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.

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.

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.

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.

Is your wife degree qualified?

Yes

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

Thank you this all helps

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.