Dh has come home tonight and said he wants us to seriously consider a move to australia!!!!

[Nemo2007]

now it is something we played around with before we had dc and we looked into moving to NZ or OZ. However this has come out of the blue as we havent discussed it in a couple of years with having the dc etc. So what is life in oz really like??? Is it better than uk for the children? Are we likely to find jobs??

We are doing it very soon and cant wait!
We can always come back if we dont like it

I have been told by lots of people that kids are kids for longer in oz and you dont see 13 yr old walking round in mini skirts and faces piled with make up.
We have never even been to the country before but have family out there.

Ask me again in a month and i'll tell you more

lol mmjeozz..I just worry as for us it would mean selling up and going to a place we havent even visited. There is not a lot to keep me in this country [apart from a couple of good friends]

hope your move goes well..

Lol Nemo - you too! Dh has, in the last month, asked me first if I want to move to Memphis, and then if I want to move to Sydney (both with work offers for him).

Would you qualify for Visas? I think it can be quite hard unless you have specific skills that they are short of.

thats exactly what we have done! We have sold our house.
So many older people have told me they had the chance to do it when they were younger and never did, and how they regret it and wished they had.

my dh is also very interested in this. though god knows how he thinks we will EVER afford it?
his skills are in demand in oz.
can the rest of the family just move too if one persons skills are in demand?

yes they can ladyoftheflowers, you have to prove your married or been togther more than 12 months.

My bil moved out there five years ago and has two little ones. They seem to love the way of life, with lots of outdoor activities - but they are also near to family. We are visiting them at Easter so can tell you more then!

There are downsides to life there - the temperature in Sydney last New Year's Day was 45 degrees C all day! They put the kids in Grandma's pool, and fished them out at nightfall. Don't think that I could cope with that heat with littlies around, but I know that others love it.

However, there are lots of Aussie posters on here, so you should get more info soon.

Best of luck.

we would have to sell oor house, which we only own 50% of then get allour stuff shipped over there - megabucks, am i right?
and find a house with no credit rating whatsoever?!

pipedream methinks!

To Lady of the Flowers - if your hubbie's skills are in demand he could try to secure a job beforehand & the organisation will pay some of the moving expenses. We got 10K AUD in this way which didn't quite cover moving us & we are only a couple but it was better than nothing! I guess this only applies to professional/semi-professional job types.

Also to anyone considering the move - general living expenses out here are not that much cheaper, that is a myth. Although having said that, it is just about possible to be a SAHM for a while out here if your partner is on a decent wage & you don't need a 4x4 each, an overseas holiday each year etc

The general advice is to do your research & make up your mind whilst remaining aware that however much research you do it can't prepare you fully for what it will be like. Ultimately unless there is a major reason for not going & you think you can hack it, you might as well give it a go if you are keen!

Come on down! I am an aussie and my DH is German and I tried Germany for a couple of years, so I can talk from the perspective of at least a comparison of the weather and cost of living. So in general I will say that if you are happy to live in the burbs your children will have a lovely big back yard, plenty of parks and plenty of nice weather to enjoy them in. The 45deg day was a serious anomaly BTW Today is 27 which is warm for spring I guess but a couple of weeks ago it rained every day for a week - we probably won't have proper rain now for ages! What you will love is the fantastic and affordable food - both the quality of the fruit veg and meat as well as the eating out options. The friendly friendly people and a thriving expat community too and much much more. I wouldn't sell your house right away but would rent it out and then when you get to Sydney rent for a while till you get a feel for the place and the market. Plus if your DH will be sponsored for a 457 Temporary Business Visa then rent plus some other stuff will be tax deductible, which means you should be able to afford to rent somewhere really nice. Ocean View anyone? We have close to full employment at the moment and our economy has been booming so there is a skills shortage. I would definitely try to get a job and a sponsored visa before coming out and thereby swing some relocation expenses etc. Contracting is very popular over here and pays really well. What does your DH do? Anyway - I am happy to answer questions for you. I used to be in HR and brought out heaps of people from all over the world in my day. Goodluck, Sim

We are just coming to the end of a year here and it has been fascinating comparing life here and life in the UK.
We have swapped an English village for a suburb of Sydney , so a big contrast.
These are some of the things that would affect my decision to live here.

1. cost of living is on a par with the Uk really; property is not much cheaper and rental is hard work. Food is better quality than at home and shopping is easier with lots of local shops which exist alongside the supermarkets.
2. Education in the government system is about 15 years behind the Uk in terms of being mostly chalk and talk, very little ICT and not much provision for different abilities. Expectations academically significantly lower.
3. The outdoor life is here. There is plenty to do that costs very little as long as you are near the water in some way. Kids can do organised sports all year round and there is a huge selection.
4. I feel people are less materialistic(altho' I am not in a desirable area iyswim) and more family orientated. Expectations are lower, but people really put family first and support their children in lots of ways.
5. It is a VAST country and a lot of people we have met have seen very little of it due to cost and time; as a result it can feel very insular and a lot of people live in a little world removed from national and perhaps even state issues. Car transport is essential.
6. I would check out the whole health care and pension side of things. Medicare is a very basic system and you would vertainly need additional cover. Schools provde a lot less for free; contributions are expected frequently.

