Apologies if this question has been raised elsewhere.

I have a job opportunity for AUS$95,500 for a Process Operator role in Perth and I want to know if this is a high enough wage to support myself, girlfriend and a new born baby in the Perth area.

we would be looking to rent a suitable sized property. I am guessing it would be tight but my situation is that my girlfriend is a few months pregnant. If she can get work when we move out to Australia then great but she will only be able to work prior to the birth of our child. From what I have read she will not be in any position for any kind of maternity pay due to not having worked for at least ten months prior to giving birth.

Any advice or opinions will be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Olly

We all have different standards and expectations. Asking this question to a bunch of randoms will produce a range of answers from the would be very comfortable to you would be in financial dire straits. Personally, I would err towards the being rather tight end of the scale. But what matters if you. How does it compare to current salary?

A pregnant woman, rightly or wrongly, may struggle to find work, so maybe don't bank on a second income.

Depending on the visa type she may be eligible to claim the baby bonus rather than maternity pay.

Thanks for the replies.

We will both have 457 visa's so not sure if she is eligible for anything with that.

My current salary in the UK is £49000. $95500 works out at approx £63000 so it is an increase for me but then there is the higher cost of living. I have heard it is at least one and a half times the cost in the UK? We are not looking to live the high life, just enough to have a house, food, run a car, etc. Holidays and going out to eat, etc can be put on hold until my girlfriend returns to some form of work.

No baby bonus on 457.

That's not a salary increase...in real terms it's a decrease - do not convert salaries based on the ex rate...it's very misleading.

Iv read many many times not to take conversion rates literally any more. To get the correct level of pay comparison try 2.2 or even 2.4 $ to the £...

So 95k is that including Superannuation? If so then your looking nearer £40k comparatively..

This is a significant pay cut for you. Current, historically low exchange rate is irrelevant as nothing you will need to buy will be comparable at the current exchange rate.

Not sure about the superannuation. Need to check on that.

Pay is supposed to rise after an initial training period but still waiting on figures. Initial job is a lower role than my current one so if it correlates to about £40K that would compare to the same rate for type of work in UK. Its all about the career progression and future earnings.

Thanks for the info.

Ok then!

The use of the exchange at 2.2 for example stops everything seeming massively expensive instead of just expensive!!

$95k is plenty if you are going to rent somewhere fairly modest. You won't be living like a king though. Also is it $95k wage or $95k "package"? because if it's a package about 8 grand of that will be Super contributions which you can't access for now.

Why move when your girlfriend is pregnant? She is going to need a support network when that baby comes along. Moving while she is pregnant isn't giving her much time to build one here. Is this your first child? If so I don't think either of you realise how hard it will be emotionally.

Just on the financial side, I think 2.2 is a good number to use to compare your standard of living.
So you will have "spending power" equivalent to GBP 43.4 if you are on a salary of AUD 95.5, so you will be around 11% "worse off".
Obviously the finances are only one part of the story.
Good luck

Not just quoting Killers 2.2 comp and 11% worse off statement but how can you possibly say that someone will be 11% worse off when they emmigrate. What is that based on? This 2.2 multiplier really irks me, people are moving countries, changing lifestyles, changing perceptions, changing emotions and we stick a 2.2 multiplier on it.

Not u killers, everyone does it, to me, there isnt a mathematical equation which gives the right or wrong answer, work out how much you will be taking home, cost of your bills, amount left and if you are happy and can live on it then happy days....this is probably the only thing from WDU that I agree with, the cold hard facts of making families do an australian budget.

Imagine if people emmigrate solely based on a 2.2 multiplier, they could arrive and think, damn, that 2.2 should have been 1.3.

Sorry, just look at what things will be like when you get here, no comparisons to england as they mean nothing.

Sean

The question was about salary, hence the answers are about salary and cost of living etc.

Doing a rough comparison at 2.2 or 2 or 2.5 or whatever is a lot quicker and easier than trying to think of and work out the cost of every single thing one is likely to spend money on when considering the financial side of the move.