Arriving Soon
 

Me, the Mrs and our dog Monroe will be landing in Oz on the 4th January 2019. We are booked for the first month in Langwarrin at an Airbnb. I am looking for advice on how to handle our first few weeks, places to find a rental that will take our dog also, getting a car, tax, medicare etc etc .

All advice welcome.

Re: Arriving Soon
 

Hi, We moved to WA and we did not know a soul in Australia or had ever visited Australia before we migrated. We booked a holiday let so we could have a good look around at rentals, we actually called into estate agents as we could tell them what type of sub we wanted and the price we could afford. We hired a car for about 4 weeks so we could get to know the garages and how the Aussie system worked (which in WA was different to what we were use to in the UK) we visited centre link first to obtained our Medicare cards, we did not take private health insurance but we did for ambulance cover. Changed our drivers licence nearly straight away as it then helped to get as much Australian I.D as possible..(well it did back then) so I would say in order of importance 1.hire a car (if your not living near good transport links) 2 Medicare, 3. Call into estate agents and let them know your requirements etc for rentals ( inform them of your pet..you may have to pay a pet bond but we never had a problem renting with our dog) 4. Drivers license..it helps with I.D and credit. All I can say is that was how we did it and we were all well and good and by February (after we had arrived in the October) we had bought our rental home, had our own car ..and jobs. Good luck

Re: Arriving Soon
 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-...ralia/10015172 definitely get ambulance cover before travel insurance runs out.

Re: Arriving Soon
 

Hi,
I moved to Melbourne almost 5 years ago so I can't remember everything but I'll try to give you some pointers. You'll need to get a Tax File Number which your employer will need for PAYG tax, I got mine over a decade ago when I was here as a student so I can't remember the process but I think it's pretty simple. Locate your nearest Medicare office and take your passport and visa grant notice along to get a Medicare number - you can find the forms you need and locate your local office on the human services government website. Card will take a while to turn up but they should be able to give you a number in the interim.
Drivers license you can just swap over at Vic Roads, but you can drive on your UK license for up to 6 months if you're coming on a permanent residency visa or as long as you like if on a temporary one. I switched mine over after a couple of months because I was buying a car and they told me it would be better for insurance and finance purposes, but wasn't essential. I managed to secure a rental without an Aussie licence. Process to swap them is pretty simple, make an appointment at Vic Roads, they'll look at your UK license, take your photo and do a quick sight test and then give you a paper slip with your license number on until you get your card in the post. I got a car on finance while on a temporary work visa so it's definitely possible to do, I'd been here around 4 months when I got mine as I live in the city and didn't need a car to start with.
Rentals can be competitive depending where you're looking, having a dog won't help as a lot of landlords here are really anti-pet, but there's been some recent changes in legislation in Victoria around tenancies that should help you as long as you're prepared to pay a "pet bond". If you've been renting in the UK ask your landlord to include a reference for the dog (sounds silly but it helps!) or ask your vet if they'd be prepared to put something down in writing about your dog if it's generally well behaved. If you're struggling to find somewhere, it often helps if you can offer to pay a few months rent up front to ease any concerns. That will depend on your job/income situation when you arrive though as I found having an employment reference was enough. Most places here are rented out through open houses and a lot of agencies use a system called "OneForm" for applications which you can complete in advance and submit once you've seen a property you like. Ask questions about heating and air conditioning if you're looking at older properties as lots do not have either (or what they have is really bad!) and you will need both.
Get ambulance cover through Ambulance Victoria, it's really not that expensive (think it's about $40 per year individual $90 for a family), even if you get private medical insurance it'll likely only cover you for one trip a year (if any).

I'm sure I'll think of other things but feel free to ask if you have any questions! January is a great time to move, weather should be great and you'll be here for Australia Day! Good luck!