Originally Posted by SillyOldBag

I have nothing terribly useful to contribute (when do I ever ) but I have a thought on the subject of job hunting in Tassie for your husband.

A friend of mine recently moved down to Tassie from Cairns, to Hobart in particular. His wife is the one with the "good job" and he works for a supermarket and has done so for the last 20 years. He had excellent references but wasn't even able to do a transfer down there to the same chain. The move went ahead but after several months of job hunting he was unable to secure full-time employment of any sort in any sector just getting a few casual hours here and there and the family were forced to up sticks again and move back up here to Cairns. He has a very strong work ethic and would have bent over backwards to secure a full-time position. He said that the employment situation down there is diabolical and that's from someone who lives in Cairns where the employment situation has been terrible for a long time!

I'm not inclined to be an angel of doom and gloom and tend to jump headlong into things and hope for the best. I'd rather regret doing things than not doing them .... but to be fair, my life is generally a bit of a comic-tragedy so perhaps I'm not the best role model - actually there is no "perhaps" about it

In essence, midst all the waffle, what I am saying is that I would suggest researching employment options for both of you very carefully before making the move if security is your thing. If however, like me, you like to fly (and crash) by the seat of your pants, then go for it

Originally Posted by Moogle87

Hi all,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read my post

I need some advice on moving to Australia.

I'm 29 & a Teacher from the UK. I have 4 years experience (at present).
My husband is 27 & is a Pharmacy Assistant (basically a dispenser).

We are considering emigrating.

The biggest reason is for a change in lifestyle. Although I love teaching, I am starting to question if I can continue to teach in the UK. To put it simply, it is starting to make me ill & we are also considering how we will be able to have children in an environment where work is expected to take precedence over everything else. By this I mean that in the UK the culture in teaching is not family friendly at all.

So far I have done lots of research into New Zealand and that is an option for us. However, we also want to look into Australia because quite simply we aren't sure if we could afford to live in New Zealand with the increased living & housing costs. Wages are the same as what we earn in the UK.

If anybody could answer the following questions that would be really helpful:

1) How likely is it that I will get a teaching job in Aus?
We were thinking of NSW & Victoria in terms of areas to live.
I teach Business Studies, ICT & KS3 (years 7 & 8 in the UK) Computing.

2) What is my salary likely to be?
I've been teaching for 4 years, but it will be 5 once we move.
I have a degree in Business Studies (2:1) & a PGCE in Business with ICT.

3) Where are good areas for me to look into for housing?
I don't like really hot weather. So although I appreciate that Aus will be hot, where is the weather coolest?
As I said, we were thinking Victoria & NSW, but I'm concerned that it will be nigh on impossible for me to get a job there.
We are also not looking to live right in the city. We would prefer an area outside of the city, maybe 30 mins away.
As long as we have basic amenities like a Doctors & supermarket where we live, that will be fine.

3) Our mortgage at home is £600 a month.
How much would it cost to rent somewhere modern with 1 or 2 beds?

4) What are living costs like in Aus?
I currently earn £28,000 & my husband earns £15,000.
Although in September my wage should go up to around £30,500.

We currently spend around £75 a week on food (2 adults & 2 cats)
Gas & electricity is £75 a month (for a 3 bed, 3 storey new build townhouse).
Council tax is £120 a month.
Water is £25 a month.
Car insurance is £40 for me in a new Alfa MiTO (driving for 10 years) & £35 for hubby (driving for 8 years) in a 2012 Corsa.

There are of course, lots of other bills (eg. life insurance) but really those are the main ones.

However, I've heard that although wages are higher in Oz, that there are a lot of 'hidden taxes' which we don't pay in the UK, but you pay in Oz.

4) If we wanted to buy (which we wouldn't until we'd lived somewhere for a while first) would we be able to buy a house with a 10% deposit?
We have about £25k equity in our home at the moment (more hopefully when we actually look to move). But we will need to use some of this equity to move with. We recently got married and have no savings.
Realistically we are hoping to have around half of our equity left for a deposit on a house.
So would we be able to buy a fairly modern house in a nice area (it does not need to be in a city, we are quite happy to live in a smaller town as long as it has things like a supermarket, Docs etc) for around the $250,00 mark?


5) How easy will it be for my husband to find work?
He is prepared to take a minimum wage, full time retail job to start with & then try & get into a pharmacy role or look at other options later.

