stevie99

WE are considering emigrating to the Brisbane area and are waiting to here from the TRA skill assessment. We have chosen Brisbane/Queensalnd area for following reasons : to be near my wife's Aunt & Cousin, for the weather and for laid back lifestyle. Would appreciate some honest feedback to the following points from people who have already migrated to the Southern Queeensland area :

1) Is the lifestyle slower/more relaxed/ more time for family & leisure than UK.
2) One thing we hate about UK is litter, graffitti, vanadalism, high levels of petty crime etc - is Bris/Qld better or worse for this.
3) Does Bris/QLD suffer the same yob culture that most town and village centres in UK suffer from at weekends
4) does Bris/Qld have a lower crime rate
5) is the weather in Bris so hot that you are scared of going out incase of getting sun burned/skin cancer or just as long as you take sensible precautions is it ok
6) we have been told the Austarlian people are very friendly and laid back - is this the case ?
7) we have also been told by others the Australian people are so laid back they don't give a damn about anything and will just sit back and watch their country/environment ruined e.g Australia has the 2nd highest rate in the world for forest clearance which is not something to be proud of especially for a developed country - however does anyone in Australia really bother about this type of issue ?.

Apologies if this seems negative, but we are aware of the positive issues but just want to get a balanced & honest view on things.

robertd

Hi there,
We live on the Gold Coast about 45 mins from Brisbane. I might get hung from the people on the foum, but wot you need is honest answers. Here goes.
1) Aussies are friendly to a degree. I think they are always wary of you and some are very jealous, because we can afford to come and try something else, and many aussie`s can`t. They are a very patriot lot and wave their flag at any opportunity. They dont like the Kiwis and I dont think we fare much better. Always frightned of stealing their jobs.
2) The weather here in the summer wasnt as bad as I first hought. Everyone goes shopping in the malls when its hot coz they are air cond. You do get some really hot days 40+ but it doesnt last for very long.
3) Schools we have found are excellent.
4) Supermarkets are crap. No choice but you soon get used to that. We didnt come to Oz to worry bout choice of food. However, I have found the meat much better than home. I spend the same amount on food each week as I did back home. Nothings much cheaper.
5) Jobs are quite hard to find. No one ever rings you back when they say they will. I went for an interview three weeks ago as a travel agent and was told I would be starting on 1st July, still heard nothing.You really have to keep on at them. Dont give up.
6) Many UK qualifications are worth a w... here. Try and do as much homework as you can before coming over. But give it a try. There are many back home that talk about coming over, but it takes alot to do it. We don`t regret anytin although it has been very hard. But we have learnt such alot. Hope some of this helps. Keep in touch, Louisa

jad n rich

1. Depends what job you get, many work long hours but with pounds can you really manage on part time work if so then yes.

2. Areas vary, generally less graffiti, more petty crime, similar car/burglary, like the UK live in a decent are and probably not going to notice mass murders every day

3. Most teens have a car at 17, standard its just what happens, party scene is big, hang out at malls, bit of hooning up and down main drags. Fair bit of boozing and drugs, unlikely to walk down street and be threatened by teens they are too busy partying.

4. Lower than what area, like the UK its area based, in general are crime rates UK/AUS not pretty similar.

5. Most of Australia has days that are too hot to enjoy much in summer, its not warm its HOT. Months either side of summer are far more enjoyable.

6. No more or less so than any other race, just normal really, nice people and yucky people, some dislike Poms some could not care less.

7. Lots of issues here that are not as advanced as the UK from GM food to Forestry but really good on some issues like baning smoking just about everywhere including beaches! and now cracking down on plastic bags etc. People/life is generally a lot slower paced, climate can be a bit humid so people do slow down it can be annoying but nothing you dont get used to.

Pollyana

Stevie,
The best thing you can do is just read back through porsts - try and search on Brisbane for example - there are lots of us who have arrived here recently, and have posted various views, both positive and negative. The main thing to remember is- its going to be different! Its not the Uk....

ABCDiamond

We see lots of locals take their boats out at the weekends. I think a lot of them put leisure before money.

