Emigrate to Oz
 

Me my wife and 3 children are hoping to move to Australia within the next 18months I am a community worker for the nhs and my wife is a mental health staff nurse we would like advice on best region of Oz to settle in we are very excited and wanted to emigtrate for many years but waited while our children got a little older we are 39 and 38 respectively and kids are 9 7 and 3.
We would plan to rent for two years with a view to buy.
All advice welcome.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

If you want good information you have to give good information. What is it you're looking for over here? Land? Sea? Hot & humid? Hot and dry? Remote? Big city? Australia's massive, so without some sort of indication of what you're looking for I could say "Oh, Tom Price is an excellent choice" but in reality you're looking for Hobart.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

There is no best place in Australia! No more than there is a best place in the UK, it is subjective and ten people would give ten different answers.

In your occupations you can probably work most places so that won't narrow down your search much. So you need to think about the points of difference between each state to start with.

Points of difference will include climate, which varies hugely across Australia, from temperate Tasmania to stifling humidity in Northern Territory.

Housing costs also vary hugely across state, NSW (particularly near Sydney) very pricey, WA considered pricey, SA much more affordable.

You need to narrow the field down on fact based criteria like climate, housing, availability of work. Not notions and subjective views on things like "best place" and "good for families" is another I have seen (answer: families are living happily all over Australia).

Any chance of a holiday to see a few states? Of course a holiday is not the same as life, but it may help you.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

My wife is a Specialist Nurse Practitioner in Eating disorders and found this occupation in Perth and Brisbane so they could be somewhere to start.
We Currently live near the Sea so this would on our tick list along with a 4 bed house On the rental market.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Is your wife degree qualified?

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Yes

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

OK because she will need to have qualifications at degree level in order to register with AHPRA.

You say that you are a 'community worker'.....do you have a core profession?

Community and support workers do not really exist within the Australian Mental health services....they may do within voluntary or private organisations but not within publc health systems.

Do not assume that your wife's speciality and experience will count for much when looking for a job in Australia. Most services are looking for basic level registered nurses. If she wants any higher level of job then she would have to apply and compete with local staff......and local experience counts......you may need to accept a more basic level job and take it from there.

Also be wary of jobs offering a temporay 457 visa as these are often used to fill unpopular, 'hard to fill' psitions and do not give you a permanent right to stay in the country....they basically tie you to an employer.

Good luck

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Thank you this all helps

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

And just to add that WA Health is currently cutting massive amounts of jobs from the public hospitals - including nursing jobs. Those nurses who lose their jobs are going to be looking to the private sector, so I'm going to say that to find a permanent full time job is going to be very unlikely in Perth right now.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Indeed....this has also been the case in Queensland with a squeeze on recruitment and only filling 'priority' postions. There are also hundreds of new graduates looking for positions each year.

Maybe things have changed since I left.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Hi, there is also Eating Disorder service for both in patients and out patients attached to The Royal Melbourne Hospital. I used to work in the in patient serivce in Brisbane. If your wife wants to pm me that's fine.

Donna

I will add as said by previous posters when I left Australia mid 2014 lots a newly qualified RN's struggling to get posts, and most post were only offered .7 which equates to working 7 shifts every 2 weeks.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

There does seem a decent amount of jobs online it's very misleading don't think it will put me off 😊 it's our dream and our children are at the right age. My husband may have an ex colleague who now works in New South Wales so that may be a option that is a forensic hospital.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

I cannot imagine that eating disorders are confined to Queensland and WA. And if you look at a map, you will note that nearly all of Australia's main cities are near the sea and the overwhelming majority of people are living around the coastline.

So these are not things that will help you to narrow down a search. You need to think about what differs between each location (state to start with) if you are to find the right place for you.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

This is where we need advice we are flexible in the location we don't want to be in a the busy city and like the a community we can become a part of.
The financial side and visa side we can manage its the location and researched several all seem nice so advice on area's our children are 3 7 and 9 my eldest son plays in a football Acadamy so a soccer team in Oz for him to join would be good

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

I just don't see how anybody can help you choose a location when you are not providing anything to go on. So far you have said you want the best place to live, to be by the sea, to work where there are people with eating disorders and now somewhere where your child can play football!

So far, on the basis of what you have said, all I can do is suggest you rule out Alice Springs because it is a bit far from the sea. Beyond that, sounds like anywhere will suit you.

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Hot and dry we are pretty sick of the wet damp weather near the Sea but not in a busy city centre.
I suppose it will depend where our employment will be.

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I wish you luck in your dream but you need to get your head around these balls you have in the air.

