pomikev

Do you have a visa ?

Have you looked to see if social worker or nurse is on the list of skill shortage jobs that are needed in Australia at the moment ?

How do you know that will still be the case in a few years ?

ailsacott

Grayling: Again Thank you for your advice, i think you can read as many books, blogs, google searches, but the real advice comes from those who have done it, been there, got the t shirt! So thank you i really appreciate it!

I qualified as a nurse last year, and by the time we do make the move i would of had at least 2 years work experience in my field of working.... I hope this will be enough? Wasnt aware of a min limit? Still not entirely sure which way to go, find work when we are there? Or find work first before we move? Its all very new, but would love any advice you had.. : )

ailsacott

Both our jobs are obviously on the list, i just hope and pray that this will be the case when we move... nothing is ever for certain.

We intend to rent to begin with (We would have saved more than enough to make sure we are ok for 6-12 months)... Then buy when we can confirm an area that we fall in love with, yes i am looking at this through rose tinted glasses, but is there another way too? This is the best thing that will ever happen to my family, (we live in busy central london!) so i want to (try) and enjoy every moment!

Grayling

You need experience to be able to get an independent skilled visa. You can get work Through agencies but I would advise against it. With a family you really need a permanent position. Don't be lured by temporary visas as These are often used to fill unpopular positions which no ones else wants and you are tied to the employer....like it or not.

I also suggest you get some experience in adult MH as that will give you far more options. Try to find a job before you get here......that will be far easier away fom the main cities and more popular areas?

Be careful...MH services here are very different to what you may be used to....some are very good....many are primitive!

ailsacott

Thank you so much, great info : )

pomikev

In what way are you most vulnerable ?

How do you know Nicky was once in your position, for all you know they were a heart surgeon or a nuclear physicist who had high end skills that were actually valuable here, maybe they had the 5 million dollars needed to invest here and so were able to buy residency, maybe they came here on a refugee boat and spent 5 years in a detention center before being given a protection visa, who knows ?

There are a million different stories to yours, not everyone comes here as a middle skilled dreamer, and the situation here is vastly different from the way is was when many of us moved here 20, 30 or even 40 years ago.

those old Paul Hogan ads about throwing another shrimp on the barbie or crappy UK TV lifestyle shows about Australia being the lucky country waiting with open arms to welcome anyone from the UK who wants a better life are not a true representation of reality.

times are hard, jobs are scarce, housing costs are through the roof.

Bernieboy

And assholes like you live there

asher

most people tend to find a job first then look around that area as to where to settle
try applying to hospitals

Good luck I hope you find what you are looking for

ailsacott

Lovely, thanks for that Pomikev.... Not quite sure how to take "middle skilled dreamer"? Bit of an insult, after studying at uni for 3 years, then another 2 training for mental health, now working on the wards assisting doctors with life threatening cases... emm yeah not sure id call myself a middle skilled dreamer, but on the other hand everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Australia is often steretyped yes of course. Easy to do, but not many of us no the real australia, im sure you know better than me..

For me, i see it as a better place to raise my two children. If i am wrong then time will tell, but im gonna give it a damm good go, cos as a parent you have to do what you thinks best.

Moving from a 3 bed house in C London, that my husband and I pay 3000 a month for, no garden, no space, busy road, busy people, traffic, pollution, high council tax, unsafe, gangs, robberys....i really hope the grass will be perhaps be a bit greener for us... : )

ailsacott

Thank you Asher : )

scot47

The need to cluster together with others from the same background has always puzzled me. Seems to happen a lot with Anglos !

Bernieboy

£3000 a month,what part of CL are living

ailsacott

Richmond, nice area, very pretty, clean.... but the quality of life is zero, not safe for our children.

Bernieboy

Yep nice area indeed,and Pete Townsend lives there

pomikev

Sorry to come across so abruptly but you asked for all opinions and I'm just sharing mine, i came here in the late 1980's and have worked really hard to make it work here, I have been poor to reasonably well off at different times and lived in a major cities and regional and remote rural locations.

Life is of course what you make it wherever you are but you seem very convinced that Australia is going to be the land of milk and honey and while that may once have been true I have seen the quality of life and the opportunities for people change drastically in the last 20 years. The gap between rich and poor has grown as wide as the in UK and the USA.

I am just pointing out to you that you may be dissapointed and it's a huge move to make and then find that out.

You say..

What makes you so certain of this ?

If you have a house to sell in the UK and can arrive here with enough funds to buy a house or put down a sizable deposit on one then you may find it's a breeze, but if you come here renting and hope to get a foot on the property ladder on a medium income it may take you some time and you will spend a lot of money in the private rental market in the interim.

Here is a chart of nursing and social workers wages in western Australia to give you a ballpark indication of what you may earn....

http://www.nursing.health.wa.gov.au/...king/wages.pdf

http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/..._Worker/Salary

To rent a nice house in a decent suburb of a capital city you are probably looking at around 700 a week average, in rural areas about 4 to 5 hundred per week.

Being poms you will probably have the air conditioning going a fair bit and electricity prices here are shooting upwards, for a family of 4 you could easily spend 1500 a quarter on electricity, petrol is a bit cheaper than the UK from what my brother in Devon tells me but not that much cheaper and the gap is closing fast, and the distances are huge compared to the UK, cars are also quite expensive.

The food, (and this is only my opinion but many other ex pats seem to agree with me) is pretty average, and can be quite pricey, the sausages are awful, you may laugh at that now but I guarantee you wont find it funny after a few years.

On the plus side - so you don't think I'm totally negative lol....

The country itself is very beautiful, ranging from vast deserts to tropical rain-forest, rolling hills to awe inspiring mountain ranges. there are some absolutely stunning coastal stretches with golden beaches that will blow your mind.

The insects can be a pain in the ass, mosquitos and flies are the main culprits but I have lived here for almost 25 years now and I've never been bitten by a snake and only been bitten by a spider once.

As for raising kids here it has lots to offer and a few downsides, if they are very active, love the outdoors and playing sport then they should have a ball, if they are academic geniuses they may find the state school system a little basic. I have raised 3 children here, the older 2 went through the state schools and we home schooled our youngest (now 18).

If i could have afforded to put them through fee paying private schools I definitely would have rather done that, but i just couldn't afford it.

You will find the social life here very different than in the UK, the local pubs are nothing like UK pubs, impossible to explain that one really but it's a thing I hear ex pats complaining about all the time and when Ex pats return to the Uk it's one of the things they say they missed the most.

Do i regret moving to Australia to raise a family ? - not one bit, Australia has been very good to me, I have had to work really hard and long hours to keep it all together but I used to sit in a tiny bedsit in Devon staring at the rain and dream of adventure and a better life and Australia certainly delivered that.

But i have had severe bouts of homesickness from time to time (more frequently as the years have rolled by) and I am now considering seriously packing it all in here and moving back to blighty for some decent grub and a pint in a real pub as well as being able to be among folks with a good British sense of humour.

My suggestion is, keep an open mind, don't build your hopes up too high and paint a picture in your mind that Australia is a utopia and keep doing your research, asking questions in a forum like this is a good start and as you can see you will get a whole range of answers and opinions that will all help you to build up a more realistic picture of what to expect.

keep us posted on your progress and thoughts and feel free to ask any questions you have.

apologies if my previous post was a bit sharp but as i said i detected the rose tinted glasses were on and i was just prompting you to take another look at the dream and expectations you have about emigrating.

best regards

kev