rubbish

Heaven forbid! Your friends wont talk to you anymore.....

What would you know, you dont live in Vic...Oh.....wait.....

Some serious advice for the OP about the original question and building on what's been said: you need to look seriously at where you will be able to afford to rent on the salary your DH will be getting.

I don't have an axe to grind in the suburbs debate but I will point out that people look for and want different things. If you want to live near the beach, in a nice house, this is quite possible and affordable in the more distant suburbs (either north or south). These suburbs however are very suburban, by which I mean they are designed for cars, so there's not a lot of shopping/cafes/pedestrian or nightlife buzz. ANd that's not what everyone wants.

The inner suburbs will have more of that ability to walk to shops/cafes/transport, and more European-style buzz (although no one is ever going to confuse Perth with Paris, London, or New York) - areas like CLaremont and Subiaco have a central hub with shops, cafes, etc and if you like that sort of thing you'll like those suburbs. But they are a lot more expensive, and that's not for everyone either!

It's different strokes for different folks -funnily enough my husband, who is the Perth boy (from Cottesloe no less) would be perfectly happy living in Ocean Reef as he is a beach person at heart. I find that walking to things and being closer to the city is important to me.

I think the question of whether you'll be judged by where you live is a red herring, really - it's more what you can afford and what lifestyle you want (urban or beach) on the salary your DH will receive.

Good advice clamato

This is incorrect. I came here on a 457 and didn't need private health insurance. Likewise now with Permanent Residency or when I get my citizenship (in about a month's time).

I absolutely hated Perth when I visited. I'm sure some people love it, but I couldn't see the attraction at all. I certainly wouldn't move there without taking a look first.

Your employer should have ensured you had private health insurance.

My employer is Queensland Health.

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skill...employee.htm#b

You are responsible for all health costs for yourself and your family. You are required by law to maintain adequate insurance for these health costs for the length of your visa. You will need to provide evidence that you have obtained adequate insurance before your visa can be granted

If your visa was approved prior to 14 September 2009, your sponsor is still responsible for all medical or hospital expenses arising from treatment administered in a public hospital for the duration of the visa (other than expenses that are met by health insurance or reciprocal health care arrangements).

I think things have changed. Reciprocal health care now valid for 457.

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/457-h...isa-holder.htm

"Being enrolled with Medicare under reciprocal health care arrangements is sufficient to meet the health insurance requirement at visa grant and to comply with visa condition 8501.

You can only enrol with Medicare if you are in Australia. If you have enrolled with Medicare you should provide evidence that you have been issued with a Medicare card as part of your application.

If you are overseas, you must arrange adequate insurance for your initial period in Australia and provide evidence of this insurance as part of your application. You may be eligible to then enrol with Medicare once you are in Australia. Being enrolled with Medicare is sufficient to comply with visa condition 8501.

You should also be aware that once you have enrolled with Medicare, you need to contact the Australian Taxation Office to see if you will be subject to the Medicare Levy Surcharge. This might affect the type of health insurance policy you need to maintain while in Australia."

That refers to Medicare which is compulsory. My employer made it perfectly clear on arrival that I did not require private health insurance.

If you're referring to my post it was already agreeing with you

Medicare is only available to people from countries with a reciprocal agreement. Those from other countries have to buy private health insurance. So it's not Medicare that is compulsory, it's health insurance. You just happen to be one of the lucky ones who can get Medicare and so don't have to pay for other insurance.

Which was implicit in what I said.

And I'd hardly call it 'reciprocal' when it is not entirely free at source here in Aus.

Oh and by the way, we have treated dozens of people from all over the world (mostly backpackers it seems) under medicare, reciprocal agreement or not. If you have a mental illness and need urgent treatment then you can be detained against your will under the mental health act. Those people will not in most cases be treated under the private health system or have private health insurance. I do not know of any instance where they have had to pay a cent plus we do not turn them away. It would be unethical to do so. What is true is that they are often deported after discharge, but even this is not consistently applied.

My point all along is that what you read on the immigration website is not always adhered to to the letter, though you'd think it would be. Maybe it depends on your Case Officer I don't know...