flump

Hi everyone,

We are in the shall we or shan't we mode at the moment, We have 4 children the eldest being 15 and the youngest being 6, one of the main reasons for us considering the move to Oz is that we want the children to have a brighter, better future, the way things are going in this country at the moment it seems like there will be nothing for them, (even the local pie facory is employing polish!!) I am pretty confident that they will do well throughout school but i'm thinking 5/10/15 yrs down the road when they will be starting there adult life and having so much competition. I know that all sounds a bit waffled and i'm very confused about it all. And as we have never been to Oz, how they hell do I know that it offers a better future, it would be stepping in to the unknown. Your thoughts and advice(good or bad) would be much appreciated. I don't want to be here in 10yrs time thinking wot if.....

Thanks everyone for reading my waffle.
Claire

DrWho

Wow... That's a big question... And the answer could go on for pages (and probably will from some...)

At the end of the day there's a huge motion for both 'give it a go' and 'hang on a minute, things might not be so bad'...

FWIW I'd say definitely come out here before you make any hard and fast decisions about anything, definitely read this site and any others as much as you can to get a feel for things, and lastly ignore the 15% extremes on both sides of the rabidly pro/con Oz and you'll get a much better idea of what it's all about...

Rod

samnsam

Yours is the exact reason why we are going through the immigration process.
We have 3 kids aged 9, 10 and 11. The prospect of them getting good jobs when they leave school is near on zilch, my friends daughter finished Uni with outstanding results but has been unable to secure work in her chosen subject so is now unhappily settled in Matalan on minimum wage.
Our relatives kids in OZ enjoy school, have plenty of after school activities and this is what we want for ours. We thought that even if when we get out there we found that its not for me or hubby, it doesn't matter its our kids that count. We want them to finish school with Australian qualifications and let them build friendships while at school rather than wait to emigrate at a later date and then they may find it much harder to build friendships.
Good Luck with your decision
Sam x.

nightnurse2

Then just give it a go!
Seriously, it may or may not be the right thing for you and your family, everyone's experience is different, what suits one person, doesn't suit another.
You have just got to try it yourself and see what happens. Then if you don't like for one reason or another, at least in 10 years time you can say we gave it a go and now we know.
We have been here 18 months and have settled well and my kids love it (as do hubby and I). It is the right thing for us at this moment in time - who knows what the future may bring.
Good luck,
Tracey

mad.chef

Hello
me and my family two kids 2/5 years old are also going to australia . well we are awaiting to do our medicals should be soon??me and my wife went to australia 12 years ago at the age of 23 for 6 months. and we loved it all . my small cousins that lived there loved it to . they would do lots of sports at weekends at school(what kid would do that in the uk)and familys were there also . for them it was fun being together doing sports and lots of other out door things. what a great start in life for the children. but can be very hard for us adults with jobs and starting life again.but at the end of the day you only live once in this small world go and give it a go . if it dont work out go back to the uk its only money that you have lost , but you have tryed it and there are so many people in the uk that have never ever been out side of the uk(WOW) but it is very scary well thats what i think i could go on and on but hay its up to you and your family to do the right thing good look
Dave

Buzzy--Bee

Could I recommend you have a read of this thread I started many moons ago -
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=364535



Buzzy

mackinnon

Are the Poles not just taking up the jobs us Brits turn our noses up at?

flump

Yes, i'm sure thats true. I did say i waffled on a bit!!

x

flump

Thanks for that BB, a great read.

hawk2005

For half the wages as well

amanda34

I think firstly from my experience, although it only being just over a month of being here there are two ways of looking at it. Firstly the vast majority of Aussie professionals go to work abroad, mainly singapore and the UK. They buy property in the likes of Perth as it is currently in a boom and cannot sustain the growing population and money coming in. This will only go on for so long.

However, on the upside, your kids will grow up in a much more positive environment, being able to swim after school in their own pool, as most apartment blocks and housing blocks have pools, hot tubs, gyms etc from what I have seen in Perth and even from visiting clients in far out places in NSW.

It is not what you expect, but it is somewhere after just over a month I would rather be than anywhere, with the downs and the ups...the downs being I cant get sugar snap peas and fine beans....only bland veg as they wont import here due their precious crops.

There is no daylight saving here, so even in the summer it gets dark by 6.30 to 7pm, however it is warm and the standard of life is much better.

Think carefully about where you go, I dont know where you have in mind, it depends what you want out of life. Not just for your kids, but for yourself as you have a life too.

I would do it personally, but it will not be easy and fairytale but still you likely wont want to leave, or if you do, maybe its just the wrong place. I know there is a huge difference between Perth and the other Aussie states....yet I still choose to stay in Perth even though a lot hate it

Yes though, one of the reasons I left London was the immigration issue, but it isnt massively better here. You do wonder how when you fought tooth and nail to get in, how it was made so difficult how you still have so many dodgy taxi drivers trying to rip you off and claiming not to speak english

steandleigh

Mmm, that'll be because Australia is a nation made up of immigrants?

amanda34

Well yes, but try telling them that!!! :scared:

I jumped into a cab with a fabulous taxi driver the other week and he had some lady who asked him where he was from, he said Oz. She said, no you are not from Oz, what are you Italian? He said, so where are you from? She said Australia....he said so why do you think I am not?

Point made, but she got so irate he said he had to throw her out of the cab

Amazulu

Getting a degree does not give you a 'right' to get a decent job. UK & Australia have too many graduates. Graduates now do jobs that school leavers used to do. Both countries do not have enough graduates in engineering, medicine, accounting etc. These graduates usually do not have a problem finding work. Meanwhile there is a chronic shortage of tradesmen everywhere as kids don't want to do these jobs anymore.

Same in both countries.

amanda34

However, my point was that I fought tooth and nail, as in I could only get here if I was a professional, that I fit their criteria yada yada and yet I still get dodgy taxi drivers going the long way around and not understanding english.

They make the process so difficult for professionals and tradespeople as if noone but the ones they want can get in and yet it is full of the same issues that a lot of people dont realise in the UK