surfbum99

Hi there,

Myself and my family are in the process of getting our VE 175 skilled visa , we're nearly there, just medicals left.

One thing that I have noticed, we're pretty flexible where to live, but the I.T salaries you get over in Australia is so much lower than compared to what Im getting in London.

For example, I'm a Middleware specialist for a Clearing house in London I have roughly a base salary of 60K. Now if you convert that to Aussie dollars your looking at $132K. Looking at the skills and searching on Seek IT for example all I can see is a maximum of $80K or at a push $90K in Sydney or Melbourne.

You need to be an I.T Architect or Project Manager to get $120K or more.

Is it a case I'll be fine on $90K as a lot of the costs of living are cheaper so my life style would be the same, or do I need to keep searching!!

mcstu1

Hi,

I was an IT contractor in London and was on a similar salary to you and am earning much less in sydney. got a job really easilly but they seem to want you to prove yourself before giving pay rises etc. in sydney rent is fairly high if you want to live by the ocean but if you move inland and dont mind a long commute you get a lot more for your money (we live by the ocean!!). only been here 3 months but seem to spend a lot less day to day than in the uk...

Kalenge

It's unlikely that you you will find any job in any sector in any Australian city that will match the salary of an equivalent role in London.

If that were the case then I think London would empty overnight. Sun, beaches and mega $$$ ... what more could you ask for?

Look at pay levels for your role in in the South East, but excluding London and this is probably a similar rate that you'll find in Oz. Having said that, I was pessimistic of my earning potential before coming over but pleasantly surprised to find that it's actually been an increase in comparison to my UK (Oxford) rate with a 6 figure salary. If I compared it to an equivalent London salary it would of course be less.

If all I was concerned about was the money then I'd live in London, but lifestyle is what it's all about.

surfbum99

HI,

Nope its more that we want the better weather, none of this 6 months of darkness in the winter, and no M25 etc etc.

It just seems if you want the salary you need Sydney or Melbourne, yet renting and houses there are high.

Would I guess need to split an A4 bit of paper in half on one side, yearly then monthly salary. take NI and tax into consideration. take all living expenses out. Then do the same on the other half but for Australia.

I could be because some food is cheap, utility bills are lower than the UK that it might work out roughly the same.

BadgeIsBack

You can't always simplify the equation and certainly not always by using the current FX rate.

In real terms the salaries might be lower (they may actually not for some) but if you have a deposit for a home, you might be certainly better off lifestyle wise.

TMRE

My husband is currently looking for a job and the salary rates are between $95 and $100k for permanent senior analyst programmer jobs and $60-$75 an hour contract rate. Thats in Brisbane compared to being on £63k base rate in London.

Rosscarbery

My OH cut a third off his salary which seems to be pretty standard (London City to Sydney CBD). What we really noticed is the fact that the extras you would take for granted in London like private healthcare for the whole family are rarely included here (unless you get an expat package). We've been here a year now so salary is starting to creep up but I guess it will take another year or so to get back to where we started.

sr71

This may help :

http://www.peoplebank.com.au/candidate/what_salary.html

Although in the current market that survey does seem a bit high.

DunRoaminTheUK

$95-$100k fpr Senior A/P in Brisbane? Really? I'll have to look where he is looking then because that's quite high compared to my experience of salary expectations for that role in Brisbane?

Which platform / language?

BAY

Stop comparing salaries and don't go to Australia if you're expecting the same salary ... also living costs in Australia are not cheaper than the UK.

Go to Australia for the adventure, lifestyle and experience ! If you don't then you'll just turn into a winging pom, blaming all problems on Australia. No offence intended.

TMRE

Full Microsoft stack, 10 years T-SQL, strong city experience etc. PM me if you need any help.

Mark

rabsody

No idea what a middleware specialist is but if you can do Sharepoint you should easily be able to get $100-$120k in Brisbane. Not sure about Sydney and Melbourne.

DunRoaminTheUK

Have you managed to secure a role in that range then?

Kooky.

We found the Hays Salary Survey to be pretty accurate, for Sydney at least. They're not the best in the world by a long shot; we took a cut to move here from Asia even without taking into account the tax differential.

As BAY says, please don't expect the CoL to be lower than the UK. We're out of touch, haven't lived there for over 6 years, but from reading on here I think that's one area where people get a shock. Lots of people have put numbers up on here for groceries, utilities, etc., so have a search.

Also the weather; it's not hot and sunny 365 days a year with endless long days.

Be sure of your motives and expectations.

bcworld

I don't think that range is unusual in Brisbane for senior A/P working in the private sector.

Most people I know who are .Net A/P, Oracle A/P, SharePoint consultant are around those numbers. I used to be an Oracle A/P but now have turned to the dark side and work mostly with SharePoint.