emigrating to australia

corriefan

hi everyone, my husband and I are strongly considering moving to australia (perth) permanently. he is a builder, there is work over there etc so from that aspect we are decided. on the other hand we have four children under 10, two school-going, a toddler and a baby and I am really worried about how such a huge move would affect them. it would help if anyone has any advice, info or experience of emigrating to australia e.g. the quality of life, the people (friendly etc), accommodation, schools? we will know no-one over there, so it will be a huge step and a new life for us and any replies would be greatly appreciated. as such i put this thread in the PI forum, as there is not much activity in the living abroad one, thanks in advance

OS119

Hi OP, i spend a reasonable amount of time in Perth - though i don't live in Aus.

i like to give balanced advice - to set out the upsides and downsides. however, apart from 'you'll be a long way from whatever family you have in Europe', i stuggle to find a downside.

perth is clean (and i mean that the parks and open spaces look like they've been vaccuumed every morning), the food you'll find in the supermakets is, imv, of a far higher quality that what you'll find in any supermarket in Europe, as well as being comparatively cheaper, and the people are astonishingly friendly and welcoming towards visitors and immigrants.

social lives don't revolve around pubs and eating out, rather its visiting others homes for BBQ's (yes, its that stereotypical!), and going out to parks and immaculate beaches for picnics (and yes, BBQ's!) with other families.

the only big issue you'll meet - though this depends on exactly what medical care you get and how much you pay for it in Ireland - is that Australia has nothing like the NHS in the UK. you will have to pay for healthcare, and its social welfare benefits make Ireland look like a place where they pay people not to work.

distances are huge - if you live in Perth it will take you a whole day of hard driving to get to the next city (Albany, a tiny, tourist place), or a week to drive to Adelaide, or 4 hours to fly to Melbourne. as a comparision, four hours from Dublin would put you in Cyprus or Turkey.

its a great place, imv, probably the best place to bring up kids i've ever been - but its a working culture, it has little sympathy for those who can't or won't support themselves. if you're grafters, you'll do well.

tenchi-fan

the oz travel forum is probably a good start.

HavingCrack

If you are going to move with children I'd say now's the time to do it. They're still yougn enough not to be overly attached to friends and home. If you're dealing with teenagers it'd be a whole different ballgame.

LilMrsDahamsta

Not personal experience per se, but my brother and his partner moved to Perth permanently over a year ago and have never looked back. They had lived in several cities around the UK and Ireland, including London, and she had lived in other parts of Oz previously, but they both reckon Perth is the perfect city. He works in IT and she teaches primary school. Both have found it easier to find work than in London and they are planning their family there now; they wouldn't consider the idea of coming back to Ireland, despite the lack of family support where they are now. As a teacher, she finds the standard of the primary schools in Perth better than anywhere else she worked (with the exception of a private prep school outside London).

However, as previous posters have said, Perth is like a separate country to much of the rest of Australia due to the distances involved. They find this makes it more expensive to come home to Ireland as it adds an extra, or longer, flight. If all six of you are planning on regular visits home, this may be a consideration. They also find the weather is not as good as some other parts of Oz, though of course this is relative coming from Ireland!

OS119

LilMrsDahamsta wrote: »

However, as previous posters have said, Perth is like a separate country to much of the rest of Australia due to the distances involved. They find this makes it more expensive to come home to Ireland as it adds an extra, or longer, flight. If all six of you are planning on regular visits home, this may be a consideration. They also find the weather is not as good as some other parts of Oz, though of course this is relative coming from Ireland!

sorry, i'd have to disagree with that - i fly direct to Perth every time i go - and i go from Glasgow. if there is a problem getting from Perth to Ireland, you'd have to be pretty daft to take a 4 hour flight from Perth to Sydney/Melbourne and then get on a 22hr Aus - Dublin flight, rather than getting a 22hr Perth to Glasgow/Birmingham flight and then a 1hr UK - Dublin flight...

i can't imagine why they think the weather is dodgy compared to the rest of Oz - i consistantly find it sunnier, less humid and with less rain than Sydney and Melbourne. it's not as hot as Darwin, Cairns or Alice Springs, but the OP never mentioned wanting to live in a crematorium....

LegacyUser

Hi OP, just to tell you about one thing that a friend of mine said about living in Oz: he felt that the kid's education was nowhere near as good as in Ireland, and he also said something about having to pay for his kids to go to the local state school. Wouldn't be an expert on this by any means, maybe his situation was due to visa stuff - but maybe worth checking out.

LegacyUser

Hi Op,

I am living in Perth now for a few months and all I want is to go home. I don't have the stress of finding schools etc because I don't have kids. I'm going to give you a few negatives about this place but I think it's better to know now before you invest in the big move.

Food is expensive. I find much more expensive than Ireland. There's no such thing as Aldi or Lidl in Western Australia. I honestly can't believe the prices of things sometimes especially fruit and veg (they produce 96% of the fresh produce sold in WA). A friend of a friend here is in the agri-food business and he said the prices in WA are higher than anywhere esle in Australia (he's an aussie).

Accomodation is expensive. The mining and oil&gas industry is booming over here. I think that is drving prices up. There was a report on the news that said there was a massive increase in people getting their electricity cut off because they were not able to pay their bills. These are normal working people not earning the big money in the mines.

