Any Brits moved to Aus?

I took my partner who is British back to Australia for a few years and we only just came back. Nothing to do with Oz she just couldn't secure full time work as a teacher where we were living and got a little home sick.

Dee Why is where we were living btw and we were renting a nice little 2 bed flat 10 mins walk from the beach for £1200 a month. Like all major cities around the world Sydney is expensive so you would want to earn $80,000 or more for a comfortable lifestyle. Public transport sucks in Sydney though.
 
neoboy said:
Considered it myself but I couldn't hack it living in a hot climate all year round!
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Australia is massive, it doesn't just have one climate. The Northern Territory, Northern Queensland and Northern WA are hot all year round. But the further south you go, the more range you get in the temps. You get snow and sub zero days in NSW/Victoria just as you do in the UK.

I have been in Darwin for the last 9 years after moving from the UK and never looked back. I love the Darwin climate with 2 seasons (Wet season and Dry Season and 30-33 degrees all year round). Makes planning outdoor social events a breeze :). I cant really comment much on the migration laws/costs because its changed so much since i did it, but i would recommend getting an employer to sponsor your migration. The 457 visa makes getting over here relatively simple. The 457 gives you up to 4 years temporary stay with the option to convert that into Permanent Residency and then on to Citizenship if you desire.
I quite like the remoteness that people have mentioned. Got sick of the overcrowding in the UK and Darwin was a refreshing change.
 
Xordium said:
I went over there many years back with the intention of staying but I did come back. Outside of the bigger cities it can be redneck central. The cost of living has increased significantly in that time. Now I am not sure about your job but physios and other health care staff are in lower demand now due to the amount of people who have gone over there already. People I know who have gone recently (in healthcare) have not found they were quite so needed as they had hoped. Also there the cost of living and property have shot up due to the rare earth industries. Case in point my friend a medical consultant earns less than a neighbour who is truck driver. It's a great place though and the people are really friendly. But it can get isolated you can't generally pop to another city that requires a flight. If you can swing it with work then do it and give it a go least you can say you gave it a go. We came back due to my wife's mother getting diagnosed with cancer - that really drove home the point about how far away you are. Something worth considering depending on the age and health of your folks and your relation with them. They'll always say just go don't worry about us but you have to live with that decision yourself too.
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My friend had a very similar experience (was also in healthcare). Came back a few years ago but the money was good initially but demand has dropped in recent times. His GF was a physio too and sorted out a job there pretty easily.
 
Depends on your line of work, some good trade jobs aren't being paid as much anymore the hours are longer and cost of living has risen. Office work will probably set you up nicely but its become a hot spot for a lot of countries so demand has dropped in certain trades and prices increased significantly.

This is after seeing my dads friend whose been over there for 5 years now.
 
Australia is an extremely high cost country compared to the UK. Public transport is expensive and terrible. Toll roads are everywhere; you can easily spend $30+ going to and from work a day on tolls.

Property prices in Sydney and Melbourne make London look affordable. If you want to live near the beach you'll be looking at central London prices for at fairly decrepit houses surrounded by backpackers hostels and/or rundown 1970s tower blocks.

The health system is semi Americanised; if you don't have health insurance you get an income tax surcharge, unless you are of low income. Emergency treatment is free but just about everything else you pay a lot for. I paid $75 for antibiotics for my then 3 year old; that was for government subsidised generic medicine.

Most goods have an enormous markup, the 'Australia tax', that means it is often 10-20% cheaper to import goods from Britain or America including postage than to buy it locally; it is cheaper to fly to LA, stay overnight in a hotel, buy a copy of Photoshop there and fly back than to buy it in Australia. On the bright side there is currently a A$1000 limit before import duty or GST is payable on imports.

Australia is about 10+ years behind the UK on online shopping. There is no Amazon or equivalent major online retailer. Many online stores, especially IT ones, charge a credit card surcharge in addition to their high prices.

Economically Australia is slowing down dramatically with the recent collapse in iron ore prices and the imminent closure of the car, and component, industries. However, property prices are still going up 20%+ a year

Don't forget the Australian PM is an idiot of a Sarah Palin level.
 
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US or Canada is more better if you ask me. No where near as isolated, culturally more interesting (although hardly by much), your money goes a lot further.
 
momentimori said:
Australia is an extremely high cost country compared to the UK. Public transport is expensive and terrible. Toll roads are everywhere; you can easily spend $30+ going to and from work a day on tolls.

Property prices in Sydney and Melbourne make London look affordable. If you want to live near the beach you'll be looking at central London prices for at fairly decrepit houses surrounded by backpackers hostels and/or rundown 1970s tower blocks.

The health system is semi Americanised; if you don't have health insurance you get an income tax surcharge, unless you are of low income. Emergency treatment is free but just about everything else you pay a lot for. I paid $75 for antibiotics for my then 3 year old; that was for government subsidised generic medicine.

Most goods have an enormous markup, the 'Australia tax', that means it is often 10-20% cheaper to import goods from Britain or America including postage than to buy it locally; it is cheaper to fly to LA, stay overnight in a hotel, buy a copy of Photoshop there and fly back than to buy it in Australia. On the bright side there is currently a A$1000 limit before import duty or GST is payable on imports.

