Hello newbie here,
Hubby and I are finally at the stage where we can plan for a move to Oz. We were thinking of initially trying for a year before making the decision to sell up. I'm a social worker (soon to be a CBT therapist) and he is a bio chemist/lab manager. Obviously we'll need to work for the year but as we're both gonna be 41/42 when we finally take the plunge, we're to old for the working holiday visa. Does anyone know of any other temporary working visas we could apply for or are we best just going through the permanent visa application process? Any advice will be appreciated.

As you can't get a WHV really the only way to come for a short term would be to try and get sponsorship fora 457. He might be able to get sponsored, no idea about that industry, but a social worker is pretty much a no-no so you'd be reliant on him managing to get a job that would sponsor him. Main issue then is that most companies want a commitment to 4 years for a 457, to get their money's worth!
If you did come on a 457 you would also then be getting nearer to having age against you for a permanent visa application.

In all honesty, personally I think you'd be better going for PR straight off.

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking that would likely be the case. I don't think we wanna be tied down with a sponsorship visa. I think I could get a state sponsorship to support my points and application if I applied. It's all a minefield!

State sponsorship would be better than a 457 as you wouldn;t be tied to an employer