Wanting to Make the move
 

Im currenetly training to be a biology teacher here in the UK, jobs are not an issue, but the lifestyle and culture here is shocking, and i want better for my kids.

are secondary school biology teachers something wanted down under? or should we use my partner as the lead on the visa because she is a mental health nurse??

any help would be welcome, :thumbsup:

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

www.immi.gov.au is where to start to see if you're eligible for a visa. I'm a bit concerned about your lifestyle and culture being shocking comment, though. What exactly do you think Australia has that the UK doesn't?

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

^^ wot she said.

to OP - Just to add, first thing you need to try and find out, is if your occupation is listed, I think there was a thread recently and secondary school teachers (DIAC does not differentiate subjects AFAIK) are not on the list, so please double check. Also, before you apply for a skilled visa you need your skills assessed, and that *might* require post qualification experience, which I understand you do not have. It is not a roadblock, but it might affect your strategy.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Choose your main applicant based upon who can pass the points test and skills assessment more easily and who can come up with the best supporting evidence. Ability to find job once in Australia is not relevant.

Like the others though, very concerned about your comment son lifestyle and culture; if you cannot make a happy life for yourself in the UK then there is nothing to suggest that it will be any different in Australia.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

With culture being so important to you, you need to be very careful with teaching jobs. Will the jobs be in a place, that you would actually want to live, because the culture of many towns here where they want teachers will shock you far more than anything that ever happened in the UK. ( ie places aussies wont live :eek: )

Mental health nursing, again if things like culture shock you... According to some very high up in the field here, backward, shocking and years behind UK. A search might bring up some of those posts.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

thankyou all for you response, by culture and lifestyle i mean for kids, im 22 and i had a brilli8ant life, but with gangs starting to have a bigger hold on peoples life more and more here, its not something i want my kids to have to go through, also, the drug culture here is shocking. im open minded but when i see and hear about adults buyin their 9 yr olds marijuana its not fun.
i have got family living down under, and i want to make a life for us as a family

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

we will be using my partner as the main applicant, she seems to fit the bill more than well, and we are both looking to get more experience before we move, my missus already has 4 years experience but more doesnt hurt

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Secondary School Teacher
241411
National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition /Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (formerly known as TA)

you right, ive looked it up on SOL, it doenst differentiate subjects, i geuss, i will make sure there is a job available for me or try to get sponsered. but my partner as no such trouble,

Registered Nurse (Mental Health)
254422
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council

if lucky enough to be able to make the move, we are lookin towards queensland or new south wales, which do you recomend having only visited brisbane and sydney on holiday, its difficult to judge

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Bigger school fees in NSW..

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

And you don't think those things happen here too? :rolleyes: Of course there are gangs in Australia and drugs and adults buying 9 year olds marijuana. For heaven's sake, Australia is not some sort of utopia! It's just another western country with all the same problems as any other western country.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

You should check to see if you'd have any difficulty registering as a teacher. I've heard stories that not everyone's degrees are acceptable to the registration authorities over in Australia.

Not being a teacher myself, I've never really looked into it. Hopefully someone will have more details on that (or tell me I've imagined it! :rofl:)

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

i have heard that, its something else to look into :) thankyou

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

No problem. Good luck. :thumbup:

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

australia was classed as the richest country in the world in 2010 and 2011, not financially, but for peoples wellbeing, happiness, and lots of other factors, such as better schools for children, more activities, more places to go, and of course the much more outdoor lifestyle. im not going with my eyes closed, but i didnt know there were gangs, so thats something ive learned. Ive just heard so many good reviews, and from family saying how much better off they are, financially, emotionally and just with how much better they feel there. i know there is a flip side too, thats why i check this site for tips :D maybe i can be one of the lucky successful expats

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

By whom?

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Maybe you will be a successful migrant. I think we would say we are, still none of your reasoning resonates with me. It doesn't feel like a particularly rich country, there is definitely more to do and see in europe compared to australia (considering they are about the same size), many say schools are better in UK and the weather is less forgiving than UK and you could easily find the heat, humidity and rain keeps you inside.

