NHNH2016

Hi all,
Could anyone advise the positive and negative differences between Perth and Brisbane please?

I have only been to Perth once (last July) and really liked the lifestyle (compared to London). Although we were surprised how cool/cold and wet it was during our two weeks stay, it was actually drier in Melbourne which we were both surprised about. Anyways... My wife and I liked the space and laid back lifestyle (call it quiet if you must). I haven't been to Brisbane, my wife has been to Brisbane but it was over 10 years ago so no doubt it has changed.

A move is a foot with my UK employer where a move/internal transfer to Oz within the next year is being sought (visas would be processed by my employer removing the headache and cost).

However, I haven't yet been asked about location! My wife and I (have a 10wk old baby) and would like to stay away from the major cities (Sydney & Melbs), we're seeking a more balanced/outdoorsy/laid back lifestyle.
I work as a project manager in the construction/civil engineering sector (associate director level) and my wife (currently on maternity leave) is Head of Systems and Production within IT - Investment Sector and she hopes to go back to work next year either doing what she is doing or something similar/else. So if anyone has any information regarding our sectors and job security within Perth/Brisbane and is able to provide an insight would be great for consideration.

Cheers

Dorothy

Job security is going to depend on what visa you're coming on. The rest is subjective.

spouse of scouse

If you use the forum's search engine, you'll find many threads on Perth and Brisbane. If you just scroll past the 'my city's better than your city' nonsense posts, you'll find some useful information.

Moses2013

As said, job will determine where you'll be. However, Brisbane for someone working usual office hours would be the worst in my opinion. The big downside I see and hear from many people are the short evenings.


People complain here in UK/Ireland that it gets dark early during winter. Right now sun sets at 18:36 where we are located and people complain. It wouldn't be a downside for someone who likes jogging in the early morning/doesn't work usual office hours, but forget enjoying long evenings, or gardening during the week if you finish work at 6pm.

verystormy

First, I will touch on weather. Perth can, as youexperienced, get cold in winter and it can be very wet. Perth actually hastwice the rainfall of London. Brisbane though stays warmer, but it is humid,which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and can get cyclones. Perth can get extremeheat in summer and 40c days are debilitating – people just move from air con toair con. We lived beach side south of Perth and it would be unusual for peopleto be on the beach in summer after mid-day as too hot. That and the wind comesin then.

Work wise, do be careful assuming that Perth is laid backjust because the city is quieter. Australian’s generally work very long hours –also annual leave is normally only 20 days a year. The big “laid back lifestyle/ more family time” is generally a myth unless you are coming from somewherelike Tokyo. I have lived and worked all over the UK and the world and foundcorporate Perth

I haven’t lived in Brisbane, but probably Perth’s biggestissue is its isolation. You can’t just go for a day out to another city. Thenearest city is Adelaide. About 3000km away! Some don’t seem to mind, but weeventually found it very isolating. It does have things like Margaret River andthe south west, but it does, in my opinion, start to feel a bit like a goldfishswimming round and round seeing the same things time and again. It isn’t helpedby the fact the city itself is fairly small. The total of Perth is huge, but99% are just suburbia.

Next, visas. You will probably be on a TSS visa which isbeing introduced at the moment to replace the 457. You need to be aware this isa temporary visa and you would have to take it in the assumption you will bereturning at the end of it. Depending on which occupation list your occupationfalls in will depend on the terms of the visa. It may be a 4 year visa which isrenewable or a 2 year visa which is only renewable once. It comes with a LOT ofcatches. First, there is no automatic path the PR. Second, it is tied to theemployer, so if you lose your job for any reason, you have 60 days to findanother or leave the country and note not every employer can or will sponsor.Many have a policy of not doing so. The partners of temporary visa holders canhave issues finding jobs as employers are not keen on hiring someone who may,because the main applicant has lost their job, have to leave. Be aware that anumber of states charge temporary visa holders for education. WA it is about$4000 per year. I generally advise people with a family not to go on this visaas it is too unstable. There have been big changes in the last 12 months andmany people who probably expected to get PR from a temp visa have suddenlyfound they cant. There were over 200 occupations removed as part of that. Thereare likely to be more VERY big changes in the coming 12 – 18 months. Certainly don’tdo things such as sell your home if going on it.

Lastly, work, in particular your wifes work. As well asissues on the visa front, Perth has a fairly small IT presence. The biggest bigoffices in Perth are mining / oil and gas. Pretty much all of whom have theirIT units over east in Melbourne and Sydney.

NHNH2016

Thanks, informative and I hear what you are saying about location of Perth.

I forgot about the 20 days annual leave?! What is that about?!

I am glad you mentioned the "laid back lifestyle/more family time" even though I am slightly concerned by it not being so. I guess food for thought.

NHNH2016

presuming that goes for the entire east coast?

NHNH2016

18:30 sunset is that bad...in the UK during winter sun sets before 16:30.

Moses2013

Well, 16:30 is the peak of winter and right now for London maybe 18:00 and later in the west where I am. But you can still look forward to long summer evenings in the UK. Sunset at 18:47 in Brisbane is the peak (summer) and in winter it's also dark at 5pm in Brisbane.


That makes a huge difference if you work office hours and you basically have a full year (apart from weekends) darkness when you come home from work. If I think about it, I'm usually sitting outside the whole spring and summer from April until October and enjoy daylight after work. From a daylight point of view (not heat), the peak in Brisbane is like an October evening in the UK.