When you say 'sea' do you mean surf, flat, sheltered, beaches? For instance Botany in Sydney is 'by the sea' in the same way that Southampton in the UK is 'by the sea'. St Kilda and Brighton areas in Melb are 'by the sea' but flat as a tack. I surfed competitively for years in Sydney, so for me, unless there are waves, the sea doesn't exist but everyone is not the same as me.

Further to this, you have to realise that the UK (and some Euro countries) are just set up differently and until you get to Oz for a look, you won't realise the difference.

Being by the sea and securing work outside of a major city is easier to achieve in the UK than Oz. It seems crazy to say it but it's true (maybe less so for Nurses etc as hospitals are everywhere but I'm not the expert there).

In a nutshell:

Work in Oz = big city.
Sea in Oz = virtually anywhere.
Work and sea in Oz = the most expensive parts of the biggest cities.

The magical combination that you seek, does not really exist and if it did, everyone would live there. It used to exist but times have changed a lot.

I will give you an example. My wife, daughter and me are all dual Oz/UK citizens. I've lived in Oz for 25yrs plus and my wife for 18. We are both professionals with a LOT of blue chip copy experience and contacts. Currently we live in the UK and I am considering an offer that would mean we could move from Winchester to Dorchester area (still flat but surf is reachable). Good schools, quiet area (only downside is having to use Bournemouth airport for work trips which is a bit hit and miss, or trek to Gatwick).

We could move back to Oz tomorrow, we have friends, assets and connections there, no hassles.

Why are we hesitating? Because it would be hard for us to replicate the lifestyle we could have in Dorset compared to Oz. This is because the cost of that lifestyle in Sydney has passed us by since we've been in the UK and to be mortgage free (which is a goal at our age) and have a house, rather than a unit, would mean buying in Asquith or Berowra and driving 45 mins on a good day to the surf. This is a far cry from the 11 yrs we spent on the beach at North Narrabeen and Cronulla.

Also, very few people on this site spend as much time in active outdoor pursuits as I do, it's my whole life, trust me and if this combination were easy to achieve in Oz, we'd be back there now but I still manage o do everything in the UK, just in a different way..

Having said all that, if you're not fussed about surf, I was very surprised how at the relative affordability of the Glenelg region of Adelaide. Work is always an issue in SA so I will let others chime in there.

We have a saying in cycle racing when it comes to equipment,
'cheap, light, strong- pick two'

Your situation reminds me of this saying.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Not sure which part of Glenelg you were looking at, but I wouldn't be looking there for affordability. (Nor, necessarily the lifestyle it seems they may be looking for)

I'm not too sure on the jobs situation for health professionals. A new Royal Adelaide Hospital is currently being built but there is a lot of controversy around the nursing jobs and what will be available when it opens. Suffice it to say, SA is not immune to the cutbacks in public health care.

But Flinders Uni is attached to Flinders Medical Centre so perhaps there could be some kind of work opportunity there? Flinders is really well located for the southern suburbs where property is definitely more affordable and there are plenty of coastal 'burbs to choose from, within an easy 20 min drive.

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Hot and dry is Perth. It was 41 here today with 17% humidity. I honestly cannot remember the last time we had any rain, so this ticks your boxes.

However, just 100 km south of Perth 3 towns (approximately 100km²) are on fire. The main highway between Perth and the Southwest region is closed and probably will be for several months because the fire is so hot it has burned and destroyed a bridge.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/flood...rnings-867936/

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Hurrah something which distinguishes between one place and another!

Hot and dry probably describes South Australia better than a number of other states. Northern parts of Australia can see some very wet weather including hurricanes and tropical storms. Sydney is twice as wet as most places in the UK. So thinking about climate is a good start to narrowing places down - as I mentioned in my first post on the thread.

Regarding busy city centres, it needs to be noted that Australia just isn't structured like the UK. There are the relatively small central business districts but then huge urban sprawl around round them. Most people do live in the urban sprawl around the cities. If you wanted to avoid the sprawl completely then you are living in a remote region which would be a huge culture shock for anyone from the UK and probably not at all what you have envisioned.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

I was not aware there were so many areas of Glenelg. I used to spend most of my time at meetings and conferences around the Hyatt hotel in the City as our offices were close. But every time i was in Adelaide (it seemed) that the local team always wanted to go to Glenelg for dinner and drinks.

