Unzie85

Hi all, me the wife and our daughter are hoping to move over to Adelaide after my wife has been to Uni doing her teacher training. I am a Maintenance Engineer on traffic signals in the UK but no idea what companies in Adelaide do a similar job or what qualifications I would need so any info or good sites to do research would be a real help.

We have been thinking about the move for a good few years but now we have decided that we defo want a better life for our little girl and the UK just ain't going to be a nice place to grow up in and both me and the wife strive for better family/work life balance.

Hoping the move will be 5-6 years off but I like to be organised so hence the early start on the research, so if anyone can give me any info or point me in the correct direction as to where to start I would be forever grateful as I haven't got the foggiest where to start or what I'm actually looking for. Haha

Thanks in advance

Geoff & Sophie Unsworth
(Usually wet & windy) Wigan UK.

Bermudashorts

On the visa, is your wife doing secondary teacher training? I hope so because visa options are pretty limited for primary teachers. At the moment secondary teachers can get visas more easily, although there is a chance that could change in the next five years due to the huge over supply of teachers in Australia. What subject would she teach? Science and maths teachers are most in demand as I understand it.

As for yourself are you a degree qualified engineer? I think Australia uses the word differently to in the UK, engineers usually have degrees. It may be hard for you to secure the visa unles you are an engineer in the Australian sense of the word.

As to the rest of your post, well there is nothing wrong with fancying Australia of course, we all did on here at one time. And some people end up preferring it and some will not, some will like both countries equally (I am in that camp btw). But most people will say it is something different rather than something better. One first world country will not provide a better life for children versus another first world country.

As for better work life balance, well many people would find the complete opposite, limited annual leave, limited parental leave, limited sick leave even. The work regulations in Australia are far less conducive to achieving work / life balance than the European /UK regulations. You might use the move to trigger you making changes, but you could make changes where you are, it is up to you not the country.

verystormy

You are likely to be the main applicant if looking to apply in the near future.

The first thing to check is if your occupation is on one of the occupation lists eligible for visas. These are called SOL and CSOL.

If your occupation is on one, the next thing you need to look at is what is needed to pass the skills assessment for that occupation. This will detail what qualifications and experience are required.

If the occupation is only on the CSOL, then you would need either state or business sponsorship. So, check each states lists to see if any are sponsoring.

Then you need to calculate your points. You need a minimum of 60.

As for better life.

We have all of the same issues as the UK. Problems today are global and long gone is the time of Australia's innocence. It is no better life for kids, just different.

As for work life balance, Australians work the longest hours in the developed world. We get a lot less annual leave than the UK - the normal is 20 days per year. Many companies will only give 5 days sick leave per year. After that, you don't get paid.

Unzie85

I understand about the hours or work/holidays what I mean by work life balance was the opportunity to spend quality time together as a family after work, in the UK with the unpredictable weather plans are hard to make for after work as it's either cold, wet or dark. As for UK problems being global ones, I know probably nowhere is perfect anymore but believe me the UK is a very unappealing place to live. Thanks for the reality check though it's appreciated.

As for a points score, in the UK being a maintenance engineer iv got some pretty specialised qualifications which are all electrical based, not NVQ qualified electrician but I am thinking of going through that course before coming unless it's not needed? Iv had a quick look and done a pre application points checker which states that I would get the required points, also I have emailed a emigration firm who also believe that I would get enough points but maybe they will tell me what I want to hear? This site from reading responses won't sugar coat stuff!! Failing me getting enough points we would be putting my wife down as main applicant with teaching being on the list of wanted skills and my job being a bit ambiguous.

Getting back to my work, I understand that to work on electrical systems I would need to get a license? How and where do I start with that? Costs? Study period? Application before/after I am in Australia?

Thanks for your no shit response and not tarting anything up I understand all you said and appreciate it, but the UK has zero appeal to bring up my kids and unless you live here you couldn't possibly understand. We will continue to do what is needed to gain access to Australia as this is our dream noone will put us off.

Thanks again in advance.

spouse of scouse

Just interjecting here - you certainly won't get tarted up responses here, and it's refreshing to see that you're up for that, instead of crying that people are being mean to you (we see that a lot!!)

I'm having a giggle about but the UK has zero appeal to bring up my kids and unless you live here you couldn't possibly understand - the people who've already replied to you are British Expats so they most certainly have lived in the UK

Me, I'm an Aussie who's just emigrated to the UK, partly because I hate the burning heat of summer, and am loving the UK winter

I know, I know - nowt as queer as folk! Good luck with all your plans

Unzie85

Part of the reason I signed up to this is the no nonsense approach to the help they give.

Good luck with your new life in the UK.

verystormy

Do be very careful with the online points checkers. For example, many will automatically award 20 points for English language. Even though to get any points for English requires sitting English exams and to get 20 is hard. I have seen people who have degrees in English struggle to get 20.

With regard agents, also be careful, there are a lot of scammers out there. Make sure they are registered migration agents. There are several on here who post and are highly recommended such as Go Matilda.

If you find your occupation requires state sponsorship, be very aware of any special requirements the state imposes. For example, some states will require a job offer before giving sponsorship.

