Talk to me about Melbourne!

[swimmerforlife]

Have been offered a job in central Melbourne by an old contact, I am currently in the UK. Which I am really tempted to take because I am a NZ citizen (although my DH is British) so I have automatic right to work in Australia. We will have a 7 year old in February and also a just turned 4 year old.

I will be earning just over 100kAU, need a lot of help on suburbs - we really want a variety of cultures, link to tram / train route and reasonably close to CBD, fairly decent primary schools (not private or religious). I have been to East Brunswick before so was thinking that or maybe Coburg or Bentleigh? Only planning on being in Melbourne for 3ish years so looking at renting and not bothered about secondary school.

And talk to me about school enrolment, because if this move happens it will be pretty quick so we could technically be in Melbourne by the end of January in time for the new school year?

DH most likely will not work for the first year because is childcare really expensive (I assume?) and he has low qualifications so will probably not break even.

Lots of questions, help needed!

I lived in Melbourne for 2 years and I miss it there. I don't think it's that expensive living there when comparing to London. Transport is definitely cheap a 2hr train/tram ride for around £3 as opposed to UK which can easily be £30 to £50. Fuel is around 70p a litre, as opposed to UK which is almost double. Australia has lots of Asian people probably more than Australians themselves therefore Asian cuisine like Chinese take away and sushi is half price compared to UK prices and tastes much better and more authentic in my opinion.

@Racecardriver: stressing the distinction between catholic schools and private schools in general.

Actually, more the distinction between Catholic systemic schools, which are pretty cheap, and private schools, which can include Catholic GPS schools like St Joseph's and St Ignatius (both in Sydney, but they are what I am familiar with and will do for comparison) and charge accordingly, that is, like a wounded bull.

There are really good state primary schools especially in the hip inner city areas OP is looking in. I have had DC in both state and private schools and have seen strengths in both systems. Some of them are zoned which means you have to prove residence in the zone to get a place.

Have a look at domain.com to get an idea of rents. The rental market is quite competitive. If you like Brunswick and north Melbourne, have a look at Ascot Vale, Kensington and Clifton Hill/Northcote.

Thanks for the very helpful advice re suburbs and schools, especially re education.

I am fully aware of my lack of safety net in Australia re being an NZ citizen unless by chance Labor get elected next year and changes the rules, a risk I am willing to take as I do have a safety net in the UK / NZ. We are also only planning being here for 3ish years (DH does not want to live out of the UK forever)

To clarify my DH will either be a SAHD (at least until the youngest starts school), then probably part time work on low wages so he is hardly going to bringing in big bucks.

I highly doubt I can comfortably afford to send my kids private on 100k in Melbourne! Tbh I want to save money to spend such as exploring Australia, flights home to NZ etc. Remember I am not going to be entitled to any state benefits, subsidies etc - only really medicare and education.

racecar can I ask why you are so in favour of private schools over state schools? I really do not think I have my priorities wrong just because I do not want to send my kids private. Fwiw I was state educated in the 1990s in NZ (probably similar to the Australian system) where there was no British testing system, fairly relaxed on learning at Primary and little regulation. I become highly educated and so did many of my peers. DH was privately educated in the UK and has flittered between various low paid jobs.

Youngest is born in November so then I am assuming he starts at the beginning of 2020.

OP - SOME state schools are brilliant, and some are crap. You have to move into the catchment area to get into these great schools, and the rental costs will unfortunately reflect this.

@livinthedream - I find Brisbane cliquey (And I have lived here before - so luckily I have friends.) I find it disorganised, the services suck, pretentious, difficult to navigate, etc. It's quite unfriendly in comparison to Melbourne. It's a very clunky city, and if I were to describe it as a colour, I'm afraid it would be beige.

Youngest starts 2020 your 7 yo could go into potentially go into grade 1 or 2 though as in Melbourne it wouldn’t be unusual for him to start at almost 6. I’ve got January borns starting at just turned 5 that’s but a lot of people wait for the next year.

Racecars assertion about public schools is completely ridiculous. Especially at primary level.

I'm from Melbourne and have lived in Brunswick and Coburg. There are some brilliant state primary schools around there. Most are zoned so you would want to rent in the area of the one you like.

Brunswick South, Brunswick East, Brunswick North, Brunswick South West all excellent primary schools.

Brunswick Secondary has a great reputation and Princes Hill Secondary, whose zone covers the southern part of Brunswick, is one of the best state schools in Victoria.

Thats fantastic advice about Brunswick binky, really helpful!

Also thanks notanotheruse

In Australia you really have to privately educate if you want your children to get a decent education

Utter bollocks, though I'm not surprised to see this expressed, as the frankly baffling buy-in to the non-government section of education far outweighs that of the UK. The stats for NAPLAN show that with adjustments for social background, there's little to be gained in terms of attainment by going private.

My DD went to government primary and secondary in Melbourne, and I've been teaching here since 2006.

The Melbs is a great city, and fantabulous regional attractions an easy drive away.

My 2 kids are going through/went through state primary school system in Melbourne and receive an excellent education. Older one has a friend of same age in private school in UK- they talk about the same subjects and same areas so my guess is schools are fairly similar in both countries.
Yarraville/Seddon is a lovely area, as is Richmond/ Kew East. Not sure about rents in these areas now as its a while since we rented.