carl_carol

I currently live in Essex and work in London. I have had a job offer from another company and need to make a decision on accepting it within the next 3 weeks. I was ready to accept the offer when my company offered me the chance of an inernal move to Sydney!

Which sounds like a dream opportunity - but I do not have the time to fully research everything before having to make a call on the other job offer.

I have a young family with kids aged 5 and 2, can anyone who has made the move please comment on

- quality of schooling compared to UK
- healthcare provisions compared to UK
- cost of housing
- cost of Living
- is there a big difference depending on whether I come over on a temporary or permanent residency visa

Fundamentally is Oz a better place to bring up my family in terms of education, opportunity, less crime drugs, violence etc?

I have looked at numerous websites but I would feel more comfortable hearing from those who have been there and done it.

Thanks.

Vash the Stampede

Would the move be permanent, or temporary?

If temporary, go for it; that'll leave you with an escape route if you don't like the place.

If permanent, visit Sydney at least once before committing yourself.

IMHO three weeks isn't enough time to learn enough about Sydney to make a fair comparison; nor does it give you enough time to make that necessary reconnaissance visit. Might be better to stick with what you know, and take the UK job.

Whichever way it works out, I wish you the very best of British luck.

Rosscarbery

We're off to Sydney as soon as our visas come through. We have 3 kids aged 13, 8 and 3. OH and I met there many years ago and lived there for a year, we all went over in November to check out that we weren't mad wanting to go back. I absolutely love Sydney and can't think of anywhere better to live. It is expensive though - if you look on here very few people are going to Sydney compared to other parts of Oz. I guess you need to look at what the package is from your employers - are they looking at a 457 business visa? If you search this site you can get lots of info about the advantages/disadvantages of this visa. The main disadvantage I can see in Sydney is the fact that you have to pay for state schools ($4.5k per child per annum). Kids start school later so although your 5 year old is probably in reception here s/he may not start school in Sydney until next January depending on birthday. Pre-school seems quite expensive and it looks like places are scarce. If your employer is going to give you a great package including school fees, rent allowance, private medical insurance etc. the disadvantages probably won't affect you. We want to live North Shore, one of the reasons being schools are supposed to be particularly good. We visited a high school and a primary while we were over and were very impressed. Both schools say kids from the UK tend to be 6-18 months behind their Australian contemporaries when they arrive! Hope that helps.

carl_carol

Ross

Thank you for your advice, good luck with your visas and I ope everything works out.

StevenChez

Hi Carl,

We're in the same boat with the offer of a company transfer and I'd say the first thing you need to do is establish what package is on offer. The property prices are high in Sydney and I've been told to compare them to London, as in, could you afford to move to a central London suburb?

Check out http://realestate.com.au/to give you a visual idea of what you could expect to buy for your money.

If the finances don't add up, don't do it. Unless of course you're wild about the lifestyle change and sod the financial consequences.

If the finances pass the first hurdle, then you're in a bull by the horns situation because you don't have time to reccie Sydney before taking/turning down the other job offer.

Do you have many years of service with the current company, can you transfer your pension, will they cover your moving costs, could you rent your home for 6 months and cover your mortgage costs as a safeguard? Could you easily find employment should you return or could you return to your current employer in the same position? These are the uppermost questions we're asking ourselves.

We have time on our side and are planning a visit in February. Although I've approached the question of education/schooling etc., it's something I will worry about when I get there because you know you'll do the best by your children.

With regard to visas, also check out the Australian Immigration website as you may find you/your company could apply for IASS, which is an overseas employee transfer scheme based on the companies investment in Australia. This is the route we are taking and would recommend a permanent visa application as your arse is pretty well covered, unlike a temp visa.

Best of luck.

Cheryl

carl_carol

Cheryl,

Thank you for your reply. From the details I have from our HR department I am not sure how well the no.s are going to add up. I have looked at the real estate website and you are right re London prices.

Although the lifestyle would be great, there is no point going over there if I can't afford to properly appreciate it.

Good luck with your situation, the Aussies I work with rave on about the quality of the schools - so I hope it works out for you and your family.

Kind regards,

Carl

lightr0d2o

Hi guys,
We moved to Sydney in October last year, having never been here. We did have the luxury of having friends here and we knew people who had been here. so we could get info from them.
The schooling is of a standard you will be used to. Our youngest started work in the same year she would have been in back in the UK and has to work really hard to catch up. we think that ozzie schools are a bit ahead of ours. this could be due to the fact there school year starts in January and not September.
Health care is good and much quicker that you will be used. but you do have to pay for it. you get a medicare card and you can claim some back but not all. EG: my wife had a cist under her eye, went to the doc's with in three days it had been removed. fast I here you say $320 but we did get $150 back from medicare.
Our daughter had a lot of brace work done on her teeth before we left UK, she had a clear retainer to be worn 12 Hrs a day. Lost it $100 later and no help from medi care. although you can get additional health insurance and I think that is a good Idea.
Housing in Sydney is like london generally on the dear side. there are some suburbs where you can pick up a three bed house for $350k. would I want to live there No, but you have to make your own decision on that. Between $500k-$700 will get you something fairly nice in a better area. but you may have a commute of about 30-60 mins if you are working in the CBD. if you want to live closer to the city then apartments and small three beders will start at $600k approximately and you wont have the best house in the street for sure.
living cost are I'v found to be comparable to the Uk. may be ever so slightly cheaper here. when you first get here and you'r spending uk pounds it is cheaper, but when you start spending your hard earned ozzie dollar there is not a lot in it. although I will say standard of life is better here in my opinion. We also think that the quality of food is better. more fresh food and less frozen.
I grew up in east London and lived in Essex most of my life.Sure there are some places here you dont want to be, like in London and in Essex, but there are also some of the most beautiful places as well.
We settled in the shire south Sydney 40 mins in car and 30 on train to city and so far we have absablinkinlootly no regrets about our change of life.

Hope all goes well for you and yours and dont beat yourself up over the discission.
all the best Cockney Rob.

carl_carol

Rob,

Thanks for taking the time to offer your advice. The Ozzie thing has dragged it's heal so I have taken the London based job. Couldn't afford to take a chance in case the Sydney offer didn't come through.

I am pleased to hear you are having a fantastic time - shame you arrived October last year - I bet you took some stick about the Ashes!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish you all the luck in the world in adventure in OZ.

Thanks,

Carl

StevenChez

Good luck Carl. We may be in the same situation wherein the company transfer could fall through and we won't be going. Still, it's been exciting though.

All the best to you.

Cheryl

bezzanbob

Put very simply but my Uncle (a ten pund pom) who took me outside, pointed at the blue sky and said 'that's the difference'!

Life is the same the whole world over but what we were able to do in Oz was soo much more than here in Blighty - highlight was climbing Wount Warning (highest point on the eastern seaboard) by night to toast the sunrise with friends!

Bezza