g10ayr

Hi guys,
I'm looking for a bit of advice if anyone could help. I'm currently a Foster Carer and Adopter but I'm training to become a qualified Social Worker and I'm looking for some information on emigrating to Australia.

I'll be totally honest, I've never actually been to Australia but I've heard so many good things and I want to give my adopted kids the lives they deserve! After such bad starts for them I want them to have the best lives possible and I just don't think I can give them it in Scotland. The standard of life in Scotland is good in the summer but I use the term "summer" loosely. For the last 5 years we've had literally 3 to 4 weeks and the rest of the time it's pretty much constant rain!

I've got a few questions that I'm hoping you guys can help me with so here goes...

1: I was just wondering how long I would have to wait after I get my degree before I can apply for a visa? Some people have told me 1 year post degree experience and others have told me 3 & 5 years!

2: How much can I expect to earn as a qualified Social Worker in Australia?

3: Can someone recommend an area in Australia to move to? Somewhere that's got good weather most of the year and isn't too expensive.

4: We're currently in the progress of adopting our 2nd child, we're both white and she's mixed race, her birth dad is Nigerian and her birth mum is Scottish. I've heard a lot of people mention that Australia is quite a racist country, is that really the case? I'm hoping it's quite similar to the UK in regards to people say we're racist but I've never actually witnessed it but I'm sure it does go on in certain areas.

5: Is there any advice anyone who has already made the move could give us? We don't know anyone in Australia that we could ask so We're literally coming into this blind.

It's both of our dreams even though we've never actually been. We've watched countless episodes of "Wanted Down Under" and the country looks out of this world. Obviously we would come for an extended holiday before making the final decision but any info and advice anyone could give us would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
George.

g10ayr

Sorry I've got 1 more question...

Does my UK University Degree qualify for points towards my total requirement or would it not meet the criteria because it's not an Australian Degree?

Thanks again.

verystormy

First, visas. You need to do a lot of reading here https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/


Look at the skilled occupation lists and see which if any list your occupation is on. Next to it is the assessing body for that occupation. Go to their website and it will tell you exactly what is needed to pass the skills assessment. Then look at the other criteria such as health and age. Then you should be able to calculate points. This is an area you may have an issue with as you wont have any for experience.


With regard to the rest of your post, I am afraid I do worry about what you think Australia actually is like. Making a decision based on watching WDU is like deciding to move to the USA based on watching Friends. It isn't some magical country. You are effectively moving from one first world country to another. It doesn't suddenly improve kids lives. It has all the same issues, pluses and negatives as any other first world country - including the weather! For example, we lived in WA for 8 years and a holiday there can make it seem wonderful. Hot and sunny days all summer. Then you try to live in 40c and realize it is not fun. There is a very good reason why the beaches are often empty by midday - people retreat from the sun.


Put it like this, we are Australian citizens and have chosen now to live in Scotland

the troubadour

Best to take aboard 'Wanted Down Under' is something akin to an advertising ploy to get plane loads of migrants out to OZ.


Firstly it is a very expensive country. No where could be described as cheap of the cities, but Adelaide, gets far fewer migrants and house prices are less than other main cities with the exception of Hobart, but that city at the moment is leading the pack in housing inflation.


Social Work. Not as many options available here compared to UK, and certainly far fewer than Europe. Most employment is in hospitals, but you could be a councillor for a non profit agency, (can be stressful) or work in the area of Child Protection, an area a lot of UK newbies can be found or even Justice Department.


Better for kids? No idea how Scotland is besides knowing of some rough areas in Glasgow. Look it is sunny. That could be better. But the issues of drug abuse and other social evils exist here as well. Probably more so than you may expect.


In Perth we have an increasing mix of population as do all cities. I don't see race being of any greater issue than UK. Certainly Scotland is not exactly known as having a diverse population in terms of race.....expect something along the same lines.

Beoz

Poor Perth. A beach break for lunch.

quoll

Oh dear, WDU? It’s advertising pure and simple. Might just as well decide to live in England based on the bucolic Midsomer Murders.

You haven’t said how old you are but as you lurch towards 45 your options become limited. You could train in an occupation and find it removed from the skills list with little to no warning at any time. I think the years experience varies from state to state but I think I saw somewhere that Vic requires 2 years. Many migrant social workers are pitchforked into child protection which has a very high burn out rate and some reports suggest that Aussie social work practices aren’t great - they certainly weren’t a few years ago but they may have improved by now. Australia is quite ageist btw.