It is so far away. Keeping in contact with family is tough. There's always the phone and skype but it's not the same. I'm always afraid something bad will happen and I won't make it home in time.

The weather is HOT. Which is great if you are on your holidays and you can go to the beach in a car wit A/C. Walking to work in 30degrees+ or working outside all day in the heat (maybe your husband) is very very exhausting. Please bear this in mind.

As far as I can see, people are obsessed with alcohol here. I don't drink and people give me hell for it. Much worse than at home in Ireland. I live near a few building sites and the workers drink beer while they work.* I've also seen people drinking alcohol in their cars while driving. I find this very bizarre behaviour. Also, there is a lot of drunken violence at the weekends (I'm not saying this doesn't exist in Ireland).

(( *In bigger construction companies, they test regularly for alcohol and drugs so I would concentrate on these companies for getting jobs as they have safer working practices))

So far I have met horrible horrible ignorant rude people and also very nice friendly people, its 50:50 for me at the minute.

Now, the good things: there are off-road cycle lanes everywhere. There are public toilets at the beaches. The beaches are always clean. The beaches have BBQ facilities. Perth has a reasonably good transport service. The weather is very pleasant when its not too hot. There seem to be a lot of jobs for people with experience and qualifications in their field.

You might get more practical info on schools and moving issues etc here: http://www.pomsinoz.com/

If you have anymore questions please ask!!

LegacyUser

Hi OP, I asked my friend about the school stuff today - another friend is interested in going to Oz, Perth actually!, so I was interested in finding out more.
My friend was in Sydney, and he is mid forties. I didn't manage to find out about paying for schools, as he went off on a rant! He is moderately into sports, and likes a few drinks - but he said that he got really fed up with what he called the blokey culture. Have never been to Oz myself, but he seems to be of the opinion that sports and booze are the overriding topics of interest. I did try to say that surely not everyone was like that, but he was having none of it! Obviously that's just his personal experience, but he feels that it really put him off in the end (and the heat and flies!)

All I found out about schools is that he felt the standard of education was far lower than here, and that if anything sporty that the school was involved with came up, lessons would be dropped in favour of the sporting event. He had since moved back here, and he reckons that his kids are at the same stage educationally as they were when they left here 2 years prior. Sounds like he is a very straight-laced reactionary guy, but he isn't at all - which is why I found his point of view interesting. He did say that most schools where he was have a website, and that he wishes he'd read up on the local ones before he enrolled his kids.

I don't mean to be all off-putting OP, but I think his perception - certainly the schools thing anyway - might be worth doing a bit of web snooping about. Hope you come to a happy decision.

LegacyUser

Have you checked to see you're actually eligble to emigrate there?

You say you want to move there permanently, and the sad fact is that they don't just automatically accept anyone. I'd advice contacting the embassey here before you get your hopes up over it.

amtc

I've been to Perth 20 plus times and I (as a single woman) would never live there. It's completely insular and anti-women and anti-career. That said as a family, I can see how it would work. And the highlights are much cheaper!

holystungun9

Is there any way your husband could go out alone for a time to suss it out for real. Even if it is on a holiday visa. Yes, it would obviously be an extra cost him going on and paying his way and then coming back but you just can't beat being on the ground. He can check out leads for work and see how the overall climate is (work wise). It could be a disaster for you all to go out based on here say and rumour. It's a big decision and will always be a gamble to some degree. The best you can do is gather all your information and facts and do the sums. Maybe a plan A,B, and C would help. Best of luck to you whatever happens.

amtc

Meant to say my family out there are quite active in the Irish Club and have helped a number of emigrants find their way for the first few weeks (they're still scarred by their 1970s arrival when they were told to 'bring a plate' to a BBQ and literally turned up carrying empty plates!) so if you do want to talk to someone out there pm me. I've three cousins in the construction business out there, and an uncle.

Actually I know I was dismissive of Perth earlier but that's just me, I'm a city girl. Some of the wonderful things though are coming back to me - like when last Christmas Eve we had no water at 4pm and a plumber came right away, fixed it and wouldn't charge because his mother wouldn't let him charge an elderly lady (my grandmother!).

LegacyUser

Hi,
Seriously consider the move.
As always there are good and bad points. It is very expensive for food and accommodation.
Check out a few websites here, domain.com.au and realestate.com.au.
Myself and my partner moved to oz a few months ago and have met some wonderful people, but it is not the same as home. trying to even ring home when your a little lonely can prove difficult due to the time difference.
also with regards work, make sure that if you do move out that you have work in the area you live. if he starts working in the mines he could be gone for a few weeks at a time. as with home construction jobs move around, just be prepared for that.
To get some visa's you have to have health insurance, check out school fees also as it could work out to be really expensive in the end.
Good luck with whatever decision you make.

corriefan

hi would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply with their advice and info, it is really appreciated. we are still researching it and taking our time at the moment, and will def check out the resources mentioned

magneticimpulse

corriefan wrote: »

hi would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply with their advice and info, it is really appreciated. we are still researching it and taking our time at the moment, and will def check out the resources mentioned

you can always consider somewhere sunny...but in the EU. France never went into a recession and they are having a building boom as we speak. Every corner of a street there is construction. Also they have lots of International Schools...in which they teach in English and follow the UK/Ireland courses...on the up side its only 1 hour flight to Ireland...very sunny, food is great and education standard the best in the World.

Not to mention beaches, mountains and skiing...tasty food and good wine