With regards work and licensing, if your occupation is a licensed occupation such as electrical, then there are some threads on here about it. In essence p, each state has their own licensing requirements, so it will depend on where you move to. On average, you will need to work for a period of time as a trade assistant - like an apprentice - usually for about a year. You will need to attend college here called TAFE. You will pay a fair few thousand. It can as a result, be a challenge to find work initially as you are not, in effect qualified.

For lifestyle, we are all expats, we all have family and a fair number have already left Australia and returned to the UK. So, we are very aware of what the UK is like. I have spent almost as much time out of oz in the last 8 years as I have in oz.

Oz has plenty of major issues. For example, the meth / ICE drug problem here is truly shocking - and this is from someone that has spent a lot of time in South America. I was recently working in a town in WA for 6 months, where the police estimate half of all adults are addicted.

Unemployment for young people is attriocious. Where I live, it is closer to Greece proportions than it is the UK!

Crime is a severe issue. WA for example, has just recorded an increase year on year of 17%.

Terrorism and global issues of that ilk are also severe issues that are in the news a lot.

Issues with bad weather / environment are also big. In the last week, huge parts of NSW have flooded and here in WA we have horrendous bush fires at the moment. I laid in bed the other night watching the red glow in the sky as a nearby town was totally destroyed.

Health is a very mixed bag.

The economy is a big worry for many at the moment with climbing unemploymet. Something that is a big issue in Adelaide.

old.sparkles

Picking up on the Electrical license issue, to start the process you would need to get your skills assessed.

Have a look at the Vetassess site for requirements of the skills assessment. They are not the only company doing trades assessment but have been around the longest and have quite a lot of info on their website. There is also a fair bit of info in our Electricians part of the forum - Electricians - British Expats

If you can pass the skills assessment, they will issue you an Overseas Technical Skills Record (OTSR) that allows you to progress to a supervised workers license and access to gap training.

Bermudashorts

I am not familiar with your occupation, so will have to leave those questions to other people.

But on the lifestyle things, well I have lived in the UK for 38 years and currently am there (for the last year). Children seem to be living here just as happily as I saw children living in Australia.

After work plans well firstly Australian weather is every bit as unpredictable as UK weather. I think you need Southern Europe if you want predictable weather, not Australia. Adelaide which you mentioned is a bit dryer than some other states at least, but it does get heat waves, which will keep you in not out. I found forward planning far riskier in Australia than in the UK, because inclement weather here really will keep you inside, in the UK, it maybe means taking an umbrella.

And as for daylight, well thee were not a lot of things that I really missed about the UK when I was in Australia, but top of the list was the daylight, the long days for a significant part of the year. I am afraid you do not get that in Australia.

In winter it will not go dark as early as it does in the UK, but it will certainly be dark by the time most people finish work and get home. And sadly even in the summer there is only another hour or so of daylight left after work, compared with three or four hours in the UK. No daylight and after work options is definitely not all that in Australia. Not unless, as I say, you change your whole life, start working part time or something.

louie

I lived in the UK until six months ago. Am I glad we moved - so far, yes. Do I think children have a better life here, no. Where I lived in the UK (in the south east), most kids and most adults had a good life, as they do here. But in the UK, kids have a much better chance of a career close to home than they do here in Adelaide. If you want a better life for your children and that's your only motivation, maybe have a think about moving within the UK as an alternative to moving 10,000 miles. It could be Wigan that's the problem rather than the UK.

Unzie85

I'm going off how my friends and family live and work in Adelaide which is the driving factor in the move, I know some people will prefer the UK as they didn't settle in Australia and vica versa, the cost of housing moving from Wigan to the South isn't matched by the rise in wages.

The jobs matching my skill set in Adelaide are doubling my wage which stands me in good stead to provide a better life for my family, and as it is 5 years or so before the move I am thinking of doing some extra qualifications at Uni to further increase my potential.

Thanks for the advice

Bermudashorts

I don't prefer the UK, I have tried to make it clear that I like both countries and sorry if that has not come across. I loved living in Australia and I will live there again one day.

But it does not change the fact that it gets dark early and you will not get long summer evenings like you do in the UK. You said something about it being dark in the UK after work and I wanted to ensure you understood that in Australia it will be dark after work much more! This is not a subjective point, you can look up sun rise and sun set times easily enough.

Job wise that sounds good if you can increase your earning potential, some people can, some can't for most probably much of a muchness. Wigan to Adelaide is certainly much more achievable than Wigan to Sydney.

Pollyana

The "dark after work" thing sounds so insignificant, yet k hear it from so many people on and off the forum. I met some Brits today who have been here 12 years and one of the things they mentioned was the early darkness -they are living in Cairns so get it even worse than me in Brisbane. We met in Tasmania, where we are all currently just loving the daylight lasting till 10pm

Bermudashorts

Definitely for me was something that I missed terribly. Did in Bermuda too, which was a bit like Australia in terms of daylight patterns. But OP is not alone in assuming there are long days in Australia. Have see that many times before.

Certainly QLD was worst state for going dark early, especially with the ridiculous daylight saving that they maintain there. In Sydney it is getting dark by 7.30pm in summer, probably a touch better in Adelaide although the half hour time difference might offset that.

Unzie85

No to much of an issue regarding dark nights I can cope with that as the weather is warmer than UK but then again most place are 😂.