My first post here so hello!

I'm in the very lucky position of being offered a transfer to Australia (from the UK) via work. There are many positives I can see with this, with my employer picking up the costs for moving us, housing us for a period of time, sorting out my 4 year visa and then sponsoring me for permanent residency.

So, wat's stopping us? My wife is 6 months pregnant with twins. We've talked extensively about moving and she's as keen as I am. What we want out of moving will be a combination of better work/life balance and being better off financially, two objectives that we think we can meet. We've both worked abroad before to greater or lesser extents so we're well aware of how business culture changes from country to country.

Obviously we can't make any firm commitments until the twins are born and then we'll have our hands full to a greater or lesser extent. One of my key concerns is that in moving, we'll be taking away that pre-made network of support that has built up around my wife during her pregnancy. I have visions of her stuck alone inside a house in a new country, not knowing anybody, slowly going insane while I'm at work...

Has anybody undertaken a move with small children? I would be extremely grateful if you could share your experiences with me.

Thanks in advance

you have the oppertunity of a lifetime, one that most of us are stuggling to get. GO FOR IT! the kids will be fine and will be too young to know what is going on. if your OH thinks she can cope without the help, then go.

I think you've certainly been handed an amazing opportunity on a plate, and one which many many people on here would give an eyeball for!

The main issue seems to be the missus and the forthcoming twins. I would gather as much info on your intended location re nurseries, mums and toddler groups, childcare etc so even if there is no ready made support system (ie families and friends) at least there will be somewhere she can go if she needs a break until she makes her own friends.

and of course, as with most people here, if it all goes to pot, just come back, it's not the only choice.

best of luck, I hope you go for it!

Therese

GO FOR IT!!

You and your wife will soon meet new people and what a great start the twins will have in an amazing country

Moved here (many years ago now) with a 6 month old baby. No family, no friends and a workaholic husband - drove me crazy. Of course I made friends but it wasnt easy and not something I would recommend doing unless your wife is absolutely certain that it is something she is prepared to do. My parents didnt miss out on our boys because they had an absolutely ideal retirement - they built a granny flat on our block and came here for 6 months of the year for 15 years otherwise they would barely have seen our boys at all. My boys had a good time growing up and for the one who got to national level swimming he would probably not have had the same opportunities in UK. I worried terribly about the standards of education - and still do. One of our sons has virtually emigrated back to UK because he has better career options there! At the end of the day you still live in a big city, you still have to pay the mortgage, you still have to put out the rubbish and clean the oven - it's just that the sun shines every day here and the water is rationed.

If you look at it as an overseas posting which will further your career then go for it. If you are looking at it as a permanent move, "migration" if you will, then I wouldn't. Not with newborn twins.

If you like it after 4 years and have PR then that's a bonus and you can stay.

There is a great resource for twin parents in Australia at - www.amba.org.au/forum. We came with 2-year old twins a few months ago.

Buzzy

If your wife is at all close to her mum and your wifes mum also lives close by and these are your first kids then don't do it. Moving over is stressful, having your first baby is very stressful ( I can't imagine what twins are like), parents are very useful and babysitters are expensive.

Alternatively if you don't do it now - what are the chances of it happening in future? So maybe you should go for it.

However if you do decide to go:
Get out there now as:
The ante-natal services over here are much much better than the UK.
Your wife will be able to make friends with other mums to be now.
Move to an area that has a lot of other expats who also don't have family over here so you can get a bit of a support network going.
Ensure that your company will pay all of the medical bills - we have got PR and the medical bills for our 1 year old are already over $3000 since June (he has grommets). This would be a lot lot more if you are on a 457 visa.

Alex

Thanks for the replies, experiences, opinions and links. They all help! - reassurance and of course helping with the questions that we may have forgotten to ask ourselves.

My role would most likely be based out of Melbourne although there's something like a 10% chance of it being Sydney so I've based my research around Melbourne: prices, locations, transport, etc. I see the cost of living being somewhat cheaper, for example our weekly food bill in the UK would cost about 2/3 the price. Likewise, our monthly outgoings: Phone, electricity, gas, etc. brings us out about £100 a month better off. The downside is income tax which offsets all of those savings - pretty much by the same amount so we are not necessarily better or worse off.

One of the major benefits I can see is with property - the type of property we could buy and live without a mortgage is a massive influence on us. It means that my wife has options of working full/part time and having the twins with childcare or staying at home with them and then going back to work when they go to school (I know my company want to try to bring her on-board if she chooses). Of course, to begin with we would be living in company-owned property so no worries there, I understand it would be a case of applying to have the visa extended to allow us to purchase property...

One thing we have agreed is that while we keep this moving forwards, we'll also assume that it will come to nothing so we don't put our lives on hold. It's the only sensible thing to do I guess...

Thanks once again for your thoughts

One thing I forgot to ask - has anybody any experience of childcare costs? At present in the UK we are unfortunately looking at silly money, so much so that with my wife working full time, we end up a mere £100 a month up.

Any pointers to likely costs for childcare? Thanks

Your company should set you up with LAFHA, in which case your rent and food for up to the first four years would come out of you pre-tax salary. I don't know what the rental costs are like in Melbourne, but in Sydney they are horrendous, if you get LAFHA and rent somewhere decent you will find you aren't paying that much tax.

In Australia renting is much cheaper than buying due to the negative gearing tax rules (you can buy a rental property, negatively gear it ( so that you are making a loss on it and that loss will then come off your income tax bill). Also you can't get LAFHA if you buy a property.

Childcare costs and types vary
In Bondi Junction ABC Childcare costs $120 per day, we use family daycare which costs $80 a day, and there is council daycare which is about $50 a day ( however the waiting lists are so long that you have to get your child on the list about a year before he/she is born).
You would also have to pay for schooling even at the state schools.

I would also check exactly what medical provision you will get from your company. As private medical insurance over here isn't like the UK. Here the amount that a company will pay out for a procedure is defined by the government, this amount is usually less than the actual cost by quite a bit.

Alex,

Thanks for that, really helpful

Hi. To look from a different angle - one of my friends lived in Oz some years ago and came back to the UK when she was 7 months pregnant with her twins (now 8). She returned as she did not want the 'family' to miss out on the new borns. They were not as much help as she expected - cute babies but busy social lives so when she had to go back to work to help pay the bills she ended up employing a nanny - very expensive but with twins cheaper than nursey (she also has a 7 year old). Her OH is such a career driven bloke he spends 50% of the year working abroad and they have moved house 4 times in 4 years. They are now planning on heading back to Oz so she can live a better life and not have to work - cheaper housing and cost of living with him on similar salary.

Her take on it all is that if they had stayed in Oz her OH would still spend 50% of his time away but she would live in a better climate with friends not family (you can choose the former not the latter), her kids would spend thier free time outdoors not cooped up in the dark and she would be there for them instead of relying on out of school clubs and friends.

Everyones situation is different and no one can make these decissions for you but sometimes you need to look beyond what you think will happen to include the other alternative endings. Don't stay because of what you think will happen - it doesn't always and as lots of people have said these opportunities don't happen to many of us and your not on a one way ticket - if it all goes t--s up you can come back.

Good luck with making your decisions - which ever way you go.

We leave on 4th Dec with 12 and 14 year olds, at least babies can't argue, sulk, cry, threaten to run away or tell you they hate you and you are ruining their lives!!

Ali