Originally posted by MartinD
RACISM - Lets fact it, you are coming to live in a country that was taken by force from it's indiginous owners, and those people have been terribly abused and treated,

Originally posted by mikeburt
I do find it strange that people continually points out the lower wages in OZ as if anyone going to Australia isn't aware of this!as for those who worry about the standard of TV ,are you really that sad that .
Education,another example which is a bit of a joke,only yesterday it was announced that UK schools and kids are lagging behind many including Korea,Czech republic-but are they going to move their family to Souel !
As for returning home because the weather is just too hot,you may have a point but just be warned,the summer in England has been a belter with high humidity and long queues to the dirty beaches that we have neglected for so many years.
Perhaps your friend will have time to ponder this,think about the 50metre walk they used to have to the beach,the swimming pool in the garden etc when they get back to this over populated land of ours,filling up nicely with illegals who are committing most of the crimes in this country if the metropolitan police are to be believed!
Having said this,if they are not happy and have given it a go ,fair enough-but remember this place has changed an awful lot in the last 4 years too!!!!!

Originally posted by MartinD
On the racism issue, my point was that simply in the UK or elsewhere there is a debate, and a recognition that progress needs to be made, and that it is in fact wrong. What I hear in Oz in that this is not the case - that aboriginals are at fault for their plight, that they are lazy etc... etc..

You will see virtually no indiginous shop owners, workers, police, or bus drivers. Ther is no real voice for aboriginals beyond working in tourist-trap 'cultural' shows. My point is that racism (or apartheid - as that is what it amounts to) has been successful here in dividing the country into seperate populations - and you don't have to talk to many Aussies on the isse before you hear the 'we are better/move advanced than them' issues that were largely a product of the 60's 70's in th UK.

Actually on the day we arrived in Oz the taxi driver who drove us to our caravan park (cheap places to stay when you first get here!) launched straight into the issue and told us that the only good aboriginal was a dead one - in front of my wife and daughter... I was almost tempted to turn the cab around and leave then...

Originally posted by jandjuk
ahem....

well, some might argue that it's about time you brits got a taste of your own medicine

after years of taking over other people's countries, you have the cheek to complain when others try to take over yours??

Not so nice when it's happening to you is it. How do you think the aborigines feel?? They were probably pretty cheesed off when a bunch of whiteys turned up gibbering a language they couldn't understand....

Originally posted by badgersmount
and the French - 1066 and all that

conquest, eh? you can't live without it

Originally posted by MartinD
I know there are a lot of 'hopes and dreams' out there on this forum, but you should all expect a very healthy, and sometimes foul-tasting, dose of reality when you set up here in Oz.

Homesickness is a strange, unpredictable, and illogical disease that hits most people at some time or another, and I have heard of many, many people who have emigrated to Oz only to return back to the UK - and then some of these people then realise that the UK is not what they remember, and re-emigrate again!

You really must expect to come across things you do not like and cannot cope with very well out here, as the culture IS different. When you are here on holiday you have not a care in the world, but when you are working hard (and here work seems to be harder) you might suddenly realise (as I did a while ago) that you haven't been to the beach in three months, or been out to a restaurant - you have just recreated your commute/work/sleep/stress life from the UK all over again!

My workplace offers a counselling service free of charge, and in speaking to her about this she told me that her business is overwhelmingly from Brits who cannot slow down/adjust to the Australian way of life, and deal with Australian people/businesses (one man in his garage running your sole support/supply operation is the norm here).

Some thing that I have found tough and was not prepared for are:

TRAFFIC - yes, even in Perth the moring commute is pain, with the Freeway little more than a carpark after 7am. While roundabouts are less of a feature, all major intersections are traffic-light controlled, and filter each line of traffic seperately - you will get held up over, and over again at these...

POLICE - Don't screw with the cops here - they will get on your case as soon as look at you! I never had a single incident in the UK, but within 6 months here I had 2 speeding fines, a parking fine, and was pulled off the street at a pedestrian crossing for not waiting for the green man - all things I though nothing of doing in the UK! Speed cameras are portable and hidden, and 1Km over the mark is enough for an infringment notice. Also be prepared to be stopped regularly for random breath tests by the 'booze buses' - these are often on the main roads at going-home time and breath-test all drivers in a queue of traffic.

WORK - Many Aussies just do not posess the same work ethic of UK/Europeans, and if you are on a managerial position you may find HR issues tough to deal with here.

WAGES - You will probable earn a lot less here, and there is not the competition between businesses to allow you to swap jobs and earn more elsewhere. Be prepared to be a lot more static in your job and DO NOT keep equating the earnings back to UK pounds!

ISOLATION - After you have spent months/years without travelling out of your home city due to the distances involved just to go anywhere - then you will feel isolation creeping in. It's not like in the UK where you can take a shopping trip into the next town, or a day our in London if you fancy a change.

TV - Aussie TV is out and out bloody awful, and often simply unwatchable due to saturation advertising (The ABC being the heaven-sent exception). Radio can also be the same. You can subscribe to cable TV, but this is not as good as Sky in the UK, and is mostly full of the worst American trash TV imaginable. Foxtel does show 'UK-TV', which includes Coronation St (about 18 months behind), and Eastenders (more like 3 years behind), so if you need a soap fix, you will be in bother!

BUYING/SELLING HOUSES - this is something we did a lot of in the UK so make money, but in Oz we have had to curtail this due to dreadfully high fees/taxes/expenses involved in property sales. Here you should be careful to get your main home purchased where you intend to stay long-term, and then invest in multiple investment properties which you can off-set against your main incomes tax payments. This is all very different and can be hard to understand compared to the UK model.

RACISM - Lets fact it, you are coming to live in a country that was taken by force from it's indiginous owners, and those people have been terribly abused and treated, up to the present day. Be prepared to be faced by this in many of the Aboriginal people you see drunk in the street, and be prepared for Aussies to speak of them in ways in which we would not dream of in the UK.

CRIME - It's here, and the fear of it seems to be much higher than in the UK. Crimes here are always 'in your backyard', as they are concentrated in the sprawling suburbs. You may find yourself feeling less safe than before (depending on where in the UK you are coming from!).

BOREDOM - at the end of the day, there ain't that much to do in the suburbs - and to get to the city may be quite a drive. The shopping malls all look the same and sell the same, there is not the same selection of goods, fast food is everywhere, and there are few pubs that will be within walking distance.


I'm not bringing the place down here - just imparting my experience. What looks/feels exotic now simply isn't in a year or two, so I have some sympathy for those who feel the pull back to the UK - here you are a 'stranger in a strage land' a lot of the time. For me though, it's still the best place in the world, and we have benfitted greatly from the move. Good luck to you all!