I think a lot depends on what sort of life you want; if as has already been said, you want to live in the suburbs of a major city you are likely to be able to afford a slightly better house than in the Uk. If however you wanted to be in a highly desirable area, then expect to pay far more.

We haven't mixed with expats, but have just made friends in the community and have found it really welcoming. If you are an avid guardian reader/radio 4 listener type then you might find some parts of the country a little limiting.

Sorry to be long and a little unedited but it's all on the surface at the moment. If you google through the archives, then I know some threads have already covered this ground.

thanks all
will get dh to have a look at this thread tonight. I had a nose on aus visa site and dh works in IT so may be in demand..quite hard to tell, I also worked in mental health prior to becoming a sahm so could look at going back into that work aswell. We dont think cost of living will be cheaper etc we just think quality of living for the dc would be better. I have always disliked this country and wanted to move but one thing after another happened and we didnt. PIL had chance to move to australia and didnt and now regret it and I dont want to end up thinking what if. Will keep researching and getting opinions for a while then maybe look into possible job opportunities after christmas.

we are doing this now

WARNING

it takes for ever

we have been filling forms in since March, have passed one test and are awaiting our visa to be processed

will maybe going in the summer

there is SUCH a demand, our agent says they have a huge backlog (some forms submitted in Dec 06 are being passed now)

we are going to Perth, dh's brother is there and is currently buying his third house, done really really well

friends of ours go to the beach every day, their children LOVE it

We are going out on a student visa! As me or my husband do not have a trade! My husband will study for 2 years it's only 2 days a week and we can both work 20 hours max a week but in college holidays my husband can work unlimited hours.
We can also look for sponsor ship when we get out there.
Our visa was easy and really quick and we did it our selves without an agent.
A student visa, is a difficult and most expensive way of getting into australia but for us it was our only way!

can I ask how much visa costs.

up to now we have paid our agent £1500 + VAT - seems a lot (and it is) but they fill in all the forms - you just sign them - and liaise with whoever on your behalf. And they got BIL in so they are good

then we paid around £400 for the Trade Recognition Certificate

then £900 to send the visa to Adelaide to process

Then you have your medicals - I think they are around £200 (each), then police checks

am researching the cost of medicals and police things now

So far we have paid £160 for the visa, £450 Medicals (family of 4)
£2500 for first term of college and health cover for 2 years.
As ours is only a temporary visa there is no guarantee we can even stay in australia after the college course finishes but we have done lots of research and the course my husband has chosen gives us a good chance, and we also have family out there.
Once we arrive in australia it will make s thing s a lot easier and we can look for sponsorship if we want to.

ours is a permanent visa

friend of ours has been sponsored by a company to go there but he does not get as many benefits as we do on our visa

we can get a grant towards buying a house for eg

The skilled visa is def the best one to go for if you can. Just a shame we couldnt but it takes a long time.
Once my husband finishes his course that's what we need to apply for.

yep, takes eons

my friend on the sponsorship one went for an interview, came home, and they were off within months

have been there 6 months and love it

Dh has just sent off a job application to Australia, as a research scientist. All the info on this thread makes it sound great over there, I wasn't keen at first about him even applying as the distance scares me. How often do you all get to fly back to the UK? It probably costs a fortune too.
Still, I heard from one colleague of dh that his son is allowed to attend classes in maths at one level and other subjects at other levels so according to ability. Sounds quite a good school system but not sure how it works in the end.

A 457 Temporary Business Visa which you can get for 1, 2 or 4 years and extend indefinitely only takes 4 - 6 weeks to get and the sponsoring employer will pick up all of the costs and engage an immigration consultant to work through it with you. The tax benefits of the 457 are fantastic! Rent tax free, living allowance, private school fees, storage, relocation costs - far outweighing a first home buyers grant which may not be available to you depending on the cost of the property you want to buy. If you want to buy property while on the 457 you can buy certain types on the understanding that you sell if you return OR you can apply to the Foreign Investment Review Board to buy properties that aren't normally allowed to the 457. This is a very popular thing to do amongst different types of Visa holders. IME South Africans often did this demonstrating that they intended to achieve their PR as soon as they could and to remain in Australia and apply for citizenship when eligible (after 2 years). Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are expensive for property at the moment, so if this were an issue it would be worthwhile looking into Brisbane and Adelaide, which are also great cities. All this should be verified before being acted on. The best websites are: www.immi.gov.au and www.ato.gov.au and www.firb.gov.au. HTH, Sim

If you get a job offer before coming out & the organisation will process your visa for you (employeep-sponsored), tell them you would prefer to come out on a permanent resident visa as you don't want to have to go through all the upheaval of the move only for there to be possible visa issues in the future. Obviously that would be rare but if you can get permanent in the first place why not? Our employee sponsored permanent visa took only a couple of months & was all paid for luckily. The medical seemed more basic too, strangely enough.

PS Agree with the comment about Guardian-reader types!!