Plenty of children get bullied in australia just as they do in the UK. If the OP is aware of that fact and her kids do get bullied, she is far more likely to pick up the signs quicker and deal with it, which here can be done by making a appointment with the teacher, or thorugh the office with the principal. I dont think pom kids get bullied just for arriving here, its all the normal little combinations of nasty kids you get anywhere, and there are some right scary little shi!s here at that.

Some reservations are normal, but a lot can be sorted out by really nutting out what the reality might be. Say you arrive and find yourself on the standard brickes wage of $280 a day, working on and off when the employer wants, plenty here only getting 2 days a week. IF that common scenario (9.2% mortage rates wont help the construction industry ) happened, would your finance risk factor cope with that. In other words would that be something you would be prepared to put up with in order to have this new life. I ask that as I know brickies and carpenters doing exactly that at the mo, and I think the answer would be personal but something that really needs to be faced before giving up what sounds like a comfortable life. What do you want more, what means more to you security or an adventure.

If you are moving towards something here rather than trying to escape something there then you have a better chance of making it work. If this is an opportunity not to be missed then dont miss it.

However, it isnt necessarily going to be better for the kids - the standards of education are debatable (you will get 100 different opinions from 100 different parents but if you consider that nationally about 40% of parents choose private education that gives you a feel for what the state system offers), there are the same bullies, rampant adolescent mental health problems and substance abuse that you get in UK and other places.

You still have to pay the bills and most of us have to work very hard to make enough to pay those , it isnt a free ride here. Add to that a rapidly increasing housing market along with a rapidly rising interest rate for mortgages.

The weather is to die for - for a few years, and then you get rather fed up with constant heat, flies, mozzies in the summer along with the need to slather the kids in spf30 sunscreen and aeroguard whenever they go out. Most Aussie kids cant wait to leave here once they have finished school or uni and a good number of them dont come back or come back reluctantly (my eldest went for a gap year and hasnt come back yet - nearly 6 years later and not likely to due to much better career options)

There is also the sense of not belonging, missing family and friends and raising your kids without a support network, the isolation of the place and eventually the sameness of it all once you get over the honeymoon period. Also the risk that one of you wont like it and that can cause huge stresses on your relationship as you wrestle with whether to go or stay. I believe it is much easier for men to get established here because they go out to work and develop a social network - women, especially those who stay at home, have fewer social connections and less of a support network.

It obviously works for many migrants and, quite frankly, you will never know if you never give it a go but if it is adventure that you crave, dont burn all your bridges in the process.

Quoll, another excellent balanced post. K coming your way

Hi there, i am in the same boat as you guys, my hubbie is a brickie and we have such a good quality of life here, but there must be something missing as we are flying out June 1st to start our new life in OZ, i have had so many sleepless nights worrying about whether or not we have made the right decision ,but if we did'nt give it a shot we would be saying what if for the rest of lifes and we don't get any younger, the way i deal with it is i know we can always come back and just put it down to a bloody expensive holiday, but i have no plans to do that i'm going to give it 100%, keep you chin up you are only human after all, best of luck to you all

We moved to wa in 2006 until jan 2007 .
We came back coz our son did not settle in school but since our return we have( and our son ) realised that although we have great friends and family (including not bad income)that we miss the OZ way of life so much yes you still work and things are not cheap but the life is better in our eyes.
Our kids had the time of there lives
dont grow old with regrets.

Hi, there.
There is no right or wrong answer , only don't be fooled 90% of people feel this way to.
Advise , all depending on how you like to live in the uk, Hence hol's, shopping, nights out, etc. As a trades man your wage will be either slightly lower or the same, but it will not seem to go as far ,for the luxuries in life.
Yes it will cost quite a big portion of your pound to set up, And housing over here is now costing about the same as the uk.
The weather is better, and 95% of kids settle well and do prefer it to the uk so i would not worry about the bully aspect.
think long and hard and do your research.
Good Luck.

Sounds like you have a very nice life why are you leaving?