It is just another first world country, come for the experience.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Honestly, if you didn't know there are gangs, I suggest you do a lot of reading to make sure you really do want to move. Have a read of threads in the main Australia forum and the barbie. A lot of us have been living here several years and even those who really love it are unlikely to say its perfect. For many of us its quite simply "same brown stuff, different bucket" - you go to work to earn money to keep a roof over your head so you have somewhere to sleep when you're not at work.

Not saying don't do it, just saying do some reading and make sure you know a bit more about what another day in paradise is really like :sneaky;

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Seriously?

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Exactly. Its no better or worse. Just different.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

You know that your family here will only give you the good points though as they would love to have family here. I'd lie through my teeth if any of my friends or family were thinking about coming just to have them here!:D

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Gawd knows I'm no fan of living Oz and am not looking forward to returning there, but it does have a lot to offer. However the reasons you've listed here aren't even on the radar, especially the drugs rationale.:blink:

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Exactly. Australia and the UK compete for spots 1 & 2 in the pecking order for use of drugs in various categories. Recreational drug use is rife in Australia...as it is in the UK. I must've led a bit of a sheltered life in the UK but some of the stuff people I know in Aus experiment with beggars belief...particularly people who you think might know better...doctors, nurses etc.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

I spent best part of 40 years in UK and didn't leave that long ago but never came into contact with this drug culture or indeed with any individuals who took drugs. I am not suggesting it is not there and does not happen, but pretty easy to choose to stay away from without moving to the other side of the world..

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

[QUOTE=mybigplan;10075233
you right, ive looked it up on SOL, it doenst differentiate subjects, i geuss, i will make sure there is a job available for me or try to get sponsered. but my partner as no such trouble, [/QUOTE]

You won't need a sponsor if your wife is the main applicant. However even if you did need to get sponsorship you won't until you have at least a couple of years experience under your belt. I think you said something about not going for it immediately, that's good news because you will struggle to get work without experience. Also be aware that the rules will be changing rules in July, the application process is becoming similar to the NZ system of SkillSelect. Also be aware that whilst it's unlikely that your wife's skills will leave SOL in future, it could happen and depending on how many graduates come out of unis here, yours could as well, it's not a foregone conclusion that you will be eligible.

I would agree with everyone else with respect to your living expectations. I love it here, we're very happy but believe you me, gangs, drugs, etc etc etc are very common. You have a first world country, you have first world problems. As for the better financial and emotional quality of life, that may be right for people who have been here a fair while but it's hard to imagine people coming over now will be as lucky. Those that came over 4/5 years ago got a massively better exchange rate and will have settled into work etc. Better schooling is totally dependent on a) the child, b) the school from which they came and c) the school they end up in. Some people find the education system worse, most find it exactly the same, a small amount find it better.

You may find everything you are looking for, work may be wonderful, life may be great, but there's just as much chance of it being a bloody hard struggle. No one is trying to put you off, we're just attempting to show some realism based on our own personal experiences as well as years of reading other peoples experiences on here. Good luck :fingerscrossed:

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Originally Posted by mybigplan
australia was classed as the richest country in the world in 2010 and 2011, not financially, but for peoples wellbeing, happiness, and lots of other factors, such as better schools for children, more activities, more places to go, and of course the much more outdoor lifestyle.

Can't believe that having just got back from Scandinavia. More activities and more places to go? Reallt, my experience of life in australia your stuck in the one place most of the time and in many suburbs a good drive away from community activities. A lot of australians spend their days indoors under the air conditioning and where I used to live in Adelaide people only seemed interest in AFL. I go to far more places living here in London than I did when I lived in Australia, theres a lot more clubs and organisations to frequnet and when I'm not in London I'm at my place the south coast, with friends in the west country, with family in Wales, my parents place in Spain or on a break to Europe...

