Cost of living in OZ mainly Sydney

canhefixit

I went on a holiday recently to OZ with a few friends for a couple months and I loved it, a couple of the other or nurses and were in the process of getting registered as nurses in OZ with hope to getting sponsored as they are crying out for nurses at the min.

The shocking thing for them was the cost of living in Sydney, even if they went an hour out of Sydney rent is still crazy, then factor in the expense of a car and other bills/food etc even on a nurses wage man it is very tight, you would be watching the pennies all the time.

So is there any nurses or similar made the move and how are you getting on?

The company arranging the visas are always saying to them its the lifestyle you get in OZ but would be a very limited lifestyle if cash was always tight?

Just thought I would put it out there see if anyone could offer any advise because these folks are now having serious second thoughts were before they were going and that was that!

Mellor

canhefixit wrote: »

The shocking thing for them was the cost of living in Sydney, even if they went an hour out of Sydney rent is still crazy,

No it's not.
Rent is expensive in the CBD, or the popular suburbs, but if you go bit out, in any direction, rent drops a lot. Even in adjacent suburbs, it drops a lot as you move away from the centre, train lines etc.

statina

There shouldnt be any issues leading a good lifestyle working as an Registered Nurse. The average wage starts at $28-30 per hour and increases annually. Wages depend on your level of experience as well.

mandrake04

The national average is $73K ($35/Hr*) and average for Sydney is around $88K ($42/Hr*).

*52 x 40hr weeks

statina

Know a good few Registered Nurses working in Sydney and none of them are on $42! Healthcare wages and the national average are often two very different things!

Mellor

mandrake04 wrote: »

The national average is $73K ($35/Hr*) and average for Sydney is around $88K ($42/Hr*).

*52 x 40hr weeks

But which statistical average is that? Mean or Median?

Mean: What's commonly refered to as average is farily useless in this situation.
Median: Is much more useful here.



Then you've also got the issue that a below average income doesn't mean that you'll have a unsatisfactory* quality of life. Somewhere around half the workforce have below average income, but far less than that would have poor* quality of life.


*I'm not sure what way to describe it, but you know what i mean

jackbhoy

Mellor wrote: »

But which statistical average is that? Mean or Median?

Mean: What's commonly refered to as average is farily useless in this situation.
Median: Is much more useful here.



Then you've also got the issue that a below average income doesn't mean that you'll have a unsatisfactory* quality of life. Somewhere around half the workforce have below average income, but far less than that would have poor* quality of life.


*I'm not sure what way to describe it, but you know what i mean

Was just about to post similar reply.

As far as I can remember the median nationally was c. 10% less, or around 66k. Then if you break that into mining and non-mining (as mining data skews rest of sectors) it would probably drop a bit more.

mandrake04

statina wrote: »

Know a good few Registered Nurses working in Sydney and none of them are on $42! Healthcare wages and the national average are often two very different things!

Not really sure what Nurses are paid but I work in healthcare myself and for me $57 ph business hours and after 6pm & 11pm.. $105 & $125 ph.

Mellor wrote: »

But which statistical average is that? Mean or Median?

Mean: What's commonly refered to as average is farily useless in this situation.
Median: Is much more useful here.



Then you've also got the issue that a below average income doesn't mean that you'll have a unsatisfactory* quality of life. Somewhere around half the workforce have below average income, but far less than that would have poor* quality of life.


*I'm not sure what way to describe it, but you know what i mean

Yeah Mellor you have a good point the median was $1250 May 2012 and I should have mentioned in my last post these figures are for full time work but I figured you understood that.

Median weekly total cash earnings for all full-time employees were $1,250.00. One in ten full-time employees received weekly total cash earnings of $738.00 or less while one in ten full-time employees received weekly total cash earnings of $2,364.00 or more.

canhefixit

Mellor wrote: »

No it's not.
Rent is expensive in the CBD, or the popular suburbs, but if you go bit out, in any direction, rent drops a lot. Even in adjacent suburbs, it drops a lot as you move away from the centre, train lines etc.

If you want to rent in a decent enough area close enough to a train line, decent schools etc the rent is crazy, yes there are cheaper options but the areas wouldnt be great plus the cheaper areas nearly always have high rises close by which is somewhere you dont want to be beside....

Bear in mind these guys dont want to be commuting over an hour getting to work and an hour back again, they did go into estate agents and inquire in different areas between half an hour and an hour out side Sydney and a standard 3 bed house was any were from 500-800 dollars a week!

If you know more please suggest some areas please....


Also on the pay for nurses mentioned here by others they wouldnt be getting any were near 70k I no that for a fact try closer to 50k which I was abit surprised myself at the salary considering as they are crying out for nurses, also if they started on 70k they wouldnt be in Ireland now I tell ya!