Inspired by this thread How hard is it to move to Australia? I looked up the immigration info and was pleasantly suprised to see my hubby’s trade listed as “desirable”.
So now we are considering trying to make a move. One problem, we have NEVER been to Australia. I don’t know where is a “good” place to live, or which companies would be looking for someone to work in a mechanical engineering technlogy area. He has worked in HVAC, Hydraulics, cranes and mining.
We would want to live in a family-friendly area, nothing too glitzy, but safe and preferably near the beach (seeing as we are currently landlocked it would be a nice change).
Also what is considered a “good” salary out there for a family of three?
So come on you aussies and kiwis, make with the advice!
I don’t know about New Zealand, except that it’s a gorgeous country and moving there seems to be a pretty good idea.
In so far as Australia is concerned, apart from Canberra, all the major cities are on the coast, so living near the beach wouldn’t be that hard. But bear in mind that Australia’s big cities are just that, big cities. You could live in Sydney but still be some distance from the water.
There are also lots of regional cities which are good places to live, in Victoria, Geelong is on the beach, is a pretty large city with good infrastructure, schools and etc, and is something of a boom economy. Further along the coast Warnambool is a gorgeous town experiencing a bit of a resurgance due to tourism.
Anywhere near the water in Sydney will be very expensive though, you’re probably better in one of the regional cities in NSW. I have a fondness for Newcastle myself, but Wollongong might be worth a look.
Otherwise Queensland has a great climate and Western Australia is a good possibility, with a lot of mining industry. South Australia has a coastal area. Don’t know a lot about the Northern Territory and the ACT is landlocked.
I’d also give serious thought to Tasmania, I’ve often considered making that move.
In terms of safety, most places in Australia apart from the real outback are pretty safe. Some of the outer-Western suburbs of Sydney have a reputation for not being so safe, but I don’t know how that translates into every day living.
Why not have a look at the jobs on offer and then consider where you might live in terms of where the employment is? I would think, off-hand, that you might improve your chances of being approved as migrants if you were willing to live in a regional area, since the Government is encouraging skilled migrants to live other places than the capital cities.
I don’t want to put a damper on your enthusiasm and desire. However, before you start planning on a move to Australia, and getting your hopes up, go through the immigration hoops first. This will take time. Whatever stories you may have heard about California DMV and its customer service (not!), multiply that by ten when it comes to immigrating to Australia.
Of course, the immigration laws have changed since I went through the process so YMMV. Still, it is not a cakewalk.
As for a good place to live in Oz, read up on the official web sites and listen to anecdotal information posted here. IMHO, trust the opinions here. Australia is a great country, with super-friendly people, excellent food, best wines in the world, yadda, yadda. Just remember, it’s not America and some things you will never be able to reconcile with your American upbringing. Still, I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Perhaps you should consider coming here for a visit before you start doing anything about official applications. You may find that it doesn’t appeal to you at all.
I don’t think that would make any difference in the official immigration process. But I think it would make it easier from a “cultural acceptance” point of view.
I think that’s probably really good advice. I’ve been spending a bit of time with some visiting American friends over the last couple of weeks, I think that when they decided to visit they thought Australia would be just like the US, but with weirder animals.
As it turns out, they’ve been quite disconcerted by some quite minor differences, things like waiters not interrupting conversations to present the bill, or soft-cooked eggs. I know when I was in the US, there were lots of things which set me off balance because I sort of assumed that everything would be familiar, from watching TV and the like.
Australia has a superficial resemblance to the US, there are many of the same things over here (McDonalds, Subway, TV & etc), but it is a different country, with a different culture and many of the underlying assumptions are quite different.
As an example; religion is nowhere near as important a topic in Australia as it is in the US, and if you were talking about your faith in the workplace you’d probably be shunned as something of a weirdo.
If you’re the sort of people who like difference and change, you might enjoy coming to terms with the differences. But, without wanting to perpetrate some cultural stereotypes, I have met American visitors who really didn’t enjoy themselves because it was all too different from what they expected.
If you’re thinking of living here, maybe you ought to get some first-hand experience. Australia is a very diverse country, Melbourne is not like Sydney, which is not like Canberra, which is really not like Darwin, and so on.
I totally understand. As I said I am Canadian, and although we are attached, and share some similarities, our countries are quite different from the US in many ways, and the people across Canada are quite different as well (people from Ontario are different from Newfoundlanders etc).
We would visit before moving there, as he would need to interview with companies etc before making the move. I was just looking for info on where to apply and a little about what to expect.
Most of the people I have spoken to (that have been there) actually say that Australians and New Zealanders are more like Canadians than Americans in personality, generally speaking.
What would help is knowing something about your/your husband’s line of work, what kind of hobbies interests you have, what areas in the world you’ve visited you’ve enjoyed, are you a big city/suburb/rural type of family; basically your tastes.
Auckland, where around 30% of NZ’s population live, has most of the employment opportunities as well. However, I understand you earn more points deciding to live outside Auckland than here. As the others have said, what you’re looking for employment-wise, Poysyn, helps to determine where’s best for you to go.
Lots of mining opportunites in the state of Western Australia - some are regional in the mining towns up north, but most companies have an office in the state capital of Perth.
But really, nearly everywhere is nice and safe, you’re never more than an hour away from the beach, and the beer is cold: come on over for a holiday and see what you think!
There’s been some excellent advice on here, particularly blackhobyah’s first post.
In terms of work, I would have to strongly recommend WA. The economy over here at the moment is booming, especially in the building and mining sectors.
Bear in mind though that if your husband goes for a mining job, there is a high likelihood that it will be fly in and fly out, with shifts ranging from 9 days on 5 days off, blowing right out to 6 weeks on 1 week off depending on the mine and the contractor. This point of course is moot if you decide to live in a mining town, but if you are at all city-centric I wouldn’t recommend this.
As for real estate, blackhobyah’s link to www.realestate.com.au is your best bet to scoping things out. As far as Perth goes, for an average house in a decent area you should expect to be paying from at least 350k, and that’s right at the bottom end.
