Thanks for that - very interesting posts!

Hang on a sec its always mentioned on here that there is no 'class system' or people dont care where you live,what car you drive,what profession you're in.
Another Aussie myth i've found out
Some of the 'real' locals are the biggest snobs i've ever spoken too.

Hi - what do you mean by a snob? I live in Melbourne and I've met a lot of mums from my child's class. Have found them to be friendly and not standoffish or may be it's just that I've missed the snobbish nuances?(a bit unlikely though as I'm not very thick skinned)

PS: okay, think the answer could be it's not a private school so guess why no hoity toity peeps here...

I'm in the trees and positively loving it. Never been an estate person prefer a bit space around me.

A good summary of Perth Weebie.

I agree that the property developers try to sell a dream to the niave Brits. My favorite was that Somerly (Clarkson) was going to be the new 'Subiaco'. That was funny and yet people fall for this rubbish and sales speil.

Plenty of legoland estates, with no character or trees, a couple of souless shopping centers, jammed packed schools and not much else to do in the area. I could suffer this aspect but not when you are paying good money for it, as in 7 x the average wage, it's not worth it and the sooner people realise they are getting taken for a ride, the better.

I think a class system is more than just simple snobbery. Snobbery is human nature and is everywhere. We definitely have rampant snobbery like everywhere else but I don't think we have a proper "class system".

So what is a class system if it's not snobbery mate - aren't they the same thing?

Atm we live in a studio unit attached to someone else's house and we drive a 1984 Holden Jackaroo that is more rust than metal. My husband is a cabinetmaker by profession and we are both currently unemployed. Nobody we have met here has judged us on any of those things, and most of our mates live in lovely big houses with swimming pools. If anyone does judge us on our financial status (and doubtless somewhere along the line someone will), then they are not the kind of person I want to hang out with anyway. There are snobs and materialists in every country, why should anyone imagine that Australia be any different?

Don't worry by the look of your visa you're already part of the 'subclass'.

I guess they come from similar human traits. I think snobbery is one output of a class system but it contains other elements.

I think a class system defines people into social stratas a lot stronger than whether you have money or other points of snobbery. Obviously it's based on your lineage not just your money and includes things like:

- accent
- pastimes
- schools
- area's
- beliefs
- access
- attitudes
- traditions
etc

When I lived in the UK I noticed that, even now, when classes are mean to be blurring, a lot of people are proud to be part of the class they are in as it is their identity. It didn't seem to be all a bad thing either as it seemed to be a holder of traditions and values.

So while I think you could argue that all the attributes I listed are present in normal snobbery, I think it becomes a lot more when it is formalised into definitive social groups to which people are born into. I think Australia just has plain old vanilla snobbery rather than a formal class system that is a more complex beast. Maybe the difference between Australian snobbery and the Indian caste system is another (extreme) example. Maybe if Australia was given 800 years we could turn it into a class system

Requiring validation for ones decisions is all about self esteem.

Our outer suburbs are poverty traps Laurie Nowell, Mitchell Toy From: Sunday Herald Sun April 18, 2010 12:00AM Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share
Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these? The Miljkovic family: Dragan and Slavica with Monica, 4, and Lucas, 13 months, at their Caroline Springs home. Picture: Rob Leeson Source: Herald Sun
MELBOURNE is developing poverty-stricken ghettos in the outer suburbs and a growing rich-poor divide, a shock new Melbourne University study has found.
The MacroMelbourne report has also discovered that for the first time the new so-called "McMansion" suburbs in outer Melbourne are becoming poverty traps because of rising housing prices and interest rates and soaring travel costs.

The report identifies Greater Dandenong, Maribyrnong, Darebin, Brimbank and Moreland council areas as the most disadvantaged in the city.

And it finds Melton-Caroline Springs, Wyndham, Cardina-Casey, Hume and Whittlesea are the areas most in need of infrastructure investment.

The report, commissioned by the Melbourne Community Foundation, is a snapshot of poverty, social problems and disadvantage across the city. It has found:

MORE than 10 per cent of Melburnians now live below the poverty line - a 3 per cent rise over a decade;

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Related CoverageProperty: Study's 'ghetto' warning
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Herald Sun, 12 Oct 2009
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Herald Sun, 22 Aug 2009
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The Australian, 19 Aug 2009.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
HOUSING costs and homelessless have risen dramatically, with up 24,000 Melburnians now without a permanent dwelling;

JOBLESS hot spots are emerging in the outer suburbs;

MOST people in outer suburbs have few local job opportunities and must drive more than 30 minutes to work; and

THE economic boom of the past decade has bypassed Melbourne's poor, with deprivation and social exclusion among welfare service clients remaining constant.

Melbourne's population will reach five million by 2030 and the number of households in the city is expected to grow by 41 per cent by 2031, the report says.

The study also finds increasing cultural diversity in the city, with a 10 per cent rise in the number of people speaking a language other than English at home.

Non-English speakers face a barrier in getting jobs and having qualifications recognised, it finds.

The report says affordable housing is becoming out of reach for more people, with more than 23 per cent of Melburnians spending 30 per cent, or more, of their income on housing - a figure that has risen 16 per cent over the past decade.

Melbourne Community Foundation chief executive Sarah Davies said there was a significant lack of social infrastructure to support the growth in these suburbs.

"For Melbourne to be a livable, equitable and sustainable city and meet the economic, environmental and social challenges of the next 20 years, we must invest in community projects that reduce disadvantage and inequality," she said

"There is a clear need to improve our social planning and social infrastructure alongside our urban planning and physical infrastructure if we are to build healthy and inclusive communities from the start."

A separate Australian National University report has found that the rich-poor divide is growing. The top 0.1 per cent of Australians - those who make more than $700,000 a year - have tripled their share of wealth over the past 30 years.

That is due to surging executive salaries and lower personal tax rates.

The top 1 per cent earns 10 times that of the average household, up from five times in 1980.

"The rich have done well, the very rich have done extremely well and the super rich have done incredibly well," ANU economics professor Andrew Leigh said.

For more information, go to: www.melbournecf.org.au

My parents live in a nice western suburbs house with no morgage and plenty of disposable income. Thave good paying jobs and my dad travels a lot with work so the isolation factor is no issue for him. LIFE IS GOOD FOR THEM. this is the sort of people who enjoy it here in Perth.

Coming to Perth paying a massive morgage not having any money to do anything or even get out eventually takes its toll here. My friends who all have worked in England have now booked there flights back for later this year. Work my arse off to live in Joondalup where there is no life and essentially you end up living a pretty pointless life. I'm off to America at the end of the year. I'll earn a lot less money but i'll have a chance at owning a house and Í'll be in a country that's close to things and I'll have a bit more of a life. We'll see how it pans out.

One of the funny things about Australia I find is how people think that automatically moving to Australia will allow their kids to have an Öutdoo"r lifestyle" hahahahaha most kids here just sit at home on weekends and watch Foxtel.

Life is hard here even with high salaries so be prepared. Although I think many potential migrates will haev a better life back home I respect anyone out here who is willing to give it a go.

Your sentiment is exactly what I'm hearing from other newbies to Perth in the last couple of years. Two families I know have gone home recently because they found housing and cost of living higher than when they first started the migration process. They decided they were better off in UK. It's a trend I expect to continue.

Perth has been nicknamed 'Dullsville' for a reason. It's great place if you are into boating, fishing and surfing but other than that, very lacklustre.

Perth is the most boring place i've ever had the (dis)pleasure to visit.