As a social worker you wouldn’t be on a great wage - a quick Google suggests around $62k average but as that is $10k below the national average salary it’s nothing to write home about - don’t be duped by doing a £to$ conversion, the £ is irrelevant in Australia where you earn and spend in $.

Racist? Probably depends where you go.

Hmm, the weather, yup that’s the usual reason for “better life” stuff. Don’t discount that living and working in the heat, which can be constant, isn’t like having a 2 week holiday blitz - it can be quite enervating and you often won’t want your kids outside getting sunburned despite being slathered with sunscreen. If you’re only after better weather you could move to East Anglia, it’s pretty good down here.

Don’t be seduced by the offers of sponsorship either (quite popular with social workers especially in CP) - they’re likely to be only temporary and in some states you have to pay for your kids to go to school. And if your job goes belly up you have 60 days to find another sponsor or pack up and leave. If you’re going to do it go for a visa which offers permanent residence then seek a job when you arrive.

If you have an itch for adventure, don’t mind gambling quite a lot of cash, are prepared to isolate yourself from your extended family and be super self sufficient then go for it but you might think about taking a holiday first just to make sure that it really does float your boat and that you haven’t fallen prey to some slick advertising.

g10ayr

Thanks @verystormy, I've had a look at the website and they say experience in your skilled profession or very similar so I'm hoping that my 9 years experience of being a foster carer will count towards my application. The only other down side I have is that by the time I'm fully qualified I'll be over 40 and therefor be eligible for less points.

I understand what you mean about watching Wanted Down Under, I am under no illusions that Australia is the prefect country. I haven't just watched the tv show and thought that sounds like a good idea let's emigrate lol. I only meant I've watched the shows and I'm very excited about the possibility of the move. Thanks for your concern though but I'm not naive enough to let a tv show influence such a huge decision.

Thanks @ the troubadour, Yeah I get what you mean about the advertising ploy of the show. I think it came across in my original post that the show was the only reason I wanted to emigrate but of course it isn't. I've never seen my future or my families future in Scotland, I've always envisioned us living in a warmer climate, the weather is just one of many reasons we're wanting to move.

I'll have a look into Adelaide and see what info I can find about that, thanks ver much

@Quoll Kind of wish I had never mentioned bloody WDU now though with the amount of grief I'm getting over it I take it that's a touchy subject on here

I'l be 40 when i qualify but that's without any on the job Social Work experience. I'll have 9 years experience of being a Foster Carer and working as part of a social work team so fingers crossed they'll take that as previous experience. I've checked lots of countries lists of skilled occupations and social worker has been on every one so I'm hopeful I'll be able to get into Australia as a social worker.

I must admit though that I'm really surprised about the wage of a qualified social worker in Australia! I've heard of painter and decorators and tilers earning over $90k so I'm very surprised going to uni and getting a degree to become "a professional" will earn me significantly less than a tradesman. Nothing against tradesman, I used to be a handyman before I became a foster carer and my Dad is a refrigeration engineer but I really expected a degree in social work to yield a bigger wage than $10k below the national average! I know it's not a very well paid job over here either but everyone's wage seems to be much higher than the UK except social workers. I'd be interested to hear from anyone on here what their wage is, not that I don't trust your answer I just don't trust Google (and WDU)

quoll

http://https://www.payscale.com/rese..._Worker/Salary data comes from a lot of submissions. Pay scales depend on location too but the swings and roundabouts mean that if you earn more it’ll cost you a hell of a lot more to live there. If you work for an NGO there may be salary sacrifices which might make your dollar go further. Tradies are pretty well paid and many of them make more than a new graduate which is what you’ll be - your peers will be 21 year olds who’ve just qualified and with, generally, far fewer responsibilities than you.

They generally consider experience to be post training so I doubt there will be professional experience credit for your fostering but it’ll look good on your cv for life experience. I think you can expect to have completed at least a couple of years of post qualification professional practice.

Glad you see WDU for what it is, many people don’t;-) some people even think H&A is a good picture of what goes on and don’t get me started on Neighbours.

g10ayr

You mean Neighbours isn't representative of life in Australia? That's it I'm not coming

Yeah that's a good point about my peers, I hadn't really considered that. When I imagine myself working in Australia I imagine myself as the younger graduates senior but in reality many of them may actually have more post graduate experience than me. One thing I do have which most others won't is a view from almost all angles being a foster carer, an adopter and having children who have gone through the system and came out the other end. I also have the experience of working with the kids families which will also be good for the CV. I'm hoping that I'll be able to climb the ladder reasonably quickly because of my previous experience helping me to try and make up the difference in wage.