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Thankyou so much to everyone who has commented, i am only 22 and i still want to gain experience in my field and who k.ows life in the uk may be good enough, i know theres always the old saying, the grass is greener, we are in the discussions stage and we are saving, but everything you mention, me and the fiancè discuss, we had do want " the dream" but i know this can bring heartache. My partner can be stubborn at times and if she wanted only the system could stop her lol. Maybe the gilden eneration you were talking about and the good stories you hear always make you think what if? We will keep reading and hopefully it will be for us,

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

sorry for the bad grammar and mis spelling in my previous post. i absolutely love the fact that there are som many people on here who will actually tell you the truth, my friends and family down under, just give it the "streets are paved with gold" routine, so i didnt know about the gangs and drugs. i will continue to read the threads and you have all helped just show me that once your their it is just another place you are going to work. DO you think it would be best to just jump in once we have lots of experience and see if it is for us?? what did you guys and ladies do?? and what was your initial experiances? im a long way off from making that decision that we are definately going, but i have wanted to live in australia for about 5 years for several reasons.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

some of the information I have looked at from sites such as this,

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-0...e3a-un/3620398

http://www.city-data.com/forum/austr...lies-near.html

http://www.news.com.au/travel/austra...-1226184172691

their are many others online saying how good australia is, the people on here just help put that into perpestive

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

If this is something you have long wanted to do you should do it. I think the message is to keep it real, take the better lifestyle stuff with a massive pinch of salt because many people prefer a uk lifestyle and many more find their lifestyle much the same. If you start out with realistic expectations you are less likely to be disappointed.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Remember those are all Australian websites, and as far as the majority of Aussies are concerned their country can do no wrong :nod:
Like has been said before, approach it realistically, have a good read of the stuff on here and you'll get every viewpoint you could wish for - positive, negative and indifferent!
Personally I guess I fall into the last one, I spend most of my waking hours at work, the job is tedious but pays the bills, I could be in any western city for the amount of Brisbane that i actually see. Came here expecting to be married and live happy ever after, go to the beach, enjoy the sunshine and have a comfortable life........discovered the climate is too hot and humid for me most of the time, the only time I see a beach is when I go back home on holiday and I'm now a crabby divorcee! So much for that dream :lol:

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Yep, the dream, thats what i was hoping for lol, regarding the weather do you not.get used to it? And im sure in the next 5 years or so i will have a much better understanding of myself and what i want/need aswell as the experience of course

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

No, you do not get used to the weather. Have you ever been outside in 45 degree heat having to wear long sleeves and a hat to prevent melanoma because the UV index is 14?

This past summer in Perth we had about 3 weeks where the temperature was over 40 every day. Blazing hot sun all freakin' day in houses with single pane glass and no insulation to keep the heat out. Even the water in the pool was over 40 some days. Now we're coming into winter so we have the next 3 months of cold, wind and horizontal rain to look forward to.

And I'm still not sure what "dream" you refer to. As loads of us have pointed out Australia is a first world country with first world problems. There is no "dream" to be had here. We all have to get up in the morning to go to work. We all have bills and housework and grocery shopping just like you have there. Australia is not some sort of utopia. The streets are not paved with gold here. It's bloody hard work being an immigrant!

What you need to bear in mind is that what I'm telling you comes from someone who is relatively happily settled in Australia. You just need to take off your rose tinted glasses and do some actual research on the place you think you want to move to.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

like Pollyana said, moved their for "the perfect life" to be married, happy, by the beach, and so on. but its exactly that, a dream. i have been to auss 3 times, and ive been to africa twice i know the heat can get high, ive never been anywhere where it has been completely unbareable, like you have described, just gone travelling at the wrong time of year maybe? i am more than willing to work hard, to make a good life for myself and my family. there is always a reason to want to emmigrate to another country were ever it may be in the world. thanks to the people on this site, i now know that it isnt a utopia, not that i did, i did expect there to be problems, but i have been shown others which i am gratefull for. maybe in 5 years time, once i am confident i have enough experience and my family are ready we make that move. but these insights from people who have already made the move are brilliant, i have had messages of goodluck, for some people its the best decision they have ever made. i have a growing family down under, especially in WA and perth. and i will not stop researching ove the coming years, moving across the globe is a huge and expensive decision, not one i will take lightly, i gaurentee. but if it was a decision to make now and money wasnt an issue, id go tommorow, if it failed, then so be it, atleast i tried and it would not be something i would regrett later on in life. i sure dont want to be sat as an old man saying, what if, what if