Australia is about 10+ years behind the UK on online shopping. There is no Amazon or equivalent major online retailer. Many online stores, especially IT ones, charge a credit card surcharge in addition to their high prices.

Economically Australia is slowing down dramatically with the recent collapse in iron ore prices and the imminent closure of the car, and component, industries. However, property prices are still going up 20%+ a year

Don't forget the Australian PM is an idiot of a Sarah Palin level.
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Well sold that man :)
I agree with you re the housing prices and the current PM.

Toll roads aren't quite everywhere unless you are only looking at places like Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. There is much more to the country than those 3 state capitals.

I took a pay cut coming here and cant say i have found myself struggling financially. Plus there is much more to life than money alone. I put the quality of life above that, and personally i have a better quality of life than i had while i was living in the UK.

Australia doesn't suit everyone though, you really have to take a holiday and see for yourself, and make sure you travel around a bit.
 
I am not British but Irish and moved as a 176 Skilled Migrant to Australia 3 years ago, so it would be a similar move.

Western Aus or Perth is bloody expensive and that is where I bought a house. For family's its the best place to raise kids. Problem with WA is it is not what you know or how good you are but who you know that gets you the jobs so its crap in that respects. East like Brisbane, Sydney hire you off your skills and cv so a lot easier to get work there. Loads of work in IT, engineering etc but the mining is taking a battering so a lot being let go there. And no toll roads in WA, buses are excellent here and very frequent and traffic is non existent compared to East or the UK and Ireland.

Medical if your not a Perm resident you need private, but perm residence get Medicare which covers a lot, my doctors are bulk bill so I never pay a penny and the meds are cut in half with medicare. Serious issues are all covered under the medicare at no cost.

Oh and nearly forgot when you use your debit card in a different atm from your bank they bloody charge you 2-4 dollars per transaction.

Groceries and normal day to day items are a lot more expensive but petrol, car costs etc are a lot cheaper. Property is a lot more expensive here as-well but I don't want to go back to Ireland so will keep my house in Dublin rented out.

Get out and get to know people asap and don't get stuck into the usual expat scenario of only mixing with your own nationalities, that will get you nowhere fast here.

Salary wise its good money but depends on what you do and in WA who you know.
 
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Edrof said:
Pretty sure that's in Australia. I'm not dumb!
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New Zealand is a completely different country consisting of two major islands. It is definitely not 'in Australia.'

momentimori said:
Toll roads are everywhere
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They're not. They're really not. There are a few toll roads in QLD and NSW. VIC has only one toll road. There are no toll roads at all in the NT, TAS, SA, WA, or the ACT.

The health system is semi Americanised; if you don't have health insurance you get an income tax surcharge, unless you are of low income.
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The surcharge is called the Medicare Levy. It is calculated at 2% of your taxable income. If you take private health insurance you can still use the public health service, and the government will give you a 30% rebate on your health insurance premiums. My wife and I don't bother to use private health insurance because the public health service here is so good.

Emergency treatment is free but just about everything else you pay a lot for. I paid $75 for antibiotics for my then 3 year old; that was for government subsidised generic medicine.
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Visiting a doctor at your local medical centre is free, as is most standard hospital treatment (including childbirth). If you qualify for a Health Care Card you will pay a lot less for prescriptions, but qualifying for the card can be difficult if you're not an Australian citizen.

I pay a flat rate of $6.75 per prescription, so my monthly cost is around $13. If I didn't have the discount I'd be spending more than $100 per month on medication.

Bear in mind that Australia is quite large. We have three different timezones and it takes at least 3.5 hours (non-stop) to fly from one side of the country to the other.
 
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I moved over to Auckland nearly 5 years ago, to most businesses we are just another state of Australia - it doesn't get quite as hot, but there is nothing here to kill you.
 
Not done Australia, but did 4 years in Hong Kong and now been in Germany for 18 months...so as to whether emigrating is worth it?

Yes. 100 times yes. The actual moving abroad part is easy, just a bit of paperwork. Hardest part is making a new social circle, you just need to put yourself out there, join sports teams, join meetup.com events and the like.
 
It's going to be different for everyone. There's no way to know unless you try it. I came here around the same time with two other British lads. One went home within 6 weeks, the other one went home last month and I'm still going strong. We were all roughly the same people too. I'm finding it difficult now with a relationship breakup and all but it's still worth it for me being here. I envy the people that just breeze through the experience but most will find it a challenge and a big adjustment.
 
neoboy said:
I've a bunch of friends who moved over there, if you can get a good visa and job you'll be loving it. One of my friends ended up pretty much on the opposite side of the country to where she studied abroad and made all her friends and finding it very lonely though for example. Considered it myself but I couldn't hack it living in a hot climate all year round!
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It's 11 degrees in Sydney right now. It's hardly hot all year round.

I moved out here 6 years ago and live near Dee Why. I abslutely love it and would never thing about moving back.

I was transferred out by the company I worked for so I didn't have to worry about work visas and job hunting.

It's a very expensive place to live (especially Sydney) but there are good jobs out there and the lifestyle is second to none IMO.
 
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