Again, thank you for taking the time to read my post

Originally Posted by teza

Reading your postings between our NZ and OZ forums, there's another thing that seems to stick out. At this point I'll add I'm finnish born, lived in UK few years but have been in Oz for nearly 17yrs having married an Aussi. You seem to question on both forums if people know the situation in UK, assuming we are all just aussies or kiwis. The website name "British Eapats" should let you know that majority is from UK and through family and friends as still up to date with UK.
You also question why did people make the move. Truth to be told they either did it few years ago when aussies were screaming for workers, exchange rate was fab and Australia WAS cheaper, or they married an aussie.
Due to some tv shows and rumours from people who want to impress people "back home" people still seem to think Australia is cheap as chips in all fronts. It was when I moved here in 1999, nothing like it now.
And just to keep those previous commenters happy, I love australia, it's my home, I'll never leave it but I'm also realistic, I also have 7 teachers in my close circle of friends, 3 have permanent positions with 20yrs+ exp, one gave up with lack of work to ever teach again and remaining three travel upto 600km to pick up small stints of relief work, one currently ecstatic she's got 17days work in Kargoolie in 5 weeks, well worth travelling for the pay from Perth.

Again, not a hater, just realistic.

Originally Posted by musicalfever4

You should so be aware that the majority of advertised teaching positions is not 100% anymore, if you are lucky you might get 80%, often only 60%, which would also mean lot less salary.
By the way, after 60+ applications I had one offer for a Saturday school (3 hours Saturday morning) - we decided to return back home, luckily I had only been on family leave and not quit my full-time, permanent position!

Originally Posted by Moogle87

Hi tezza,

The reason why I mentioning the situation in the UK is because even with friends & family & the UK they really do not get how bad it can in teaching, obviously anybody in teaching keeps up to date with it all, but everybody else just seems to not pay any real attention to it in the news. Even when you tell them, you can just tell that they think that you are over egging it. I'm not. I do love a moan (what woman doesn't!) but I very much try to say it as it is & be honest about things.

I was under the impression that most people on here would be living in Aus to be honest.

I'm probably being very naive, lol.

& thanks for letting me know about the situation that your teacher friends are in. That is very useful to know.

But as I've said, we would only consider moving if I had a perm position. Its a non negotiable for us, so if I don't get one, then we will not move.

Originally Posted by bimble

Hi there, I'm not a teacher but can maybe help with some of your other points. Firstly it looks like you have many reasons motivating you to move which is great, so just some things to consider:

I'm Australian but lived in the UK for 5 year before moving back with my husband who is British. I've been a nurse for 10 years, and while there are no shortage of jobs, it took 3 months to get a full time job. This taking into consideration that I didn't require any registration or extra study.

My husband is in a similar position to yours, and also took 3 months to find a job, eventually getting one with family friends. It's concerning how long it might have taken otherwise.

Now that we are both working, our quality of life is back on the increase, purely because my wage is so much better here, my husband however is making a lot less.

To survive financially, we've had to move in with my parents for the past 6 months, which is emotionally challenging! So firstly, can you afford to be without a wage for a few months while getting settled?

Our main consideration for moving back was to be near family when it was time to start our own, as in the UK we had seen many friends struggle as their families aren't nearby. Of course many families manage without the help of grandparents and extended family, but have you considered the challenges, especially as it sounds like you will be the main income earner?

In terms of housing as someone mentioned earlier, 10% deposits are possible but impose some insurance fee and are getting harder and harder to get. You will probably find that you rent for a lot longer than expected because of this and the cost of housing.

Lastly I do echo concerns about job prospects in Tasmania, it's not somewhere id recommend moving either without visiting. Can you take a holiday to Aus in summer and visit a few different states? You might find the heat isn't so bad. I hate the heat, we live in Melbourne, the summer has maybe had 4 or 5 really unbearable days, the rest were lovely. Remember as well you have an indoor job so the weather shouldn't be so much of an issue, I'd be more concerned about what weather your husband can handle as he may end up in an outdoor job.

Other than that, it sounds like you are determined so don't be put off, just be as prepared as you can, and don't rule out moving back home if jobs are next to impossible to find, the suggestion someone made about you trying to have a year off might be a good idea as s back up, sounds like your husband would find work easily back in the UK if you did return.

Originally Posted by teza

British expats =British who have moved overseas so yes, most posters are in Australia but originate from UK.
if you're hoping to have a full time teaching position secured before you even move or start the $10 000 skills assesment and visa process then I hate to be the one saying, that's just dreaming.

Originally Posted by Moogle87

Well, for example with the NZ visa I would need the job to help me secure the visa.

I am still young enough to move to Oz with a working holiday visa, but we haven't considered this because of the restrictions.

As I've said, if I don't have a job to go to, we don't move. It really is as simple as that.

Originally Posted by teza

In oz it's visa first, fork out the money for skills assesment, medical, IELTS and visa first, then teaching registration.
Your comment about starting of a family, you are aware that Australia has almost non existent paid maternity leave? You'd be relying on your husbands wages and minimal government support?