CORKER

Has anyone found any cost of living tables/indexs which highlight the difference between the UK and Aus. cost of living..????
My parents are in the last stages of appling for a subclass 143...contributory parent visa....but I'm not sure they realise how much it really costs to live in Aus. now...especially with the dollar so high and house and food prices too...a UK pension wil not go very far at all...


ASDA 2 litre milk 1.68p Coles AUS. $3.69
ASDA Sliced loaf 12.5p per 100g Coles AUS. 40 cents per 100g
ASDA Nescafe 1.67p per 100g Coles AUS. $5.14 per 100g


ASDA total 3.48p COLES total $9.23

Corker

Zen10

The dollar is high, but the real problem is that sterling is so low. As a matter of curiosity, how much is the contributory visa and what sort of waiting list is there?

CORKER

$40,000 each non returnable and $14,000 per couple returnable after ten years...not sure about the waiting time..

C
ORKER

Zen10

Thanks Corker - so $94,000 up front and $80,000 gone for ever. I suppose it's better than the US where it costs $500,000 to buy your way in. Just checked the Government website and it says 12-24 months waiting time. The waiting list for those with no money is well over ten years.

CORKER

Ten years ..that must have come down a bit recently..I thought it was about 23 years..

Zen10

I thought it was 15 years, and the thing I read said "well over 10 years" so I'd go with at least 15. It's a non-option basically, unless the parents are under 50, in which case their kids would likely be 20 years old and most people don't emigrate till they are much older than this.

chris955

Disregarding the exchange rate but in real terms groceries especially are much more expensive in Australia, we are finding a huge difference. As long as they are aware of it then it should be fine but they may need to do some belt tightening.

carling black label

I love it here, but spending Sterlring, sorry Sterling really does cause discomfort... moreso when you have worked really hard to initially earn it in Blighty......

Australia; whether its just a really f00kin wealthy country; whether its really just so f00kin lucky globally; or whether it has the biggest cum-uppetence coming its way in the history of human relevance and mankind.......I do not know.......But its great being here in Oz and being very poor in standing to other peeps while on the sidelines waiting for the last FAT LADY to...well give it some......You make your own mind up, i have, and it's great.......to be happy......

Zen10

Real terms relative to what? The only objective and useful measure is the wage you bring home and we find the wages here are significantly - and I mean significantly - higher than in the UK. Thanks to this the outrageous price of food in the shops is in fact affordable. What people on this visa have to worry about is the DISGRACEFUL British policy of freezing pensions and I feel this will make Australia a very expensive place for them.

old.sparkles

I thinnk you would be wrong on the significantly higher wages - my base last year was £44k, and final gross £58k with O/T. I'm expecting to switch that to approx $60 or $70k AUD, so most likely a wage cut.

But I do agree that it's wrong to freeze the pensions

chris955

Yes I would agree, without doubt some earn more and of course others earn less. There certainly doesnt seem to be any evidence that wages are significantly higher in Australia across the board. Obviously the current exchange rate distorts the wages.

Reaver

I think that would depend on your chosen career. As a qualified engineer I would be looking at £35k here, in Aus that would closer to $90k+....maybe you should swap jobs....

.

chris955

It would also depend on what sort of engineer, I know engineers that kill to be on $90k+.

Reaver

If you say so Chris. I've been looking at the job sites for the last 18 months, and lowest paid I saw was for a junior structural engineer at $70k...........but I've only been looking at the degree level engineering jobs.

old.sparkles

Don't have a degree