If only I could get in as a plumber or tiler like i used to be but unfortunately I am self taught and don't have any apprenticeships or professional training that I could use to help my application.

Dorothy

What qualifications do foster carers need in Scotland? Is it a university course with a degree/diploma attached? If not, unfortunately your experience will not count as far as a visa is concerned. Only skilled experience, i.e. experience that has a formal training component is considered.

I would suggest that you have a consultation with a good migration agent (personally I would recommend George Lombard in Sydney) about whether you might even quality and what difficulties you might encounter with the adopted children. Yours is not a straightforward sounding case and I would take professional advice.

If you are looking with clear ideas of what Australia is and isn't then it's possible to make it work without visiting. My family moved to Australia in 2006 with never having been there. My now ex husband is very happy with the choice. I have been less content and in a few years will be moving back to Canada (where I'm from), albeit to a different part of the country and with my British/Australian partner.

rasen78

We live a few kms south of Adelaide so I can give you a bit of info. With regards social work, I have no knowledge of that, but if you look on Seek.com.au, careerone.com.au or jobsearch.com.au for Adelaide you should see what is available. A quick google will show you local organisations and I would suggest contacting them directly to find out what they have available and what their requirements are.

So, onto the weather. Adelaide is classed as similar to a Mediterranean climate. However, it is probably a bit more extreme than that. We are just coming to the end of another period of extended 30+ degree days, with today, tomorrow and Friday forecast to be 38 degrees. Lat week we had 10 consecutive days of 30+ degrees with many of them over 35 degrees. We have a drier climate, which I prefer to humid, but have noticed an increase in humidity in the 5 years we have been here. Temps sound great, but if you have to work in these conditions, it gets wearing.

It's not unusual for us to have 40 degree day and then for it to cool down to the mid teens in less than 24 hours.

We have beautiful blue skies, but we can also get very dry, hot winds coming from the north, or very cold, biting winds coming for the antarctic - even in the height of summer.

Winter temps rarely go below zero (occasionally in the hills), but houses have no central heating, double glazing or decent insulation, so houses get cold very quickly and lose any heat incredibly quickly. Quite often, it is warmer outside than inside. I once swore I would never own an electric blanket. The first winter we were here, I went out and bought them for all the beds. I love my electric blanket now!

SA is known as the dry state, for a reason. We have very little rainfall, but when we do you, know about it. For some reason, the stormwater systems and drainage systems are just not designed to deal with these annual deluges so most years, there is some part of Adelaide that gets flooded.

I love Adelaide, and think it is a beautiful city, with a lot of improvements, growth and investment happening. It's location is fab, close to beaches, surrounded by arguably some of the best wineries in the world and is becoming renowned for its gastronomy, have fabulous festivals including the arts, comedy, music and has some great sports here too.

But, there is a reality, which I recommend researching. We are lucky in that my husband secured a job before we moved here, and I was able to get a job within a few weeks of looking - I've just celebrated my 5th anniversary with them. But, I have friends who have been struggling to find work. Some areas are struggling economically.

Good luck.

moneypenny20

If you have any visa related questions, please post them in the Immi Forum where you'll find and receive more detailed info - once you've studied the official DIBP or whatever it's called this week website.

Shamie

Hey George. I'm mixed race just like your daughter and being born in England, l had my fair share of name calling but then the samething happened when l moved to Zimbabwe ( l was much lighter skinned than the other kids).

You just need to make sure she is content and accepts her ethnicity. Moving to Oz will be no different. l think peoples attitudes really can't be stereotyped in line with nationality or ethnicity.

I've lived in Scotland for 6 yrs now and I've had a few racial slurs but that was just water off a ducks back. I really don't have time to absorb such nonsense. Enlighten her as soon as possible about these awful ideologies. Knowledge is power.

However, I'm certain that 99.9% of the time her ethnicity will not be an issue, especially if she has so much love around her at home and besides she will assimilate very well with Aussie life at a young age.

I'm hoping to move there along with my kids who are are mix of English,Scottish,South African,Zimbabwean and Dutch.

Good luck with the course.

Pulaski

I think he's talking about it being experience to help "climb the ladder reasonably quickly ....", not to meet the visa requirements.

Personally though I would be doubtful the experience as a foster parent would help much in career advancement.

quoll

I tend to agree. Having to toe the bureaucratic party line as a professional when your heart is probably on the side of the client can be difficult. Nothing beats local experience, local network and understanding of local culture.