Hi there.
I am in the same position as you in many ways. My Mum is moving back very near to us after years away and my kids adore her and Dad has been admitted to hospital with very bad lung problems although it looks like he will recover (they divorced on good terms years ago).
We are flying out on August 18th after the whole thing taking around 3 years with one thing and another.
I see the same problems in life in Australia as I do in the U.K it is just a chance to try something different. I am bored with my life here and had a rough time and need something new, that may sound crazy but that's how I feel.
I am sure the initial excitement and hot weather wears off but doesn't it with everything in life? The new house, job,car e.t.c all become "boring" wherever you are in the world.

Give it a go life is far too short and as long as you have a strong relationship I think things will be fine either way. Me and my oh have always said it is a joint move and both must be happy, good luck James

Hi
I also know what you mean, I am a bricklayer and am hoping to be out in Perth around Aug/Sep. We have 3 boys and am having sleepless nights thinking about it all.
We sold our house last October and have been in rented waiting for the visa to be finalised, very hard as we feel like our lives are on hold and out of our control. Fed up of people asking us when we are going and them not understanding that we actually don't know for definate.
I too worry about wages, job security, price of houses, schooling etc. sorry, I can't make you feel any better - but you are not alone, my sister is in Perth she moved out there last year, her oh works on sites and said there is plenty of work around - just may have to travel a bit, maybe not the $300-$400+ wages it used to be but still a decent enough wage. Last year I was lucky to work a full week over the summer with the weather we had + customers reluctant to take out loans for extensions etc. with the banking crisis.
It may or may not be a struggle in Aus but I think about what the U.K. will be like in 10-15 years for us and our children and cannot see it being a very nice place with crime, gangs, drugs, overcrowding, government with no backbone etc.etc. We will give it a go, if it doesn't work out we will come back and accept that the U.K. must be the best place for our future but I can't accept that until we have experienced Australia for ourselves. Good Luck, the more of us that go the more houses need to be built!!!

Thanks you all for your kind words of encouragement.

I was stressing about the best thing to do for us all.

If your easily depressed dont read the rest!! I tend to moan alot.......

I have decided (although i will prob change my mind again!) that we are going to oz. Aside from the money my OH earns here, there is nothing else i can say we like about the UK. He has to work his arse off often laying 1000 bricks a day for his money, and often struggles to find work over here. Over last xmas he was out of work for 7 weeks. House building seems to have come to a halt here and he is mainly building supermarkets.

I should imagine its the same over in oz, but the lifestyle we could have would be much better (or so i dream and hope!). simple things like picnics together. and camping. everything is so expensive here. everyone is out to rip you off.

we are going completely into the unknown. But a fortune teller told me he saw me in oz on a ranch with 2 children, so i kinda feel it's my destiny to go!

I have no idea where we are going, OH likes hervey bay, but have no idea if there are any jobs there. aaaaarrrggghhh its so scary. its not just me and hubby who come a cropper if it goes tits up, my children are being taken away from alot here for our dream of a better lifestyle. dont want to wind up homeless, jobless, pennyless, friendless, did i miss anything?!

Dont even know if we will get visas. agent says we will but i keep doubting it (as you have probably gathered, im not the most positive person!) Dont know when to sell house or anything. Its stressing me out so much!!

sorry about moaning (yet again!) I know there are loads more people in the same boat, but it does help to vent the stress!

I'm finding that selling the house is more stressful than waiting for our visa
At least we knew we would get the visa, but with the housing market being as it is at the moment we have no idea if we'll sell this year or next!
We have to validate by 10/1/09 & although it seems like a long way off we have no guarantees it will sell b4 then
I'm going to give it 110% when we do go cos I don't want all this stressing to be for nothing.
Give it a good go & you'll have no regrets. You only regret what you don't do

Have to agree. This is the best piece of advice you will get.
If you are not 100% committed to what you intend to do, then why do it ?

Your feelings are understandable. As much as i would like to say don't worry, sometimes things are not always as they seem. Brickies do find it hard to get work here at times, pay can be alot less. Remember interest rates are alot higher etc, so just do your homework carefully and make sure it is something you can live with.
All the best.

Its easy to say don't worry, but you do especially if you have kids, my OH is in IT and is being made redundant in August, so we are hoping that we have Visa, sold house and Permission for kids by then otherwise I will be more worried about staying rather than going. We know we want Brisbane area but not much else, I suppose we will go where we find the work, its all a bit scary, but thats half of the excitement and adventure too! we are looking to change our lifestyle for the better which we see no way of acheiving in the UK

eve