leonawalsh

Hello. I'm new to the forums here and was wandering if anyone could give me any advice.
My partner has been offered a job in either Perth or New South Wales as a Vulcaniser. They have offered with the job, a working visa for himself, me, and our 1 year old child. Relocation fees and all medical care expenses paid. His salary would be around $120,00 AUD a year. I guess I want to ask, what is the standard price of living on average for a 3 person household, 2 cars etc. Anything I should know? Good/bad areas to live in those areas? Is it worth the move? His schedule would be 2 weeks working, 1 week off. I would be on my own with the baby for 2/3rds of the year. Many ex pats in any of these areas? Myself or my partner have never been to Australia so as much info as possible will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
Leona

Tr1boy

Well Perth is a city and NSW is a state, did you mean Sydney? I think you'll need to provide the possible suburbs for the job location, then folks can chip in

leonawalsh

Thanks for replying. We haven't had an exact location on where the job may be based as of yet. All i know is he will be working in a fly in, fly out basis, where he works for 2 weeks at a time, in different locations and then has 1 week off. As far as I'm aware the company is called Acorn?

leonawalsh

OK, just re read the email the regions are;
Hunter Valley, Queensland Bowen Basin, Western Austrailas Pilbara, NSW.

leonawalsh

THIS IS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE JOB HE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED FOR:
Vulcaniser / Belt Splicer - Australia wide

One of Australias Leading Engineered Conveyor Solutions Company, supplying engineered and conveyor solutions to the mining Industry in Australia for over a century. Due to continued growth In we are currently seeking experienced Belt Vulcanisers /Belt Splicers to relocate to Australia on a 457 working VISA

These positions are responsible for the day to day service activities relating to conveyor belt servicing and repairs and the roles will be offered on a Fly-in-Fly-out basis (FIFO)

Person Specification

* Minimum of 4 years experience in repairs, installation & splicing of steel cord or fabric conveyor belts is essential

* Excellent customer service and communication skills

* Rubber belt splicing qualifications or other relevant skills certification advantageous.

* Experience in Hot Splicing of steel cord & fabric belts is preferred

* Lagging of pulleys and idlers

* Conveyor belt inspections as required

Opportunities exist in the following regions Queenlands Bowen Basin, Western Australias Pilbra, New South Wales Hunter Valley .

Package

* Exceptional base salary ($AUD 85-130K) Plus overtime PLUS retirement fund of 9% of your base salary, Plus holiday incentives

* Additional site allowances

* Assistance with relocation expenses including airfares

* Visa costs paid

* Medical Insurance paid

* Exceptional training and opportunities for career advancement

* Company Uniforms, tools and safety equipment

* Leading edge training at the company training facilities

Bermudashorts

There is no such thing as a standard cost of living. What matters is your cost of living, if you can live nicely on GBP50k then you should be living nicely on this too.

Hunter Valley is lovely. We go up quite often, it sems like life would be a slower pace and quiet. I guess only you would really know if you could cope with being on your own 2/3 of time.

leonawalsh

i have never ha 50K to live on here in the UK. As I understand, essentials here are cheaper? Which is what I meant when I said standard cost of living. I.e average grocery bill, electric, cars, rent in those areas etc
Leona

bingobob777

2/3rd of the year on your own will be tough.

Other than the money why else do you want to come? 120k is reasonable, but certainly not great as a household income. You won't be rich, probably won't save that much, but you'll get by OK.

So you'll need a really, really good reason to want to just get by on the other side of the world, not seeing your partner for 240 days of the year, him not seeing his kid for 240 days of the year.

leonawalsh

Okay, when you put it like that it actually sounds scary! 240 days of the year is a lot. I think that the lifestyle will be better, mainly for my daughter. I'm in two minds about it, as I believe my daughter would have a better quality of life in oz, she won't have her extended family around like she does here. I don't know wether to go with my head or my heart! Saying that, I thought 120K a year was a great household income? Maybe im totally wrong here? The work is a 4 year contract, so I was thinking if we hated it that much we could save up as much as possible whilst in oz and then maybe move back to England when we have some money behind us. But that wouldn't be possible if we don't earn enough? Confused!!

Beoz

Other than reading the gazillion other posts on this topic on this forum, the only other advise I can give you is you won't know until you try..

$120,000 is OK. Plenty of families live adequately on that.

bingobob777

Rent will likely be your main expense, if you get somewhere for $300 a week, you'll be alot more comfortable than if you get something at $600 a week.

Average wage is around 80k I think, so 120k is equivalent to 1 1/2 people earning the average salary.

leonawalsh

Really? I did think it was quite a fair income. I don't think adequately is enough to persuade me to move to the other side of the world. I was hoping I could do some major saving?

leonawalsh

Great! Thanks for the advice

bingobob777

as a father of two, adequate wouldn't be enough for me not to see kids 2/3 of the year

leonawalsh

No, I think you're right sadly