Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

Good Morning,

My partner and I have started to put the wheels in motion to emigrate to Australia. I am a Quantity Surveyor and she is a structural engineer. We have looked at jobs and would both be earning around the same amount in WA as we are where we are living at the moment (Glasgow, Scotland). I was wondering if anyone could kindly tell me if we will be able to live the same lifestyle in WA as we do in Scotland, on the same salaries we are earning here? I know certain things can be more expensive in Australia (groceries, alcohol etc) but was wondering if it would all balance out? My concern is that we would both need to be earning more in WA than we are here in Glasgow, to have the same or similar standard of living.

I should stress that we are planning on living in the suburbs (possibly Waikiki or Freemantle) and definitely not Perth itself, as I know property can be expensive in Perth.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

What does "wheels in motion" mean?

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

We have submitted the expression of interest and planned out each step of the process on a spreadsheet.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

Hi and welcome to BE :welcome:

I can't help with comparable COL as I've never lived in Glasgow, and in any event I find this sort of question very hit and miss to answer effectively as there are so many variables.

But in terms of where to live, just as an example the two suburbs you've mentioned are chalk and cheese. Waikiki has a median house price of $350,000 while Fremantle's is $825,000.
https://reiwa.com.au/suburb/waikiki/
https://reiwa.com.au/suburb/fremantle/

If you're able to give a bit more detail about the type of property you'd be looking at (house, unit, apartment) and whether you'd want to rent or buy, and your budget we can give you some more focused areas.

Good luck with your plans!

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

Before you go any further, how do you figure this?

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

We have had a look at jobs on various websites that are paying similar amounts to what we are earning now.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

How many points are you claiming in your EoI?

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

Structural engineers generally earn more here than they do in the UK, especially compared to somewhere like Scotland. Not sure about surveyors

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

But how do you figure that they are paying the same amount? Surely you earn pounds in Glasgow and the jobs in Perth are in Aussie dollars?

Totally different currencies and through your research on BE you would know using the exchange rate calc on this type of thing is totally irrelevant.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

Well, let's see the odds of the visa first - which is why I asked about the points total. Very difficult to get the visa these days without significant pre-existing ties to Australia, which OP did not mention. The latest invitation round required 95 points.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

It's been a while since I looked at the skilled migration criteria, but if the OP is applying for a 189 or 190 I don't think any ties to Australia are required.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

No ties are required, however to get a points total high enough to actually be drawn and get an invitation, you need to be able to tick the points box(es) for things like graduated from university here, have Australian work experience, etc.

65 points is what is required to submit an EoI, and unfortunately many intending migrants misinterpret that to think that is what is required to get an invitation - when the reality is that the last time anyone with less than 85 points was invited, it was October. 65 gets you into the pool but it doesn't in any practical sense get you drawn for an invitation. 95, as per the latest draw, is quite high but it has reached that before - most recently in January. Generally right now you need 85 or 90.

Additionally since the EoIs get prioritised by time order - it means that if the draw does dip below 85 points again, those who submitted earlier, will be drawn.

So debating the cost of living in Perth vs Glasgow and the various suburbs is all academic for OP unless they are on a high points total, and not the minimum (or at near the minimum) to be drawn - which is why I asked their points total.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

Thanks for clarifying what you meant when you mentioned 'significant pre-existing ties', I'm sure the info will be very helpful to the OP.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

I am not really up to speed on the visa thing, I would assume a Structural Engineering degree plus some work experience would be good. There is certainly a lack of home grown engineers out there.

Bizarrely in the middle of a pandemic, I have had 2 engineers contact me in the last week through other contacts stating that they have been granted visa's / residency (not looked into which) and can I put their names forward to companies that might be looking. I am not in the recruitment game so those go through to the keeper but it did intrigue me that these people are getting visa's / residency and planning on moving ASAP in the middle of the pandemic.

Re: Cost of Living in Perth, WA
 

We both have relatives in Australia. My partner's dad who is sponsoring us lives in Perth.