Hi, I live in a very safe, respectable part of Berkshire in the UK, but read so much of the horrors of living in the UK. There seems to be a real fear of knife / gun crime, disrespectful teenagers, gang culture and a general break down of decent society. Also, many people here talk of our country going down the pan in respect of over powering mass immigration to our country from people with very different cultures to our own.

What I want to know is, does Oz have the same problems? I was telling a friend how I felt like moving to Oz to escape what's going on here but she said she guessed it probably had the same issues as here. So does it? We are considering the Brisbane area.

All responses greatly appreciated. First time on this site so hope I'm doing it right!

Dont know about Brisbane - on the surface it looks nice but there are no go areas in various cities. Sydney has some definite no go areas - well, not if you are of a different ethnic grouping anyway. We even have some areas where you walk with caution especially in the evenings and that is saying something for a nice middle class affluent city (as it is portrayed). You are going to get antisocial morons wherever you go.

Here here!!!

I havent seen as many gangs of swearing, menacing youths as back in Wales and we come from quite a sleepy little valleys village so I feel better here and now allow my teenagers to go out on public transport which they were never allowed to do back home!!

Personally..in your situation...I'd stay where you are.

I love it where I am in Oz, but I didn't really move out here to escape as such, just to try something new.

If you're moving out to Oz because 'other' parts of the UK you believe are going down the pan, you'll not be in any different situation here. It's the same, good parts, bad parts.

I have lived in Brisbane for just under a year and we do have what is classed as rougher areas, however I come from Northamptonshire in the UK. Let me tell you this is like paradise in comparision.

The crime is around us all, however my general perception is that it is much safer here.

People are more trustworthy, I saw an add in two different papers saying that they had found mobile phones and a gold watch and wanted to find the owner.

I never saw that happen in the UK.

I just had a visitor from the UK who could not believe how clean our city was, how he didn't have to clean, glass, crap and needles away before letting his child play in the park, and I have to agree.

Australians seem to have more pride in their country and also have more respect for each other.

I must say if your leaving the UK as a means to escape. Australia may offer you better quality of life, however your reasons for coming normally are not good indicators of a long lasting stay here.

Just my opinion though so take it as you wish.

Here here again!! Totally agree!! Life goes on in VERY much the same way here.... You even had the sunshine we experience the other day too!! Dont come to escape anything old, come to try something new....

Second all that.

We've been in Brisbane for a year and have come across no 'antisocial' behaviour in all that time. One bloke p*ssed on the bus, which was quite an achievement as it was 7.30 in the morning, but literally that's it. No yobs, no chavs, no feeling intimidated, no parents fing and blinding at kids in supermarkets or bad mouthing one another at kids footy games, no smacked up crack whores in parks . . . I think you get my drift.

But all depends where you live I guess.

No. And we don't have football hooligans or a local equivalent of the Daily Mail, either.

Sounds like a great place to be. Why move?

Rumours of Britain's demise are greatly exaggerated. I live in the Black Country - and although it's not exactly glamorous, it's not a seething hotbed of gang warfare and criminal activity, either.

Contrary to popular claim, the UK is not descending into the pits of hell while hordes of rabid yobs burn Westminster to the ground and dance upon the broken corpses of the nation's politicians (not that they wouldn't deserve it, but that's another matter ).

The UK is a great place with some rough areas, just like most other Western developed nations - including Australia.

True but remember you live in a pretty low population remotish area.

The majority of the UK is in fact quite urbanised.

The majority of these high urbanised areas has an element of yobs.

To put into perspective

Most places have a criminal portion within their own society.

In the Uk you have 62 million

Australia has 22 million.

Therefore you are more likely to come across crime in the UK than in Australia.

Even if proportionally Australia has more criminals and crime, The laws of averages would suggest your less likely to be a victim of it.

Also bear in mind the vastness of Australia.

Has Vash moved? I thought he lived near where I used to live and that's definitely not low populated or remote

OZ has it's own Corey Culture over here

Yobs, nah kids doing crime in brighty coloured board shorts simply look less menacing.

More concerned with habits of 11 year olds at the moment:curse:, sac wacking is back ( hit kids in testicles to the extent you can bruise/bust a vein ) and pile driving ( pick up smaller child and drop onto head preferably on hard ground or concrete.

I believe it has the same issues but because Brisbane is so spread out if you live in a decent suburb you don't tend to see it as it's concentrated around the rougher suburbs. You don't see as many kids hanging on street corners and you don't see as many big gangs of kids (apart from the city) and they're not half as menacing. The kids appear seem to have a bit more respect for adults.

I would disagree with the needles thing .... there are sharps bins everywhere here. The guy who runs our local coffee shop said he found a needle in his shop's toilet - I live in a right wing, four wheel driving, traditional type neighbourhood (long story) My late FIL lived in Marsden (Logan area) and there were plenty of robberies, thieving, murders etc going on around there - sorry if anyone on here lives there, but it was bloody awful.

It all depends where you want to live - do you have any suburbs in mind?

I think you're a tad confused Ben.
Vash lives in what is probably the most highly urbanised part of the U.K