According to Mike's stats not only are we more likely to be a victim of crime in Aus but also we are more likely to be involved in a car accident!
I just cant see it.
Less cars in Aus.
Less people in Aus.
Better roads (well in Perth anyway)
Speed limits are lower.
It just doesn't add up.
Im sure stats can be massaged to mean anything.
I reckon if you rely too much on that sort of tosh then you'll be too scared to even venture outside!
Lie's, Damn Lie's and Statistics

Pompeywill have you seen em drive? Its no wonder the roads are more dangerous here. I remember Renth posting that in Perth it is not a bad idea to get a car already dented. At least then someone ele has lost the depreciation because of the dent.

Re ABC's stats on suburbs. I would say that in Sydneys west the amount of crime being reported as well as political manipulation would be factors in discrepancy.

MS figures are more accurate because they bypass the police. They are more irrelevant because they contain no breakdown by region or by type of crime.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bondipom
The regional variations in crime levels make the stats irrelevant. Someone moving from Moss Side to Bondi will be better off as would someone moving from Cabramatta to Surrey.

Exactly what I was just going to say!

It totally depends where you move from and where to. Where we live now crime is very low, much lower than where we lived in England. So for us the chances of crimes are lower here.

Nice to see Australia modernizing the English vocabulary:
Home-invasion thugs threaten to shoot woman: South London Press

Not fun even when fully insured. Now what advice for those commited to living in Sodom?

My advice: don't own anything not riveted down or in time lock vaults.

Hi. Well, I have to say, it was me who asked if there were no 'bad' areas in Oz Only based on what I have heard from people who have experienced Oz. I wasn't really talking about crime as I know all countries have crime. I'm not stupid. However. I have been told that Oz 'is' lovely. I live in a very nice area here in the uk where most people are happy plodding on with their lives. I drive for 10 minutes outside the area where I live and think 'what the hell is this country coming to?' with all the grafitti, houses borded up etc
I am not looking at the prospect of migrating through rose coloured glasses, having had the experience of living in Mexico, the US and South Africa. It is a wonderful experience to live in another country and I want that for my kids. We are the type of people with itchy feet.
I also feel that this country is going down hill, and is more favourable to scroungers wanting to get here for the benefits, health care and health system. If only it was as difficult to get into here than it is in Oz? Myself and my husband have always worked dam hard. He is a self employed builder and has just paid a massive tax bill. He has just had an op on his knee & our insurances dont cover it as he's had problems with it before. He applied to the DSS for incapacity benefit and was told he wasn't entitled due to a gap in payments in 2002 (when he was starting his business up). Now I know this is just one incident but our decision was made a long time ago, but our feelings are that we will be leaving a sinking ship that has let us down. Sorry for going on but I feel the UK has a lot of trouble ahead, remenicent of the Bradford riots.
Maria

I meant housing and health system It's late.

I agree, when we were in Sydney one of our cars was stolen, an old one, not worth much, so we didn't bother to report it. We knew it would be a waste of time.

Would we report it up here, if it was the same car ? I "think" we probably would. More chance of getting it back, just dumped but not burnt out !! There have been cases of stolen cars having been left in shopping centre car parks in OK condition.

most of us are aware that there is crime everywhere in the world, seriously. When they talk of utopia and lifestyle they refer to the more laid back lifestyle, open spaces. Which DOES exist. I don't think Aussies are any more superficial than the types of Poms that you see defining their lives shopping, getting pissed and going to the local mall as their leisure activity. Aussies do that too of course, but we have more choice over here.

Mike's done OK here in the UK because he has the funds to buy it. Most of us ''poor'' buggers' do better in Australia - that's why 90pc of us go.

There are nice areas to live in, in both countries. But many of us hear can afford those nice areas. QED.

BM

There is good and bad everywhere. But people saying they hope to move over here to a nice part that is crime free, isnt going to happen i dont think, as crime is everywhere.
We have never experienced any form of crime back in the UK, but have 3 times here since we arrived. On top of our own experiences there has been now 4 murders in our suburb alone in the time we have arrived. Now i think we live in a good suburb so you cant get away from it. There is a huge problem here with all the normal stuff grafitti is so bad its everywhere, used needles and glue stuff left lying around. But i dont think you will ever escape it all where ever you go, its just pot luck if you are lucky enough to never experience a break on or your car being smashed etc lets hope none of us dont. This is a great place to live but its not heaven by no means
Joanne

Badge there is plenty of choice in the UK just not the kind of choices you like. I find Aussies love the Westyfields as much as the poms love town centres.

You are certainly right about the affordability of housing in nicer areas here.

So many people have predicted the downfall of British Society and legged it to Oz, South Africa, Canada etc. My evil gran in South Africa is now looking at coming back to Britain. Britain is still socially intact and will carry on doing fine.

There seems to be an assumption that Oz's controlled immigration leads to a 'better' mix of people in society. In what way?

Lower crime? Not so.

More employment? Not so, Oz' unemployment is ~15-20% higher than UK.

In fact, reading some of the posts on this site would suggest that Oz ends up with the less tolerant members of society...

Again with the employment the regional variations are extreme. Just compare Wollongong to Sydney or London to Liverpool.

There are enough posters on this site that have been to the optician and picked-up their rose-tinted spectacles. So I provide a different viewpoint. Hopefully, some people will believe that the two together provide a more balanced view.

Talking of which - where did you get the comment that Oz has better quality healthcare?

On poverty, you're obviously excluding "third-world levels of poverty", which you can find if you venture in to the Oz bush.

Does that mean to have negative views about Oz, I should have made no money? I have had these increasingly negative views towards Oz for many years. Having some money didn't make them diminish.

Moving away from Oz for a few years helped to solidify these views (that and the Tampa incident). Simply put, I don't want my children to grow up in the increasingly intolerant, inward-looking nation that is Oz.

Mike where do you get those unemployment figures from?
Last time I checked that out (well it was on the TV) Australia averages at about 8% unemployment.
5-6% on the East coast and 7-8% on the west.
How does that translate to 15-20% higher than the UK?