Lot of people saying you can use reciprocal medicare on 457?

Also, isn't super a private pension? State pension paid by the government.

I think you misunderstood the offer. You will find he is being offered AUD130k + 9% super + LAFHA. LAFHA can never be offered as a percentage!

LAFHA stands for "living away from home allowance". It means your husband will get a large chunk of his pay tax-free - and with that you will find he no longer has a "pay cut".

The way it works: LAFHA has two components, a food component and an accommodation component. The food component is set each year by the tax office (ATO). The rates change every year, but for the 2010 tax year they were $412 per week for a family with two adults and one or two children:
http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.ht...1&pn=ALL:::ALL

The accommodation component is not pre-set. It just has to be "reasonable" for a family in your circumstances. The rent for a six-bedroom penthouse with butler would not be "reasonable" but the rent for a 4-bedroom house within a reasonable distance from work would be reasonable.

You can of course rent whatever you like. But your husband's weekly LAFHA will be the set food component plus the going rate for a 4-bedroom house etc etc.

Let's say the rent rate would be $450 per week and the food rate $412 per week. Multiply that by 52 and the LAFHA will be $44,824. You deduct that from the $130k and you get a taxable salary of $85,176.

At 2010 tax rates, on $85,176, your husband would have paid tax and Medicare of $21,094.52 less sposue tax offset (on 457 visa) $2,243 gives $18,851.52. His take home pay net of tax would have been $111,148.48 (that's taxable salary of $85,176 plus LAFHA $44,824 less tax and Medciare $18,851.52).

An annual take-home pay of $111,148.48 means a monthly net pay of $9,262.37 or a fortnighly pay of $4,274.94 - stressing that these are the after tax amounts! This will alow a very comfortable style of living in Perth for two adults and two children.

I live in Perth as well (coming from Reading). For us it's a great place to live. I lovethe sunny warm weather .

Medicare: You will need to take out private health insurance before you come to Aus. The policy needs to be in place before the 457 visa is granted. Ask the employer to pay for it.

If you have to pay for it: In theory, you can cancel the policy once you are in the country and use Medicare (because you are from the UK).

Super: No, it's not the state pension. The state pension is a means-tested benefit paid to people who meet the conditions.

"Super" is your personal pension. The employer has to contribute at 9% to it. As you are on a 457, you can claim back the amount that the employer paid for you. You claim it (as a lump sum) after you have left the country and the visa has been cancelled. You don't get the full amount - there is a tax deduction. As an estimate: If your husband works here for four full years at $130k, the net amount after tax you'd get back would be $30,420.

People come here as they earn larger salaries (offsetted by higher costs) not the other way around.

Taking a massive pay cut to move from London to Perth that's crazy...

130k isn't much money in this city as well when you facter in a nice house, car etc.

Me too. And I am content here as well.

OP please ignore the digs about whether "money is the only thing that matters to you". Just look at the practicalities, of course it is possible to survive on $130k but the fact is that £81k to $130k is one almighty lifestyle adjustment to make. And £81k in the UK is not even remotely comparable to $130k in Australia.

In Australia, we do not all clock off at 4pm and go to the beach, so don't assume there will be a trade off. I have never worked harder, or longer hours in my life since I moved here. And I can walk to the beach in five minutes from my house but no I don't do that every day.

The weekday hotel living doesn't sound ideal, but you don't need to go to Australia to change that.

I think it would be bordering on insane to take this temporary visa deal.

I was thinking that myself, what the hell is 9% LAFHA??:-)
yeah 130k + LAFHA = comfortable lifestyle.

The question is if the OP does come here and does not like it, will it be easy enough for him to find a decent job back in London? If so, why not. Many (British) people think Perth is one of the best places to live. To my taste its alright, major disadvantages imo are too much heat in summer and its a little bit expensive to get out of the region. oh Ryanair....

Anyway, we live only once, no point to play too safe.

oh Tiger, oh Air Asia X........

recent fares for us:
$700 return to London
$250 return to Singapore
$300 return to KL

Tiger have advertised $1 fares to Melbourne this week

As per my post above: The OP should not compare the UK gross pay of GBP81k to the Aus gross pay of $130k - that's just plain stupid.

The OP should compare the net pay after tax and NI in the UK with the net pay after tax and Medicare in Australia.

Per my post above: The net pay in Australia will be an annual take-home pay of $111,148.48, which means a monthly net pay of $9,262.37.

How does the monthly net of $9,262.37 compare to the OP's current net UK pay?

700 aud to London.. If you book tickets in decade, yeah. not in 4-5 months

Perth is simply far from major tourist destinations.. even 300 aud to KL.. good few hours too, cannot be compared to those city breaks you can do in Europe on weekends.

Are you calling me plain stupid?

I don't know what OPs take home pay is, likewise I don't know what they pay in mortgage / rent. I pay more than double now. If you want to be more scientific then there are a lot more things that need to be considered. And you have just guessed at their LAFHA.

What about the inherent backwards career step that £81k to $130k implies? Is OP looking to take such a monumental backwards step in their career. Some of the junior accountants in my team earn $130k, whereas somebody on £81k in London would be in a relatively senior position. The two are not comparable. A CV that shows such a drop in earnings or seniority then it is going to need explaining later.

Also what happens in the future. What if they get PR, will they be sure they won't be stuck on $130k.

81k pounds = 126k aud...

There are plenty on here who wouldn't mind being "stuck on $130k"

Need closer to $180k to have comparable spending power.

So London THIS cheaper?:-)

we are so moving to Kent then!

(but still diffcult to believe Perth living costs can be that higher)

Everybody seems to use 2.2 as the spending power conversion rate. Don't ask me why but it seems to be more realistic than any straight currency conversion.

Just seen an example in the thread about the cost of booze. Litre of vodka in the UK is around $20, here it's closer to $50.