None around where I am now, but I have seen plenty in other areas.

Some areas wil have this to a degree, yet others are very quiet, and you don't see anything.

I think more crimes get reported here: eg: local paper says "garden lights were vandalised" & "letter box was stolen". But again it comes down to different areas.

I didn't think it was that bad, after I got used to it But we did have a couple of really hot weeks this summer.

It can vary, a lot of Aussies do seem more relaxed and laid back, but if you need to work hard and long then it may not feel it.

I think a lot of people are concerned, and many come out on the annual "Clean Up Australia Day" to help out.

However, there are also a lot who live pretty normal lives, work hard and don't have time to enjoy. Pretty much the same as anywhere else.

Unfortunately not a definative answer for you, but it does depend on where you go.

DagBoy

OK - here goes. Honest answers (brutally honest in some cases - but then you did ask).

It is hard to give a general answer to this one - a lot of people on this site reckon they have to work many more hours a week than they did in the UK, but from a purely personal point of view I would say yes. The working environment that I experience in Brisbane is far less stressed or frenetic than that in and around London and I have the same job for the same company now as I had back in the UK, so I am comparing like with like. I have colleagues down in Sydney who seem to think they work quite long hours so I guess that either means it is indeed more laid back up here or maybe I am just a lazy bastard. I spend less time each week commuting to and from work and the journey is both predictable and pleasant. I can be in work in just over 30 mins and it takes me about 40 to get home. I did a similar length of trip in the UK and it could take anything up to 2 hours in the morning and was so bad on the way home that I usually worked later to miss the traffic. Not only do I have more time for the family and leisure activities, but there are more opportunities and I can afford to do more, plus the climate is more conducive to the sort of activities we enjoy (boating/fishing).

Yes - it is better or worse - depending on which part of Brisbane you are comparing with which part of the UK. It may have escaped your notice in your eagerness to leave, but the UK is a fairly diverse country with a whole range of different regions and districts and there is a reasonable range of different socio-economic averages for those differeing regions. Interestingly, Brisbane and the southeast corner of Queensland also has quite a range. You don't tell us what area you wish to compare to Brisbane, or indeed, which part of brisbane is of interest to you, so here are some totally worthless comparisons.
There is almost certainly far more litter, vandalism, graffiti and petty crime in the brisbane suburb of Inala than there is in Coln St Aldwyns - a pretty Cotswold village near Bibury, with lovely cottages and the River Coln meandering through. .
Conversely, I expect there are fewer of these terrible things in Ascot than there are in Salford.

I lived in a village in the UK and did not notice a specific "yob" culture and recently on the news a group of teenagers were involved in an open brawl for an hour or two in the main shopping mall in Brisbane (during the afternoon) - so the evidence I see would suggest here is worse - but then I have not really seen enough to make that kind of judgement. On the whole I think there are more soccer fans in the UK and the soccer supporters culture seems to fit the "yob" culture label so I guess UK is worse. You will, however, find that Brisbane is far worse for hooning and even the nicest suburbs have there collection of skid marks, donuts etc.

Probably lower than Dallas , probably higher than Reykjavík

Everyone here takes sensible precautions (except the newly arrived Poms - who all burn really badly for a few months till they get the hang of it). The heat is not so bad and the sunshine becomes something you plan around (e.g. not doing outside things in the middle of the day with no shade). Far worse is the humidity - which is shocking in the middle of summer. Still - you get used to it (or you move somewhere colder).

Some are.
Some aren't.
It's a stereotype.
Interestingly this is very similar to the way that not all English people fit the sterotype that they are all uptight pompous snobs.
Still - it is a well recognised stereotype - so maybe there is somthing in it.

Again - it is remarkably like England. Some people don't care, some care enough to re-use plastic bags and some care with a passion. If you care - you will be allowed to care here too - but as with anything - as a new arrival it is generaly considered diplomatic not to turn up in the country and immediately start telling the locals how they ought to run there affairs - but feel free to do so - just if you do you may find the Aussies are not quite as laid back and friendly as their stereotype.


Cheers,

DagBoy