lisamarie17

My husband and i are looking at emigrating to australia, he is a bricklayer and we have been told that he would walk into a job. is this true? what kind of wage would he earn per week. we are looking at selling everything and taking the plunge by moving to oz, and will be bringing about £60,000 with us. is australia the dream we are hoping or is it just a warmer UK. are we better moving or staying put. we have two young children also what are schools like overthere?
thanks

Jaidee

No matter where you are you still have to get up and go to work, bath the kids, do the groceries........................but wouldnt it be so much better to do all this with sunshine and an outdoor life, great times for your kiddies!!!!!!! Life is full of what ifs!!!!!!!!!!

lisamarie17

are you currently in oz? i have read some postings saying the schools are dreadful, the taxes are high, the country is racist, the food is rubbish, and so is the tv. he basically didnt have a good word to say about the country. he completely put me off moving. i would like a different opinion, there are so many different stories about people moving back, i want the best future and lifestyle for my children would that be in australia though? my partner is a bricklayer, and we were looking at moving to the queensland area. but that bloke also said wages were bad, is this true?

aston man

lisa a little tip from a semi pro..i would say that this time last year i would of wrote exactly the same question..i am just about to move to perth,trust me i have asked every question anyone could think of..

one thing i do know now is,no one is going to answer your question..you alone can only make you mind up by jumping in feet first and trying it for yourself,,or spend at least a year reading everyone for and against australia..if you want it go for it...

i am a brickie,i too have two children and weve jumped in..were off to perth,i have no job lined up and no house.,,all i know is that there is loads of work there,i am looking at 400-600 thousand dollars for a house and i will be averaging about a thousand dollars a week..
its going to be just as hard for us there as here,but i shall have a go...and i feel that my kids will have a better life there..

good luck to you,

ast

Jaidee

Lisa,

He is so right! Only you can decide.

If it is something that you really think you could make happen then why not. By the way, TV is crap over there, but you are not moving half way around the world to become a couch potatoe. Schools are (apparently) real fun for younger kids! Am not there but hopefully will get there soon. Perhaps you should try a holiday out with a view to looking into options? Weve been and cannot wait to go back.

Jaidee

Wendy

Can't tell you if it's your dream or not, because I don't know what you want out of it. It's definitely not a warmer UK, it's nothing like the UK. It is however real life and you will have to do all the dreary mundane stuff you do now.

Schools are schools are schools, there's bad ones and there's good ones.

Tax - make your own mind up on that, heres the tax rates for this year http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/co...85&mfp=001/002 There is no National Insurance but there is medicare, the levi for that is 1.5%, so a lot less than NI contributions.

Racism - I've not seen any, it will exist I imagine but it will depend on the circles you mix with.

Food - food is food. Some things you will like others you won't

TV - well I like the TV maybe you will, maybe you won't.

Work - I can't imagine a brickie having too much trouble getting work out here. Check out what the job situation is here: www.seek.com.au www.careerone.com.au

Everyone will have a different opinion on Australia. Some love it, some hate it and some are indifferent. Only way you'll find out is by looking yourself

themerlin

The key is to have realistic expectations, often read posts along the lines of " I want a 5 bed house in Bondi, I have $120k and want to be mortgage free".
You still have to go to work (in traffic), still have to pay tax pay off home loan and all that other fun stuff.

And no it's not a warm UK

Mark_Rigby

Hi, would agree with other posters that you will have to give it a go to see if its for you. See it as an adventure. Try to be positive and forward looking when you get here. Locals (expats who are settled included) wont appreciate you talking about "home". Get into the Ozzy way of life and take the good bits for what they are and when you come across the bad bits, force yourself to remember the bad bits from home too. Moving here doesn't solve all your problems. You may find your problems follow you here, but I for one am settled now (after 4 years) and would not thank you for a ticket back to blightly. Not that I don't miss "home" of course, especially friends, but I see the move here to have been a great one for me and my family.

In regard to the bricklaying, I can give you some honest feedback from my dad, who bravely moved to Perth at age 55. He had worked as a brickie and towards the end as a site supervisor for over 35 years. He decided that he wanted to go back on the tools when he got here, looking for less stress in his life. My dad has always been a hardworker and still is, but working as a brickie here nearly killed him and he has given it up after 12 months and moved into something else. He found the Australian way of working was to start early, and work at 110% until the sun goes down. It's speed, speed, speed and it doesn't matter what the job looks like at the end of the day, just get the bricks down. It wasn't the hard work in the hot sun that took it out of him, I just think that he lost any sense of satisfaction at doing a job well and he no longer felt any pride in doing a job that he has always loved. I'll hand it too him, although he complained a bit about and for a minute I thought it may have brought an early end to my parents new life here, but he took stock and got alternative work. He works at the Post Office now, it's a huge change for him, but moving to another country really makes you accept change in your life, and he's settling in pretty well now. As I say he's 55, you may have a very different experience. But be ready for the trade to be very different to home. You may feel like an apprentice for a while, my dad did after 35 years in the trade.

On a positive note, there does seem to be a lot of work available and I tradesmen here often earn more than professional white collar workers, so the moneys not bad. Give it a go and I hope it works out for you.

JoanL

If in doubt, stay put, would be my advice, because it can be hard here, though it is the stuff you don't think about that bothers you - homesickness, missing extended family, not feeling you belong. On the other hand, the kids will love it. If they arrive before puberty, they will lose their Uk accents and become little Aussies. After puberty they usually keep their accents.

