Am Loolah

I wonder if you good folk can help please. I've trawled through previous threads but can't find specifics on moving from NZ to Oz as a Kiwi?

My daughter is set on joining her boyfriend in Perth in a couple of weeks. She has a NZ passport, Citizen by Descent.

Can she drive on her NZ licence?
Can she obtain an OZ tax code or equivalent before arrival?
Can she open a bank account before arrival?
Does she need to complete anything for medical care upon arrival or before?

Thank you.

Dorothy

Yes, she can drive on her NZ license until she gets it changed over.
No, she needs to be here to get a tax file number
She can open a bank account at somewhere like HSBC or ING now if she likes
No, she can go to the Medicare office (usually connected to the Centrelink offices) when she arrives.

I'll PM you my details so she can contact me if she needs anything.

Amazulu

I would like to welcome your daughter to a 1st world country.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Come on now.. Perth, 1st World.
2nd World maybe, possibly even 1.5... but 1st, nahhh.

Amazulu

2.5 then - and what is Wollongong?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

off the charts mate, off the charts.

Buzzy--Bee

There's actually quite a bit on here about the thousands of NZ refugees escaping for a better life in Oz!!! Just bear in mind that as an NZ citizen your daughter will not get permanent residency in Australia, just perpetual temporary residency. In practice this is not very different but it means that on forms where she is asked if she has PR she will have to answer "no" which may mean getting turned down for mortgages, credit cards etc. A lot of people here do not understand the rather unique residency status that NZ citizens have and lengthy explanations may be needed. As NZ citizens we had very limited mortgages to choose from compared with now we have PR, for instance.

BB

Am Loolah

Thank you for your comments. Having previously moved her from London to Cornwall, New Zealand seemed positively civilised ... But the boyfriend has gone so she wants to follow which is fair enough.

I've told her about not being a PR, didn't realise that so very useful. Sounds like a kind of hiatus status! She's only 18 so many years off applying for a mortgage I hope!

Thank you for your PM Dorothy you're a star.

I am now not so enthusiastic about the prospect of a spare room as the boyfriend is talking about heading North for a job in the mines. Am I right to be concerned if that's their plan?

Buzzy--Bee

I'm sure someone who works in the mines will be along to give you a first hand answer. In my second-hand experience, a lot of mining jobs are FIFO (fly-in-fly-out). This means one partner (normally the male as it is a very male dominated industry) flies into the mines for a couple of weeks work and then flies home (eg Perth) for a week or so before flying back again. If your daughter's boyfriend had this kind of work then your daughter might get lonely in Perth waiting for him to fly back.

I am also not convinced that the mining towns are a good place for an 18 year old girl if she decided to move there with him but I don't know this first hand and I don't know your daughter so I may be very wrong.

BB

Am Loolah

Thanks BB. The FIFO scenario was what I understood too, but I think she thought she'd be doing it with him. I have visions of one horse towns with "dancing girls" to put it politely!!

Dorothy

No, she would not be going with him. FIFO is where the workers fly to remote areas and live in bunk houses with other guys. They work 12 hour shifts 6 days a week for their 2 week time up north then fly home for a week off with their family. (At least that's what our neighbour does) Conditions are not suitable for couples unless they get a rental home in the town closest to the mine site and live up there full time - very expensive and very remote and also no place for an 18 year old girl. There probably will not be much for her to do there unless she can get work in the mines as well as a cleaner or something. Either way, I wouldn't think she would be going with him.

Also, unless he's got contacts or a trade like engineering or something it's not easy getting FIFO jobs. My husband has been trying for the 3 years we have lived in Perth but unfortunately he's not the right kind of engineer. Not to mention he's 44 years old, so kind of long in the tooth for getting into FIFO work.

bourbon-biscuit

Loolah, has your daughter thought about getting her citizenship upgraded? If she meets the residence requirements for full citizenship NOW it might be worth it to save a possible headache later.

Amazulu

It's hardly bunkhouses anymore. This is the current village we are designing/building for Rio Tinto:
900-odd 5x5m rooms with en-suite, AC, LCD TV, Foxtel, movies on demand, 100Mb internet (in every room - the most you can get in an Aussie city is 24Mb) via fibre to the node, VOIP.
Tavern with beer garden
Wet and dry mess
A huge gym
Driving range and golf course
Squash courts
Tennis courts
2 pools
BBQ shelters
Cricket pitch and nets
15 laundries
Disabled facilities
Telstra Next G access
Etc
It's like a f**king holiday resort.

About 20-25% of the workforce will be women. Shifts range from 10-12 hours plus overtime. Rotations will vary from 1+1, 2+1, 4+1, 4+2 etc depending on how much they need you.

It's not a life for me but a lot of people love it.

Dorothy

Fantastic, but not all mine sites are like that. And most (from what I understand) do not have facilities for couples.

Amazulu

I would say none do. Shared accomodation would be off site and if the mine is not near a town, non-existent.