scrawni

Alot of people tend to move to Oz but move back to the UK within a couple of years.

Anyone out there that have made the move and have no intention (at the moment) of moving back?

Who really has fell in love with Oz?

Mandy

Bordy

I moved here in 1999 from Scotland & wish I had done it years ago. I live in Melbourne now & love every second of it. So much more to do & see. The weather is fantastic ( yes even in Melbourne ) but I would recommend it to anyone.

Carol in Oz

Been here since 1970.
Love it. Miss family 'back home' and regret that my children grew up without grandparents. But hey. theres no guarantee that we would have been one big happy family had we stayed in the UK!
The only thing I would do differently were we only now arriving, would be to travel around a bit before deciding where to settle. Its a BIG country out there and am still trying to see NSW!!
Carol

ABCDiamond

I moved out to Sydney in 1986, but went back to UK in 1996, because i hadn't really felt settled.
But then came back again to OZ in 2000, and am now totaly settled in QLD. I like it better here than NSW.

I know quite a few who have been here a long time, but never get on forums like this.

Take into account that the majority who frequent this forum will still have strong ties or feelings with Britain. And therefore any surveys or results may be biased. ie: The views of people who have totally settled, and do not frequent here, may not be heard.

OK, so to those who ask the obvious - If I am totally settled, and yet still frequent this site, Why?
Answer: Because I have the time, i'm bored, and I enjoy it

NickyC

I can echo that. I've been here since 1979 and I have only one regret - that my own parents didn't migrate when I was a child!They would have had an infinitely more comfortable life had they done so and my own children would have more family around now.

Other than that, I've never regretted for a second that I decided to stay. I'd also agree with others in that you can easily get the wrong impression from this forum - most people here are relatively new to the country and are still sufferering from homesickness pangs and 'did we/didn't we do the right thing' issues. I know heaps of people from the UK who live here and none of them would ever return.

Megalania

Let the numbers do the walking:

United Kingdom and Ireland (1996): Overseas born: 1,124.0k, Second Generation: 1,522.9k, Tot: 2,647.0k.

UK Long Term Resident: Permanent departure: 3,928 = 0.3% of UK born, 0.15% of UK born + 2nd gen.

Number of Migrants

MikeStanton

Unfortunately, the above figures don't tell us what % of people that returned to UK had been in Oz for only 5 years, 10 years etc. If the exodus (back to UK and other countries) wasn't considered an issue by the OZ government, I doubt they would be undertaking research into it - which they are.

Megalania

So why not go get the good oil and report here?

The way the $A & commodity prices are going at the moment, city based manufacturing will decline more quickly.

Workers not able to shift from manufacturing to resource based and downstream industries or service industries will disappear over the horizon.

Aussiepeter

Came out here in 1973 really struggled the first few years.
Saved up money for a months holiday back in the UK in 1979.
The object to see if i had made a mistake and should return to London.
After 2 weeks came back to Australia became an Aussie.
Everybody i dont expect you to struggle like we did {that story would take up a whole page}but if you
cant see Eastenders without pay tv or toothpaste is not white but blue its not the end of the world.
My advice is adapt or die.
Dont keep saying "Back in England we did it this way".
Crocodile clips are aligator clips here go with the flow.

dotty

You get heaps of Poms here who are 50 60 even 70 years old, they came and stayed, I dont know if back then they had much choice about going back. Could they have afforded to go back if they got here for 10quid, I bet it was sink or swim. now they have a tie here - grown up kids, grandkids, the family.

Then you meet heaps, no hundreds of new Pom arrivals, been here up to 3 years. I'd say most classes in the local primary have 3/4 english kids, being a Pom kid here is not a novelty at all, nobody bats an eyelid.

But I can only think of 3 pom families who have been here between 3-10 years.

invictia

We've been here 5 years in September and would never consider going back except for a visit in about 7 years when youngest child has finished Year 12. Family came to visit for Xmas, nice to see them but just as nice when they've gone, both of us have got jobs, eldest son is in the Australian Navy, other 2 settled in school, the grass is not greener - just a different shade! Really believe that you have to give it at least 3 years to settle, try to do things the "aussie" way and embrace the new culture.

MikeStanton

Because skills are becoming increasingly global, migrants are becoming increasingly mobile. If they don't like it, they end-up leaving. I can think of 4 UK families that arrived in Oz 10 years ago, only one has remained.

podgypossum

I have just made contact with an old family friend who is now 85yrs old... her and her husband have been here 20yrs and didnt come until they retired. I think this was a vry brave thing to do at their time of life. I asked her the other day if she felt it was the right hting to do and did she wish to go back....NEVER!! she replied. Even though here husband died last year after 62yrs married she says she would never want to leave Oz.

She really is an amazng woman... she bought a computer 6mths ago and had never used one before..its now her new hobby, and i get inundated with humungous emails all written in capital letters so she can read the font...LMAO ...bless her heart..i hope i am that spunky at her age!!

ABCDiamond

try to do things the "aussie" way and embrace the new culture That's the crux of the matter !

If you can't do that, then you will be wishing you were back home, but if you can then you will be glad that you are "Home".

I know of more people that have come and stayed, a long time, than I do of those that went back.

Harryh

The main thing that drives people back to Britain from Australia is work. In Australia we work long hours and the jobs are generally not that stable.