're without cover.
My daughter had an operation recently- my health cover paid the op but didn't cover the consultation or the anesthetist. We pay close to $400 per month for family cover and still have out of pocket expenses. It's the sort of thing that makes a myth of moving to Oz for a 'better life'. Folk in the U.K. don't realise. They just think of the sunshine.

I just want to echo what people are saying about costs. I'm a pom in Sydney and it's so expensive here. I pay 4 x the amount to play tennis twice a week here than I did in the UK. Fitness boot camp is twice the price as a minimum. Where I live is also very fake and vain so be prepared to feel insecure if you don't look like a bikini model. Saying that, the beaches are great and the bushwalking. I have been here a year and planning to return to the UK in a year's time (DP already lived here when we met on holiday elsewhere). Don't under estimate how much you'll miss your friends. Some days on a lovely hot beach here I'd kill to be having a cuppa with a good friend in rainy London.

I'm a nurse in Brisbane.
Been here 10 years. Wouldn't go back to the uk if you paid us!
Better lifestyle.. yes
As a nurse and truck driver you can choose locations to live. Spoilt for choice.
Rural remote etc..
mines..
Your very lucky with that combination of skills!
Feel free to message me. Sorry not in your desired city, That's never appealed to us. But I can give you advice on moving post registration etc

Thanks for all the input, I've chosen Rockingham Perth as I have friends there and some amazing properties from around $350-$450 and right by the beach, loads of schools too. I will be nursing and I've worked out from what I get payed will be rather high and with my husband also in work we will have a high income. I'm hoping to have around 20000 to help us come to Australia. I just need to somehow figure out shipping my furniture and finding a place to live also job obviously and will come on permanent visa. I have lived abroad before and moved away from my hometown as my hubby was in the armed forces so leaving home won't be a problem for me as most of my family live all over the UK so don't see much of them. And all said and done I easily make friends wherever I go.

Thanks again for all advice.

Not sure how to message people on this app either. I'm new to all this.

Chloeb2002 thanks for your positive comments. I would like to know if Rockingham Perth have a wide choice for hospital jobs or mines where my husband could perhaps get a driving job.

Rockingham has one hospital that I know of. Mining jobs are not in the city, they tend to be 'fly in fly out' to locations north or east of the state e.g. 3 weeks out, one week home but there are varying shift patterns. Id be reticent about that lifestyle tbh if you are left on your own with kids it's hard. I have 2 close friends with husbands who have FIFO mining jobs.

Tbh OP I wouldn't rate Rockingham. It has high rates of crime and unemployment and I wouldn't say it's a nice area. It's also a long way out of the city. It would take me about 40 mins to drive to Rockingham and I'm ten mins south of the city on the freeway. I would look closer in, or go north e.g. Joondalup or Wanneroo where you should get more for your money. Nice beaches up there too.

Ok, well I live in Rockingham and absolutely love it! I live in a beautiful 3*2 with a pool, five minutes walk from Perth's only north facing beach, and only pay $400 pw. Yes Rockingham has a bit of a dodgy rep, but it very much depends on which part of Rockingham. Where I live is fine, in fact apart from one stolen bike we've never had any trouble in 4 and a half years. In fact the locals say let people talk Rocky down, it keeps it affordable for the rest of us! As for it being a long way out of town, its 40 mins on the train to the city centre, but it all depends on where you want to work. I have a friend who works in Fiona Stanley hospital and the commute is a doddle, also we have the local hospital and there is a private one nearby too.

Also when people talk about private health care and medical costs, I've never paid anything and we have several bulk billed surgeries nearby. When my son had a burst appendix the health care was amazing (the children's hospital has a games arcade on the top floor, dvd players and nintendos for each patient, very unlike the NHS!). We find our standard of living much higher here although we aren't high earners. Yes some things are more expensive and converting back to GBP is terrifying, but wages are higher and we are much better off. Anyway, I'm posting in my lunch break, but just had to disagree with the Anti-Rockingham post! Send me a PM if you like, I'm happy to help with local info.

Sorry Glasto didn't mean to offend. I fully admit I don't know Rocko well but it doesn't have a good rep. It may well be undeserved. Agree with every thing else you say re medical expenses and standard of living. I'm about to have a baby and have paid barely anything in medical expenses and had excellent care at Fiona Stanley hospital.

A nice picture of Rocky for sasha.

I am in Mandurah which is about 30 mins south of Rockingham. We moved to acerage from the city a yeat ago and love it. Like somone said above wherever you live there will be good/not so good places. Rent and property has dropped massively since the boom finished. I have met lots of UK friends since we moved and they all said they are here because of the lifestyle. We are 10 mins from the beach, 5 from the shopping centre.

We emigrated to Sydney four years ago and we’re now looking to move to Brisbane as housing in Sydney is so so expensive.

We do love it here and the lifestyle is great, people are happy and optimistic and the sun is always shining.

The only things I miss apart from family and friends obviously are decent customer service and shopping. Here generally prices are higher, there’s less choice and online shopping is only just kicking off.

Healthcare is very cheap if you use Medicare. I had a baby here and the only thing I paid for was an ultrasound. Ambulance insurance costs about £40 a year for a family and fully covers the costs of any ambulances.

Public transport is good and much cheaper than in the UK.

Groceries are more expensive but eating out is cheaper.