This is actually a good read https://www.livingin-australia.com/l...brisbane-cons/

Pollyana

It does get very wearing when you realise that you always come home from work in the dark. Winter and summer alike. No chance of long summer evenings to look forward to. We don't even have daylight saving in Queensland (because the locals believe it fades the curtains, stops the chickens from laying, stops the kids from sleeping and other such garbage).
Back home there were long summer evenings spent ennjoying daylight till 10pm - enjoy a drink in the evening sunshine, walks in the country, whatever your particular pleasure, you could do it in daylight for at least part of the year. Here most people are at work till 5 or 6, often a long commute of an hour or more to get home from the city, and its dark before you get home 365 days a year.
You don't realise how much you miss things like that till you live it.

Beoz

Perth over Brisbane.

Your line of work is all happening in Sydney and Melbourne.

10 week old babies enjoy outdoor lifestyles in the big cities. Not sure where you get the impression they don't.

the troubadour

Only thing I can think off in Brisbane's favour would be it is located closer to where more things are happening being on the East side of the coast.


Perhaps winters are slightly warmer but really Perth is not that cold.


Don't make the mistake that everything is all laid back. Such a common assumption that is largely inaccurate and stress factors remain as high as anywhere here and working life can be darn hard.

the troubadour

I suspect you could flip a coin to come up with better of the two, or being equal in other terms, such as work.


Perth would win out on beaches quite nearby if that is a consideration, although a little over rated especially if the wind factor is measured in.


Both places were impacted by the mining boom. Perth more so and prices reflected that and stubbornly resisted correction.
Not sure which is cheaper now. I suspect much of a muchness.


I suspect the best thing to do is revisit both capitals and go by gut feeling. Too subjective to qualify. Perhaps neither suit your preferred lifestyle.

carcajou

Absolutely concur with this and what verystormy wrote. OP will be working - at minimum - at least as long and as hard as in the UK, but probably longer and harder. I don't know where this idea came from through the years that Australians take a relaxed attitude towards work. They don't. Brits moving here expecting a relaxed pace resulting in better work-life balance will be steamrolled, unapologetically, by the Australian workforce and office culture.

Both towns also have heavy traffic. Unless you work within walking distance of a beach, forget the idea of going for a post-work dip every day, or that you'll be able to knock off work at 4 to go to a beach bbq under the watch of an approving boss.

denzil73

The UK version of a quiet life and that in Australia is very different. In the UK you can live in a small rural village yet when you wish too travel to a nearby larger city for theatre or something more modernit's not very far away. Everything in Oz is far away. Very far far away. Also, holidaying in the northern hemisphere is WAY cheaper and with such choice being so cheap. Even local holidays are more expensive in Oz than the UK equivalent or even a week in the med. So there's that to think of. Don't forget that a weekend in Paris is an hours flight instead of 24-30hrs each way plus the jetlag.

Perth is a nice city but as with Brisbane there is only so much to do in the city and then the rest of the cities are nothing more than massive housing estates. There is very little in the local suburbs bar grocery shops and cafes open till 2pm for lunch and maybe 4-5pm for cake and coffee.

I don't know about Perth but I found the people of Brisbane to be rather redneck and whitebread (racist towards their forefather countries esp the UK). Everyone's different so you may make some proper friends and not just work colleagues/kids school parent get along ok people.
Brisbane has Southbank as a nice place to have lunch/dinner and Eagle Street's not too bad. A few nice upmarket restuarants smattered around the CBD but the CBD itself is a hole with little outside the main mall street of Queen St.

Do you like long summer evenings? I think Perth is a bit better than Brissy but Brissy is dark at 7pm for around a month and then quickly regresses to 5pm pitch black for a good 6 months of the year. And no daylight saving either. If you like the mornings then that's fine cos in summer the sun's up at 3am and, from memory, 7am in the worst of winter.

Weather. Perth is wet in winter and can be cold but not UK cold, although most Aussies houses are cheaply made (yet frickin expensive to buy) with little, if no, insulation and no double glazing. So basically if it's 4degrees outside it'll be 4 degrees inside and vice versa in summer. No AC in a place means you will suffer. Perth gets 40C in summer but it's dry heat.
Brisbane weather. Well the winter days are generally quite pleasant but gets pretty cold at night and same problem with housing and insulation. In summer it's like walking around in atomised honey and that's for nearly half of the year during a bad year but at least 4mnths of the year is the norm. Low to high 30's are the norm for summer but anything over 26C and 50% humidity starts to get yukky and so this will be for most of summer. I started out in my late 20's quite able to handle the heat but after 14yrs I hate humid heat. Dry heats not so bad but also something to think about.

I lived in Brissy for 14yrs after finding love and the honeymoon period, where everything is new, lasted about 4-5yrs. After that I realised how small, pokey and backwards Brisbane was and finally moved to Melbourne. There's parts of the summer that can still really suck but otherwise Melbourne is awesome with nice, open people. Better than the UK yet UK like weather and houses that were made with double skin brick, so keep warmer/cooler, although I'm sure the new builds are just as bad as anywhere else in Oz and have shit R ratings for insulation.

Oh, and for your types of job both Melbs and Sydney would be better suited.