Rosie

We are a family with 4 kids ages 8 to 13 and are thinking about applying for emmigration under the independent skills route. I am an accountant and my hubbie is a teacher. We were just wanting to know if life is a good as it sounds in OZ. What are schools like compared to UK. What about salaries & cost of living? Are the creepie crawlies really that bad?
Also how long does it take to apply under the independent skills route?
Please tell us the good & the bad!

Brissiegirl

I would suggest you go to Australia for a holiday before committing yourself to something as major as a move to the other side of the world. A reccie trip may resolve many of your questions!

And yes, it is full of creepy-crawlies!!

Good luck.

b.

andrewb

Do take a holiday there? People either seem to love it and want to stay there and then or never want to go back.

I am in the first category and want to be there as soon as possible.

The application process takes quite a while and whilst I have only been going through it since October. It has taken till now to get all the skills assessments and paperwork together and so should be sending my main application off early March.

Rosie

What's job market & salaries like for accountants?

tonyk38

Couldn't agree more.

I've been shouted down on this forum before for daring to suggest that visiting the country first is a pretty good idea. If you don't and emigrate, you will quickly find just how different it is from the grossly distorted image portrayed in these sugar-coated relocation Down Under progs.

You could just as easily fall in love with the place as hate it, it depends on different factors. Those that don't settle come back for various reasons, but the common themes that seem to pop up are: Missing friends and relatives, not being open-minded and adaptable to a different culture, and trying to live in an area or neighbourhood that just doesn't suit you. Some folks in this position have moved to another part of Aus and suddenly found it to their liking. So, try not to judge the country on the first bit you see.

On the plus side, I really like the Aussies as people, and find most of them to be friendly and helpful. It is often the little things like friendly customer service, cars slowing down to let you cross, and complete strangers going out of their way for you with helpful advice that make all the difference IMHO.

It's been said before on here, but it often depends on what you want from life as to whether it's the place for you. Go take a look and see for yourself, and you never know, you may fall in love with the place and start the application process as soon as you get back!

Best of luck.

markeh

Rosie,
I think It's a big decision if yuou have children.
I decided I wonted to live in oz, met my wife, told her about my desire, married had a child and then applied. (alway's wonting & intending to go)

We validated and the wife loved oz. She went for a walk with the baby when we first flew to Sydney and decided that she loves Oz.

Remember you could make a validation trip & then decide to stay in UK or emmigrate.

Bye
Mark

Ian12

My partner is a chartered accountant and Australian qualified. He has worked for the last 17 years in the UK in management accounting roles within large organisations. He has been looking for work in Sidney without success for the past two months. He has been told by some of th agencies that employers prefer Australian acounants. (Misses the point that he is Australian). i.e. that have not been overseas for a considerable period. Sorry if this is not what you wanted to read.

aussie73

The only way you are going to know what OZ is like is to go there yourself,
a long holiday traveling all around the country before immigrating , might not
tell you everything such as job opportunities, but it will give you a good indication of whether you want to live there. You can't rely on just what people say on this forum, some people say they love the place and immigrating was the best thing they ever did, while others say it was a mistake and move back to the UK. Australia is'nt some small European country
where one part is pity much the same as another, it is an enormous country
with different environments and landscapes from one part to another. For example Victoria and Tasmania have a cool climate and green countryside, often snows and rains in winter, while most of Western Australia is desert and has a warm climate. Some places such as Melborne and Sydney have far more job opportunites then other places. l think many people make the mistake of immigrating to a part of OZ that is not suited to them which would not have happened if they have spent more time traveling around OZ and choosing which part of the country is most suitable for them , rather then just choosing one place because the houses are cheap and it has nice beaches nearby.

andrewb

Also, if you do decide to take a trip, don't go there with rose tinted spectacles, look around the place and see if it is the sort of place you could live.

wombat42

A recent survey showed 88% of Australians thought OZ is the best country in the world to live in.

CasG

I've been here over 6 weeks now and absolutely love it . OK, I know it is not that long in the scheme of things, but I'm not in holiday mode any more - I'm working and doing the 'everyday' things in life - as well as taking trips out to the beaches, and surrounding areas. But that is part of the reason I came here, and don't plan to change that style of life!
In the UK, I spent far to much time on the 'go to work, come home, eat, go to bed, go to work' etc, etc roll - especially in the dark, cold winter months.

