stellamonster

Hi
I have applied for a job for a gas company in kwinana, I'm waiting to hear about an interview.
The job does come with a relocation package on a 457 visa and the salary would be around the $100,000 mark with bonuses and overtime, my current job here in scotland is quite similar but only with a salary of around £35,000, Iv been looking on this forum and others and there seems to be a mixed bag of the pro's and con's of moving out and starting a new life there, to add to that we have never been to australia but my girlfriend does have an uncle who stays in melbourne for the past 20 years he says his only regret is that he never came over earlier.
We have a nice 3 bed house here in scotland in a nice quiet estate, have two cars which is a bloody pain with the rising fuel cost, but with our work commitments we need them, our daughter goes to school just up the road from us and is doing fine......................so the big dilema is should we make the move and go for it, if I'm successful ,or stay in rainy cold expensive scotland.
I'm trying to weigh up if the salary over there to the salary here is better and will be able to have a better way of life, rather than living to work and having not much left over at the end of the month here.
Please forgive me for the ramble on so to speak be this could be the biggest decision of our life and dont want to jump in feet first.
Thanks and any advice would be appreciated

A very scared Darren

Turban Explorer

$100k is loosely around 40k Gbp in terms of living costs so if you are looking for a financial reason to move it isn't there. Additionally any savings you have in sterling are worth very little over here at these historically low exhange rates. Plus i think you would be paying school fees in WA. If you fancy some better weather and possibility of a more outdoors life and a change of scenery then that's certainly on the table. I haven't been to Kwinana so can't comment on whether it's a fantastic place or not but the general complaints are that Australia is expensive and cultureless and the pluses are that it's huge, unspoilt, has some fascinating scenery and wildlife.

stellamonster

cheers for the reply Turban Explorer, the more I think about it, its probably half and half, better off money wise and having more of an outdoor lifestyle, as for the salary I may have got my sums wrong as I though that the 100k mark was around 63k gbp, which if it is, is nearly double of what I get here.
So roughly how much would it cost on a monthly basis to have a mortgage and everything that comes with that, running a car, school fees, groceries, etc..etc.
I'v been looking at the rockingham area for houses and hopefully my girlfriend would get work hairdressing as well.

Cheers

Turban Explorer

Ah!! You're making the mistake of calculating the salary at the current exchange rate. You need to use around 2.5 to get any comparison of living standards. You wouldn't be better off in Australia unless your wife works too.

stellamonster

nice one, I think my girlfriend wants to work if we did go, so maybe that would boost the income. do you know what amount of mortgage we would get.

Turban Explorer

You need to apply for permission to buy on a 457 temporary visa. Additionally you may be better off renting for a while in case you don't get PR after the 2 years. I'm not sure about the multiples you are allowed but the really tough factor is the deposit - if you're converting pounds at 1.58 it won't give you much.

stellamonster

Probably renting would be better, another area we were looking at was baldivis, and the price range is 300k to 400k, not sure if thats realistic or not.

mulben

Pricing looks alright , you can check here
http://www.communitydigital.com.au/

Choose Publication:
Residential South

backdated from November 11
Choose Publication:
Weekend Courier ( which is the Rockingham Courier also )
-- Community Residential

northernbird

No school fees for 457 holders in WA.

eddie007

There are worse places to live in WA than kwinana, but not too many.

I'd actually be inclined to work in kwinana, but commute from where you live...

You're not comparing apples with apples trying to work out how much you'd be earning here as to back in the uk...

Living costs are different... And Its going to cost you in more ways than just money even with a relocation package.. It is probably not a great idea to make the move based on earnings ...... There is so much else at stake.... And its not somewhere to come and make a fast buck for most people...

It really IS a case of same shite shiner bucket.... Do you want to live in a shiney bucket??? If so, does your wanting to live in said bucket outweigh what you are gambling with ??? ie your entire way of life.... Your job/security, home etc... Do you have family to take into consideration? ......

Its been a great move for us, be we started back at square one in many, many ways... In fact below zero.... Its not summit I would "toy with" and what happens if it a, goes horribly wrong and you want to go back, or b, desparately want to settle/ stay and cant get a visa??

Just askin

hoofie2002

No - only if his kids went to private school then he would have to pay like everyone else. Temporary Visa holders do not pay school fees in WA.

don544

Baldivis is a great place to live. Easy to commute to Kwinana, state primary school and private school already exist, and state secondary school being built. Local pub has stella on tap! (thats if you are called stellamonster for the love of the beer, not because youre name is stella??)

aussietobe

$100,000 is a good salary for Perth - and you will get more after you have Australian experience and the company wants to keep you. You can't compare it to 40,000 pouns IMHO - doesn't seem to work that way.

Kwinana is an industrial hub and you wouldn't live in that suburb (well I wouldn't) but there are decent suburbs close by if you want to be close to work.

Whether you want to move to the other side of the world depends only on you and your family. Is it something you feel you WANT to do? Do you have close family members and best friends you will miss? Are you adventurous types that can easily adapt to a different reality? Are you generally positive people who are willing to work hard (many migrants think friends and a "life" will be delivered to them without any work on their part) Are you really, really Scottish? Or are you willing to one day think of yourself as "Australian"?

Tough choice but I have the personality that tends to say "go for it!" Its not forever and Scotland will always be there if you find it's not for you.

Pennines49

Don't live in Kwinana....drive to it.

stellamonster

Thanks for all the replies guys, It would be a big step for us, we know that and we do have family here but my girlfriends mum lives in spain so not so close, if all went well we are both hard workers and dont expect to have an easier working life but hope for a better working life, the job that I'm going for is a permanent and I think one of the recruitment officers saw my post and has emailed me to ask for some more info on the job.
We would have to sell up here so to have some money for possibly a mortgage and to get us on our feet, i think that is one of the reasons that we a bit worried on the hole thing, australia seems a wonderful place and we would love the outdoor lifestyle.....Would this be an opportunity that I would regret in years to come if we did'nt go for it, hope to hear back this week sometime some more about the job and we'll take it from there, if we can cross all the tee's and dot all the I's then were one step closer.
Once again guys thank you for your time in posting it really helps us with the decision.
Will let yous know how I get on.

Cheers Darren

PS it is for the love of stella not my name...lol