Sonn

Please can someone help me, i have so many questions and no noe to answer them. My husband and i are thinking of moving to melbourne from the UK. We have two small children 6 & 2. The process seems really difficult & expensive!!!
I am presently studying a degree in youth & community work, husband a bricklayer.
Can anyone help to recommend the best suburbs to live in, how long & how much visa process takes, average wage for these occupations?
I am really excited to get the process started but need somed direction, i have read some of the wonderful replies to threads. everyone is so supportive.
Any help or comment would be much appreciated
thanks in advance

tawkins1

Welcome to BE!
Sorry, i'm not heading to Melbourne so not sure about suburbs & salaries but as for the visa process
How long is a piece of string? We didn't use an agent so the cost wasn't too bad. About £1700 total I think.
How long has your OH been a brickie?
Have you passed the points test?
www.immi.gov.au will give you an idea as to what visa would suit you best.

Hopefully someone else will post soon with more information with regards to Melbourne.
Goodluck with the process

Sonn

Thanks for your reply, im in desparate need of as much info as possible. I practically live on in the internet at the minute researching.
My OH has been bricklaying for 10 years!! He passed the points system and his job is on the list for trade/skilled workers wanted. Its just me thats holding the process up as i am just starting my second year of uni and so have another 18 months to go.

Buzzy--Bee

Hi

There is tons of info on here. If you do a search for threads started by me (the first step is to access my profile by clicking on my username) you will find lots of threads about Melbourne and photos too.

There's lots of us here , it's just I'm the earliest riser!

Buzzy

JoolsB

Hi Sonn

We have been in Melbourne 3 months now and it is a great city with some wonderful surrounding areas. As regards suburbs there are too many to list but I have noticed that alot of Brits seem to head for the following destinations:
-Point Cook/Sanctuary Lakes - 25km from city-lots of new housing estates
-Berwick - leafy countryside area 45km from city
-Mount Eliza & Mornington - pretty coastal areas on the Mornington Peninsula with nice houses 45km from city
-Frankston (South rather than North as North can be a bit dodgy apparently)-busy town on coast towards Mornington Peninsula 40km from city
-Eltham & surrounds (35km from city, lovely, leafy family 'burbs)

If you go onto www.realestate.com.au you can enter these suburbs in both the rental and sales sections and get an idea of prices. All the really beautiful inner Melbourne suburbs are very pricey alas but if you don't need to be bang in the centre for work then there are some lovely houses further out.

I would say it's just as well with the exchange rate being so poor right now it's just as well you have 18 months or so before coming-it might have improved by then with any luck!

Jools

The Crow

Great list - but also....

please don't forget the beautiful villages around and in the Dandenong Ranges, which as well as having wonderful community atmospheres and great countryside on your doorstep - also have the bonus of being close to a wealth of facilities. And in our case, still only 45 mins from the city!
Search for The Basin, Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey, Tecoma etc. If you fancy being right in the hills - Olinda & Sassafras.

To the OP - it would help in your search if you could state some criteria, such as budget, max distance from city and max distance from beach - new build or established area etc.

Sonn

Does anyone know the average wage of a bricklayer??? I will hae a degree (hopefully) in Youth & Community, so any advice on the salary for those types of jobs would be good.
Also what are the job prospects like in the Melbourne area for these types of jobs??

andysarah

Hi Sonn,

To get an idea of wages for youth and community work do a google search for 'social and community services award victoria'. This will bring up loads of info on salary scales for all jobs fitting into this category, like social work, commuity workers, youth workers etc plus terms and conditions. At the end is also a very handy guide to what organisations in victoria comply with this award.

Unfortunately, social and community work seems to be relatively poorly paid here but there is flexibility with part-time work which is great if you have a family. The organisations tend to be family friendly too which can be a great help. To give an idea of wages, in my new job I would be earning $44K if I was full-time and that is with 7 years experience including some management and service developement experience.

Also, a good place to look for jobs to get an idea is Infoxchange (again do a google search for it, am no good at putting links in messages i'm afraid!). This site is for social and community type jobs. Just found my new job on there! There seems to be an abundance of social and community jobs in Victoria and I have been told that there is a shortage of youth workers, although I don't know how accurate this info is as it is not my field.

If you are able to start the visa process now with your husband as main applicant, by the time you finish your degree the visa would hopefully be processed, or nearly so, so you would be ready to go straightaway. Could be excellent timing!

good luck

Sarah