I hadn't been to Australia before I applied for my emigrated - maybe I took a risk (but so what - if I didn't like it I knew I could go back), but I'm quite an adaptable person, and I think that really does help to fit in with any change of culture and environment.

The problem which remains with 'reccie trips' is that unless they are for a longish period when you can get into 'everyday' life and work, then you may still looking at it through biased eyes.

It is up to the individual, sure - but be prepared to be open-minded and give yourself time and experience.

Re creepy crawlies - I've had one Huntman in my house (ugly bugger), but then again, no flies or anything else!

Cas

ShozInOz

Australia is better than UK is some things, and worse in others - as you would expect I suppose, without the grass is greener mindset. It depends where you live, but unlike oneof the posts above, I find after travelling here that much of Australia has the same feel if you compare places to live, e.g. Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane feel far more similar than European cities in mnay ways. Country towns feel even more similar. Of course, there is some very diverse landscape here, but bush mostly looks the same, and outback mostly looks the same. It's hard to appreciate the size of the place - ~ same as USA without Alaska. So you don't just pop up to the tropics or to the GB reef. You mostly, like the UK, live in your neighbourhood. There are benefits there. For me in Sydney's eastern suburbs, that means warm/hot weather, fairly safe streets, few no no gangs (except Maroubra), fairly free of litter and dirt, near the sea, etc. Now if you compare that with some western (MUCH cheaper) suburbs, read much more crime, lebanese gangs, vietnamese gangs, trashy streets, and not a place you would want to live. I've never lived in cities outside Sydney so can't comment on living there.

Prices are similar to UK. Some things cheaper (e.g. new cars, eating out), some dearer (used cars, supermarket food). Wages are less - in acedemia (my current sector) - quite a bit less. But in some ways there are more opportunities - I can get access to people and places that I couldn't in the U.K. People are friendlier generally (a real "G'day mate how's it going" thing) and more sociable, but friendships seem to take much longer to reach a deeper level. Weekends can seem like a mini-holiday if you live in a nice place (we live near the beach!), but people seem not to venture so far out of their city/locality because major cities are so isolated (from being a high milage person I have now clocked up 6000Ks in one year! Gold star for environment for me). You can meet lots of new people here, but you lose touch with family and friends in the UK. You can rent cheaply here, but houses can cost more than the UK. I could go on.

For every benefit, there is a disbenefit, and it really depends how much you value each of the things that you gain and lose. It seems easier to settle here if you do not have close family and friends in the UK. Ex-pats who have been here many years say they never get over that. You can fly to the UK to visit every 1/2/3 years, but if you are planning to visit people around the UK it can make for a very tiring trip. In a way you need to fundamentally change your relationships with loved ones in the UK.

My tips as an Englishman in Sydney, for what they are worth:
1. Come over for a holiday first. But don't expect that you will know what it is like ot live here - a holiday is a holiday.
2. Don't sell your UK house.
3. Be prepared for homesickness and culture shock - work through it. Talk about it.
4. Give yourself a one year review date, then another year after that. If you are settled then, buy a house here.
5. Emotionally speaking, don't think that Oz will make you happy, or solve your problems.
6. Treat it as an enriching life experience regardless of what happens.

ShozInOz

A survey out this morning shows that 88% of Australians have never been outside Australia.

aussie73

Regarding creepy crawkies l would describe them as an annoyance not a danger, for example flies can be a pain in summer, no one has been killed by a spider since the 1950's ,If you live in a city like Sydney or Melbourne the only place you will see a snake is at the zoo. Snakes kill around 2 people a year but in most of these cases the people were stupid enough to pick up the snake or to try to kill it. Even in the bush it is rare to come across a snake, on the few ocassions l have while bushwalking they quickly slither out of your way, snakes only attack in self defence if you attack them first and are affraid of humans. Most people who are bitten by poisoness snakes in OZ don't die.

Banksia

Was that survey undertaken by the folk who brought us all "There are WMD in Iraq?"