Pepsi123

After years of shall we...we have now decided to start looking into moving over to aus to see if its the right move for us. .however there's lots I don't have much understanding of .....eg schooling and costs of this, I've heard private is a must is this true and what are the costs, my husband is a welder fabricator and I am homemaker with three children. Any information on this, lifestyle, costs of living, areas, work, etc would be much appreciated.

Rete

Hey Pepsi ... Welcome to BE

So Oz is on your list of places to live in. Well you found a great place to get some of the answers that you need to make the final decision. May I direct you to the Australian Forums. Lots of expats who have been, there, done that, and survived to tell the tale. They are a friendly group with lots of experience and are just waiting to help you.

bakedbean

Hi Pepsi and welcome to the forum

TaraBelle

Pepsi,
I've lived here (ex pat Hove, Sussex) for 30 years and have lived in Melbourne, Darwin and now settled in Brisbane.
Both my children are at a state (government run) primary school and both will be going to state secondary schools.
We could afford private schools but they do not offer anything extra over and above that which the private schools in our price range offer.
You need to find out what state schools are in your area. You need to find out about private schools in your area. Go and visit all of them unannounced i.e off guard and make your own judgment calls.
Ask around the local parents. Listen. But in the end, go with your own gut feeling ….

Dorothy

The first thing you need to do is find out whether you qualify for a visa. www.immi.gov.au is where to begin.

Once you determine whether you could actually move here you're going to have to narrow down your questions a bit. Cost of living, areas, work, etc vary widely across the country. You could buy a 4x2 house with a pool for $300k would be possible in some crappy areas in the middle of nowhere, where the same house in the inner suburbs of Perth would set you back $800-900k.

TaraBelle

Great advice from Dorothy.

You do need to look at areas. If you buy into a good middle class area you will be okay with schooling for the children. Before you buy into an area I suggest you check out how many secondary schools there are in the area so you have a choice when the time comes for your children to go to secondary school. If you decide to go down the private school path you need to book your children in when they are young. Some private schools need bookings near the time of a child's birth. Other's, closer to the time. The Catholic private education system is very good and not too expensive.