gizmo

Hia,

Newbie to this forum, and have a question for all you experienced ozzie emmi's!!

Myself and my husband have seriously considered moving to Oz for some time and think it's now the rigfht time for us.

We ahven't started the process yet so know it could be a long time before we go, but I have a few questions that you can hopefully shed light on.

I have bought several books on emmigrating and the prevailing point that most books seem to make is that it is very difficult for working women in Oz , especially in mangaerial positions.

I am an IT Project Manager in UK, and am wondering if any of you guys and gals have some experiences to share and if you have found discrimination against women or not.

Secondly, does anyone know any sites that I can look at arounf converting my husband's Financial Adviser qualifications to Ozzie reqs?

Thirdly, does anyone know the situation with maternity leave in Oz?

Finally, please tell me how wonderful Oz is!!

Thanks

HiddenPaw

Hi Gizmo
Paid maternity leave is virtually unheard of in Australia. There are a few big companies (a couple of the banks for exmple) who offer paid maternity leave, but employers are not obliged to do so (those who do seem to have recognised the benefits of retaining their workforce this way).

A new govt maternity allowance started on 1st July which means new mums get a one-off payment of $3000 as financial assistance (the govt objective is to offer an incentive to boost the birth rate...this could also pave the way for paid maternity leave)

Good luck

mlbonner

Hi,

This may help you for your husband http://aei.dest.gov.au/AEI/Qualifica...on/default.htm

gizmo

Thanks for your quick responses, much appreciated!!


Are you both in Australia at the mo? What's it REALLY like, are you glad you did it?

Hope you don't mind me asking!

Cheers

mlbonner

No probs. I'm not in OZ at the moment, I was there until Feb for a year and came home to apply for my de facto visa... I go back (to brisbane) in just under three weeks to be with the fella. I like it, there are some things I definitely miss from the UK (as well as of course all the people) but I'm really looking forward to getting back there.

Bordy

I did it 5 years ago, my only regret was that I didn't do it 20 years ago.

NickyC

I've been here for a long time and worked in IT for most of it. Never seen or heard of any kind of discrimination against women at any time. I've only ever worked for quite large organisations in Sydney (mainly banks but I did have a stint in the public service in Canberra) and there's no shortage of women in senior positions that I've noticed. In fact there seems to be more female IT Project Managers than male ones in the organisation I'm currently dealing with.

I've always been extremely happy here in Australia - came on a WHV 24 years ago, stayed and have never regretted it for a second. Mind you, I believe I live in one of the best parts of the best city in the country - so I don't have much to complain about!

gizmo

Thanks Nickyc,

Where are you based / live?

Sandra

Women in work in Aus with Kids ...my opinion only....bloody hard

apart from Nickyc...get the rest of the opinion from this site (watch the silence), how many women work full time with primary age children, then ask wages compared with child minding costs etc. Of course I am only speaking about Sydney burbs which is where I know. But I will bet you put this thread up about 10 times in the next 4 months and get the same replies.

I am interested in the conversion of financial experience though - sister is a well smart finance advisor, earns $$$$$ in the UK, but cannot get a direct conversion to Aus in terms of experience? Which one would you go for on the SOL list?

Cheers

gizmo

Thanks Sandra, that's interesting and would intend to have kids over there at some point, seems like it's pretty tuff?

Am sending hubby's CV to agency, they said they'll assess and let me know which code they'd put it aginst, so will let you know when I find out.

Cheers
Giz

NickyC

Well, I never found it the slightest bit tuff. I worked full-time from when my kids went to Pre-School (at 3 years old) and had no problems at all. No shortage of child care (could have chosen from about dozen child-care centres). Every single primary school around here offers before school and after school care so getting the odd hours covered was not an issue. And we're talking about up to 15 years ago (my kids are now 15 and 17) so these facilities have been around for a long time.

I was quite impressed as my experience compared well with my sister-in-law's experience trying to get childcare for her son in Hampshire at the same time. No pre-schools/centres/nurseries whatever in her area and her only possible method of child-care was to send her pre-school son to a child-minder.

You have to pay for child-care but you can get a means-tested rebate. I guess I'm lucky to live in an area that has a lot of kids' facilities - but, truthfully, I found the whole deal pretty painless.

gizmo

Hi guys,

Thanks for the info, doesn't seem as bad as the book was making out, though not easy , though thinking about it, probably the same as in the UK.

Giz