I'm pretty Adelaide ignorant outside of these two area but we looked recently online (dangerous I know!) and there seemed to be quite a few nice looking houses in Glenelg for less than $750k. The area seemed ok to me every time I've been there but that was pre-kids, so maybe I had different goggles on back then.:lol:

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

A very good point and you've certainly done your research. Be it Australia, New Zealand & even Canada, all of these countries are set up differently than the UK and it would have been a lot easier for you to move back, but the timing would have been wrong. Some locations work out at some point, but it can change (cost of living etc.) and other things become more important when you get older.


The sun seems to be an attraction for most people, but family/friends, a nicer house, garden, location, a job you like, or being mortgage free can be important too, so moving to a more expensive place might not make sense. It's different for all of us and as you say:Paradise does not exist, but with a little imagination, anyone can create their own.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

We have been researching and we are going to focus on Perth with a view to make the move July 2017 we have started the Visa application.
So let the adventure begin 😊😊

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Have you started with a skills assessment?

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Yes sorted we have 85 points

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

You already have a skills assessment sorted??? By ANMAC? Because that process can take months.

Skills assessment + English test (if you need the points or if required by assessing authority) first, then EOI and then application. 85 points seems excessively high

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

ANMAC is for the Right to be a mental health nurse not the points we need as a family to emigrate to Oz

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

ANMAC is the skills assessment you need in order to apply for a visa.

I'm going to suggest you take a good long read of Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection for what you have to do. A score of 85 points is an extremely high one, so I'm not sure how you got that. Could you maybe break it down so we can help ensure you're on the right track?

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Without a successful skills assessment any dreams of emigrating are a non-starter.

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Registration as a nurse is done by AHPRA nowadays. You don't need this to get the visa.

You will need a skills assessment from ANMAC before you can lodge your EOI. Having the skills assessment proves part of the points you will claim when you submit the EOI, so you need to get the skills assessment first. Then once you have lodged the EOI you wait for an invite to actually apply :)

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Triple check your points as that would be unusually high.

For example, are you including points for English? If so, to claim them points you will need to pass English exams such as ILETS. Do not assume getting the maximum points for English is easy either. I have seen English people with English degrees fail several times.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Points are nothing to do with skills assessment. And skills assessment won't give you any points. To qualify for a skilled migrant visa there are two things you need to do a) pass skills assessment and b) have enough points. Two separate things. And of course there are character and health checks to pass as well.

Your skills assessment will be done by ANMAC and before you do that you would need to pass academic IELTS test (English test). You also need to check your points, because 85 is extraordinary as has been mentioned. I am not sure if the applicant is the 39 year old or 38 year old, but note that points will reduce after the 40th birthday and there is a lot to do before the application can be started.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

I have been on ANMAC site and should be straight forward I have a degree and masters in Nursing so that should put me in good stead.
My Husband is 39 and a Coummunity worker for a NHS crisis team but has 15years experience in Forensic mental health he also has a friend who is a manager in Brisbane.
We are determined to make this happen it's just the initial process we need to get sorted many thx for advice and it all very helpful in building a plan

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

If you are using your nursing to apply for the skills visa, then it is your age and experience that will count for points.

If it is your husbands qualification you are planning to use, then as advised above, age points drop considerably once you hit 40.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

I will be the main applicant as a qualified registered nurse.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

You need to be aware that if your husband does not have a core profession then it is very unlikely he will get a job in Mental health services.

What is his profession?

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

He is band 3 with NVQ lv 3 health care

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

That may not be enough to get him a job in Mental health.....it would probably not be recognised as a qualification......support workers do not really exist in Australia in the health services

You also need to be realistic about your own job prospects.....as I mentioned yesterday do not assume you will be offered a senior role in Australia based on your UK experience.
Most overseas nurses are employed as basic level RNs regardless of their experience. If you apply for, and are offered, a more senior role then that would be great but do not bank on it initially......things are much more difficult for nurses in Australia than they used to be....as has already been said.

You also need to be realistic about where you will live...four bed houses near the sea will be very expensive in any of the major cities....you may simply have to go to where you are offered work and any of the cities are very popular....most available jobs tend to be in less attractive places.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

You're so right about the changes, seen it first hand. Only a year/18 months ago WA were screaming for nurses when Fiona Stanley opened. One could sit back and wait for the offers to come in. But now, beating the hospital door down daily isn't enough to produce good jobs and steady work.

Re: Emigrate to Oz
 

Indeed

It is remarkable how things have changed over just the last couple of years.

It is not long ago that these boards were full of nurses in the process of emigrating....however the changes in registration requirements by AHPRA and the farly recent cutbacks in health spending have changed the landscape completely....that, combined with the political pressure to employ more local nurse grauates has made the process much more difficult for UK trained nurses.