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Australia and Perth have obviously some pluses otherwise none of us would be here. However, the reasons we are here are varied and will depend on particular circumstances. For me it is the best place for my work. If I could do the same job in the UK with the same conditions we would be back there.

Don't underestimate the sun. It can be a serious pain. I have worked and lived around the world and find Oz summer can just be too much. Different if you are on holiday to living in it. Then the opposite can also be a pain. It is around zero this morning and like nearly all houses we have no insulation and no heating. Not fun.

There is crime and anti social behavior. Teen pregnancy and kids getting drunk. Australia has one of the biggest drug problems is the world. Last year the police found hundreds of drug labs in WA. God knows how many were actually operating, but the ones found would be the tip of the iceberg.

There are more jobs here and the economy is in better shape than the UK, but nobody knows what it will be like in the future.

People think that kids in Perth are playing out all day, but it has been a news story recently that kids here spend less time outdoors than most other places. I can imagine that part of this is to stop them joining to 40% of Australians that will develop skin cancer

A significant plus for children is the ability to spend times in different cultures and cheap easy trips to Europe from the UK is a big plus. Not easy from Perth which is a very isolated city.

But, there are lots of people that come here and would never go back and it may be the right decision for you. But if you do do it, make sure it is for the right reasons.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

After nine years? Nope, still hate it, it just doesn't suit me. Brisbane has several months of being hot and humid - though admittedly not as hot as Perth (usually) or as humid as Cairns. 12 minutes walk to the station 7am, dripping wet before you get on the train, stand on the train with other dripping wet commuters, 12 minutes walk to the office, dripping wet and hot on arrival, quickly turning to freezing in the air con. Same again in reverse at 6pm.
Some people get used to it, some love it.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Indeed, it's an incredibly personal thing. The climate here is perfect for me, I wouldn't like the Brissie climate and definitely wouldn't want to live in Cairns, Perth, Adelaide etc in their summers. It's plain luck if you arrive at an area that suits, I would never have imagined that the climate would be so different just 100kms up the road.

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

here in the UK we are having a little bit of summer, its lasted a week so far which is surely breaking records :) but i had read the sub climates in australia can vary massively, i thought queensland was the hottest part, with the golden coast and all. i was assuming that perth was slightly cooler by comparison, so thankyou for sharing that also. i will continue to read up and make sure we move to somewhere we will be able and the weather, i do not like humid to be honest. but with the economy here, double dip, the euro looks like that will collapse effecting the uk, maybe a move would be a must, but then the exchange rate would not ne kind to us, who knows what the future holds, if im lucky i could win the lottery ;) to wishing aye. but i understand what you mean, the places i have vistited was beautiful, and was very nice while i was on holiday, but if it is good enough to spend the rest of our lives there? hmm

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Perth isn't cooler, it's drier. In fact in summer they get it hotter (than here anyway). Weeks of 35/6 plus with no humidity, a couple of weeks worth of 40 plus where you can feel the moisture being sucked out of your body is not something I personally can deal with. Winter is colder - they had frost just south of Perth this morning, we just moan when it gets down to 9. That's a lie, we moan when it gets down to 20. We really grumble a lot when it gets down to 9. :lol:

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

Look out the next couple of mornings......single figures are approaching :thumbup:

Re: Wanting to Make the move
 

I will not be sticking any part of my anatomy out of the bedding until double figures are reached.