Regarding specific questions:

Schools are OK...I put mine in co-ed catholic schools, which were great. Fees were easily affordable, and the school atmosphere was supportive. Religion doesn't matter - they have all religions there. My (agnostic) son teaches at a Catholic High School in Queensland: he and the other teachers are very caring.

Jobs - well, they expect REALLY hard work, and i would imagine a building site is very hard. Politics are involved here. The current Liberal/National coalition (Tories) have put in some draconian Industrial relations laws called 'work choices' which many people hate. There could be a change of federal government by November, in which case workplace laws may improve. However, you can't count on anything. Our experience is that bloky jobs are hard, but traditional women's jobs are not so bad: I worked in an office that was very friendly.

They are besotted with sport - mainly rugby league, which they call 'footie', and cricket, but all sports are of mind-boggling importance here.

TV is poor some of the time, but there are some good programs on ABC (their BBC) and the ethnic channel SBS. I don't like sport or Big Brother, or money-grubbing quizzes, which leaves me out in the cold with the commercial channels. In any case, the adverts come on every ten minutes. There's always Foxtel.

The health service is good: they advertise private health insurance but you don't need it. Medicare covers most stuff, and State health departments cover much of the rest. Many GPs are free: the term is that they 'bulk bill'. With others you pay around $35 and get around $28 back from Medicare.

Welfare services are good. Your tax covers sickness, unemployment, and pensions plus much more. It isn't a contributory system like the UK - if you need it you get it. The agency is called "Centrelink"; it used to be called Social Security.

House prices are escalating: Ipswich is reasonable: my three bedroomed detatched low set house (bungalow) with a big garden is worth A$280,000 - ish. A two bedrooomed flat to rent costs around A$250 a week upswards.

Pubs are drinking barns - great for the young, boring and loud when you get older. They are usually dripping with multicoloured poker machines, ie one armed bandits, and the TAB, ie state betting agency TV screens dominate. Oh yes - the Aussies just love to gamble - casinos are in most cities. No smoking in pubs now. Many people do their socialising at home, around the barbie.It is more fun, more family friendly, and more affordable.

The food is terrific: true, there are loads of junk food outlets - the usual suspects, KFC, Maccas etc are all over the place, but so are greengrocers where you can get fresh tropical fruits, and all the veggies you need. There are bakeries with fresh baked bread of every description, butchers with easily affordable fresh meat, supermarkets with everything.

We are in severe drought here in SE Queensland, which is a pain, but the climate is comfy. You have about three to four months when it is stinking hot and humid but you soon acclimatise. Our winter is more like UK summer. Sometimes i wish we lived in Tasmania, or Victoria, but living in Queensland is so easy, I'll not be budging.

I bet I've left you more undecided than ever. The truth is, you can't know till you try it. Why not rent your house out on a two year lease, come here and rent, and see how you go....at least you would be keeping a foothold in the housing ladder, while hedging your bets.

jad n rich

If your going to work as a bricklayer/most trades, work is usually casual/contract/subcontract, your tax does not cover cover sick pay, unemployment, pensions, you need to make your own arrangements out of your pay for all of them.

jensteve

HI
Schools- well some are pretty bad, the system here is different and schools do seem to be a little backward in their teaching methods. However kids here are expected to stay through to year 12, few I have found leave in year 10 unless they have secured a tafe place or have work lined up. Their year 11 and 12 work is very intense and I would think comparable to the UK.

Taxes - well are pretty high, you start paying tax after just $8000, I think it has been worked out on here though overall you are paying slightly less than the UK.

Racism - well you have got to remember it was only really in the 70's any other minority was given rights the same as the Aussies already here, in the war the non european soldiers where sectioned seperatly and not allowed to mingle with the Australians, so thinking about it in that respect there are a lot of people here who are racist and will not advertise the fact. Tell me if I am wrong though anybody please as I have been told off before about this entire subject.


Food - well eating out is really quite good and much cheaper than the UK, food shopping takes a while to get used to, new things are appearing all the time though. Breakfast cereal got me, none of the fruity cluster sorts and the gormet stuff, its just starting to appear on shelves now, hot chocolate, can only get basic and mint! well in Perth anyhow.

TV - well it is pretty crap but at least you can get foxtel

Hope that helps, Australia is really what you want to make it, I love it here and would never go back to the UK even if you paid me to. They have some quirky little ways over here but I don't mind why should I , I can to their country and will do as they do, I don't have a union jack I have an Australian flag instead!

Jenny

Wendy

From reading another post made by the OP, I think she is more bothered about 'racism' geared towards the English

So to answer that question, I've not seen any 'Pommie Bashing' yet and most people I have met are genuinly interested in hearing all about the UK, and why you came here.

Brewerboy1

You mentioned that you heard that Australia is racist towards 'whites'.
You heard correct, we have a real racism problem here directed at whites-they are reallly persecuted hear and are on the verge of being shoved into concentration camps.......stay put and keep voting BNP.

aston man

thanks for that post mate,im just on my way over and have been a little worried about work...to be honest ,i know i should not say this because people are paying good money for those houses,but what you are explaining is a brickies dream.if its quantity not quality,,,,,that means one thing to a brickie......big bucks,speed boats...and a few quid in the bank...

thanks again,,

ast

Mark_Rigby

Fair comment. They use profiles a lot, I think that takes a bit of getting used to, but makes it easier to chuck em down. You hear alot hear that brickies are getting a $1 + per brick, but I'm not sure how true that is or how that relates to money in your pocket at the end of the job.