Hi everyone, this is my first post, but no doubt not the last! We are actively considering a move to Australia - with potential work (unis) being in Melbourne or "the gong" at the moment. My main question is about the cost of living: I have read numerous threads, but I can't get a clear answer - people talk of 2.2, 2.5 and even 3 times your Uk salary. But is this including or excluding super-ann? With the universities paying a high level, it makes a difference in terms of the calculations...

If anyone has any thoughts more generally on the universities in Oz, that would be great, too. I guess things like research support, teaching loads, allowances for conference travel and so on. Is there a big difference between the different tiers of university? Cheers, Scootar

I should just clarify: I have read across the forum that you need a salary in Australian dollars of roughly 2.2 to 3 times your UK salary (GBP). Obviously that is not an exact science, but it is a helpful guide. But do you include the superannuation/pension part of the salary in making the calcuation - it makes a 15-20,000 AUD difference so it could be quite important!

Cheers, Scootar

Hi Scootar. You can disregard superannuation entirely for the purposes of budgeting - you as the employee don't pay the 9% superannuation guarantee, your employer does. For example, if your annual salary is $100,000, all that will be deducted for that is income tax, the remainder is your 'take home pay'. Your employer pays the $9,000 super into your nominated account.

I think you may be thinking of superannuation as similar to the UK NI scheme. It's totally different. There are quite a few thread on the subject here but feel free to ask if you need more info!

Thanks, Spouse! I see that this isn't part of the formal salary. It is purely a question of whether when people mention figures like 2.5 times your UK salary, is that Australian salary or the Australian salary+super. I guess from what you are saying, it is just the salary and you ignore the super completely but I want to double check I have got that right. Cheers, Scootar

Yep, that's correct. One qualification - occasionally an employer will tell you an 'all-up' annual salary figure which included super, usually referred to as a salary package. In that instance, the employer should break down each component of the package, so that you know how much your actual salary is.

Ignore the super. Until you retire, then you might be quite glad of it

....of course, you can choose to make personal contributions to your super as well, either pre-tax or after tax, but that's a whole different story....

This is probably a dumb question but hey I have broad shoulders and can take the flak I might receive! If you are saying that as a guide people should take their UK salary, multiply it by somewhere between 2.2 and 3 times, then that figure is what you need to earn in Australia - in AUS Dollars or in pounds sterling and then convert to AUS $'s?

Does anyone know what the US $ multiplier might be (on average as obviously different States have different pay levels) ?

It is roughly 2.5 times the UK salary in Australian dollars. So £50k would be 125aud.

Scootar

Thank you. Now I just need someone to chime in with a multiplier for US dollars to Aus dollars for cost of living as I am currently in the USA and company talking about moving me. I'd like to have a good idea of what to ask for if what they offer me doesn't sound right!

Actually, i am going to disagree with the other poster. It very much varies on the employer as to if super is regarded as inclusive or not. All of my employers have offered a salary inclusive of super. It is a question you need to ask.

The 2.5 ratio works well, it will vary for people depending on lifestyle and city. For example, if you are in Perth an like eating out and things, then it may be x3. If you are someone happy to just spend a day at the beach and then go home and watch tv, it might be x2, but x2.5 is the average

The other poster agrees that if the employer hasn't specified that the salary offered is inclusive or exclusive of superannuation, then you need to ask.

All my positions have been salary packages, inclusive of super as well as other bits and pieces, but the figures have always been broken down. Job ads I've written to recruit staff specify the salary + 9% superannuation. It would be a dodgy employer that didn't do that, and I suppose there are some around. Superannuation's a legal obligation for your employer and separate from, not part of your salary, so I take a pretty dim view of an employer who'd whack it into an 'inclusive salary' without an accompanying explanation.

Well, it definitely happens. The last company I worked for administered salaries as a package - i.e. amount inclusive of super. However when the increases to super were announced as part of the mining tax package, they were VERY quick to point out that our salary packages would remain the same and that any increases to super would have to be bourne by our salary component - effectively a reduction in take home pay...


S

Bastards

Yup. I'm not there any more now, but I pity the folks that are...


S

All of my jobs - including senior roles in some of the biggest companies in Oz have been priced as including super with no mention of it. When i look at ads in Oz for my work, i generally know it is including super as matter of course - didnt when i first came out and received a bit of a shock. But, i just accept it now.