Hi all, first post made but have read many others with great interest.
I'm basically looking for some advice from people who have done either of the above.
I'm a secondary teacher and looking to move to Aus within the next 12-18 months. Question is, as I have neve been before, should I go down the working holiday route to get a flavour of different places etc. (also a lot cheaper, quicker and easier!) or just go straight for perm. res. visa?
What are the pros and cons of each, from experience?

And another one! I know WA are actively recruiting and I've heard nothing but conflicting info about them! Do they pay part of the visa costs if they sponsor you? What are conditions like - again, would a working hol. visa be preferable to WA job offer?

Thanks to anyone who has read this!

Have you been to Australia before? If you have and know you love it, apply for PR visa.

If you haven't been, you could come out and travel around to see if you want to move. However, be careful doing a WHV as you will need recent/specific work experience to apply for a PR visa, which you might not have if you spend a year in Australia.

Personally, I would apply for the PR visa (if you are eligiable) and not bother with the state sponsored scheme if you can get enough points for PR .

Good luck!

WA offering 457 visa which a lot of people are now going through, as job and house in place when you arrive. Issues are they tell you where you will work, you get very little control over where in WA. Conditions for some have been poor, just depends on where you end up, others very very happy with their lot.
We went for this option as not too set on any place in Aus and is better for us if we have home and job in place on arrival. If we'd have had a fair bit of cash behind us and were able to get PR visa within the next year then we'd have most likely have gone to Vic, as we have family there.
Personally wouldn't have considered a move to Aus without first visiting it. Isn't all like its shown on TV. Book a holiday next summer hols and do a tour of states you may wish to live in, WA isn't for everyone, seems to be a lot of people who have big issues with Perth on here.
Good luck

From what I have managed to glean from all the investigations I have done, that if you can get the points for a PR visa, go that route. You might not have a job and housing when you get there, but you can live where you want even though it might take you a while to find a rental property/buy a house/find a job etc. The WA sponsorship scheme guarantees you a job and housing, but you don't know where you are going until almost the time you get there, and could be sent absolutely anywhere in the state. It is a huge place and distances are like nothing you have experienced in UK. I have done the working holiday thing in WA and really want to get back as I love the whole isolation thing from the rest of the world and living in a small town. But you need to look at the big picture as WA isnt for everyone, as other posters on this site have said. Perth is a beautiful city, but very old fashioned in attitude. Suits me as I come from a very rural part of UK, and don't like big towns and cities at all. But it isn't for everyone. My suggestion is that anyone wanting to live and work in WA, needs to go there at least for a holiday and experience what WA is about. If you are under 30, the working holiday visa is the ideal opportunity. I have done it and know it is for me, which is why I am pursuing the 457 route. If that doesnt work I will have to teach a couple more years in UK and try through the skilled independent route.