Moving to Australia?

MarkG

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Feb 15, 2009
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I'm in love with Australia, and I'm fairly confident I want to move there with my girlfriend. Is there anyone on here with experience regarding the subject? I recall a bunch of you are Australian!

I'm a criminologist (read, policy analyst/advisor), and I recently discovered Australia has this profession listed as skilled worker. I was hoping someone could point us in the right direction as far as immigration information is concerned. I've looked over the immigration website, but perhaps one of you can shed more light on what it would be like to immigrate to Australia, and how difficult the procedure is.

And yes, I know it is a big, mostly empty continent, and I would have to decide on a specific (populated) city. I also know music gear costs a fortune there, so I'll just have to go shopping before we go :)

Thanks!
 
Australia's a great place just be prepared that it's not just the cost of audio gear that's high, it's the cost of everything. But at the same time we have some of the highest wages in the world so it balances out in some areas and is cheaper in others. Sorry I don't know too much about the immigration process except that it is fairly easy, we have a huge amount of immigration at the moment and plan to keep it high for a long time. I personally like Brisbane the most, but Sydney is the place to be for most. I live in Melbourne and love it. Australia kicks ass and most of the world's problems don't bother us too much and our economy is strong.
 
Hey Dude! I imagine the immigration process will be pretty smooth for someone like yourself. We're pretty relaxed about it.

So come on down! Where are going to live? Pretty much anywhere here is warmer than where you're from. I was talking to Bart Hennephof once and he said "man you look cold" and I said "yes, it's about 14 degrees (Celsius) here, it's winter" he was like "aww man it's summer here and it's only 11 degrees" No kidding he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
 
Good luck. My job (electrician) is pretty high up in the list, and its still extremely hard to get permanent residency. Im here on my 2nd working holiday right now, earning shitloads of money in the pilbara, harhar. The best bet is to be sponsored by a company really, its not easy at all.
 
It took me a year and a half to get my visa (from Uk to Oz). Probs cost a couple of grand. Not sure if we're moving there any more though (got better jobs at home since we applied). My job (geotechnical engineer) was on that skills list, then had to do a proper medical and sit a full day of reading/writing English tests for extra points.
We went to Oz in August to check it out, and yeah Sydney rules! I've got a friend who lives there (he married an Australian) and he does the same thing as me but works less hours and gets paid 4x as much. Perth is also good (my cousin lives there on a temp visa and she loves it). Proper chilled out.
Getting a job should be easy. I got offered one while I was over there.
Food is well expensive, mind.
Go for it dude!!! Good luck!
 
Thanks guys, getting sponsored by a company is definitely the way to go. I wouldn't be comfortable ditching everything and moving without a guaranteed job. The 1.5 years it takes to immigrate is pretty long, but nothing compared to the 8 years it takes to go to Canada.

I'm getting very conflicting messages regarding the job situation, and acceptance of immigrants. I'm getting reports from some people who actually moved there that it's very difficult to get a job even with great credentials. "You lack austalian experience" seems to get thrown around a lot...
 
Sponsorship will definitely be best. We chose the long way because it was guaranteed permanent residency. Got 4years or so to make our minds up now, but at least it means we're ready to go at the drop of a hat, and having a visa already will look good to a company I guess.
I reckon it'll be ok getting a job. My friend just registered with an agency, then got phoned up by a company, flown out there, had a 'chat' and got a job offer.
I recommend a website called Seek for jobs. They send me emails every day with a batch of jobs.
All the best with it anyway. Oz is indeed very cool, and looks like a great place to live (though beer is ridiculously expensive!)
 
Perth or WA is where the coin and growth is.....Sydney is chocking on overcrowding and cost of living and the public transport doesn't work, Melbourne is basically asleep at the wheel, South Australia has some growth - as long as your NOT in Manufacturing....be very clear in Australia we do not "make shit"....we are the worlds sandpit and after that runs dry, we are basically a holiday destination......also bring a lot of lube Australia is very very expensive.....I've hired a few people and sponsored them to live in Oz if you want more info, just pm and I'll help.
 
Hey man, Australia is pretty cruise-y. Sydney is pretty expensive but it's a pretty nice place. The public transport is overcrowded, but you can actually get everywhere. Melbourne is way more chilled but you'd need to live in the city or have a car and drive from the suburbs. Wages are decent and the music scene is ok - some really good bands at the moment, especially in all the heavy genres.

Good luck man, it's a pretty nice place to be.
 
This is all I need to know about moving to Australia. ;)

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Things are expensive here - we're a tiny population spread over a huge area, so transportation costs drive up prices many.
The other side of that coin is that you can often be 30mins to an hour outside of a major city and get a fairly cheap place with land etc.
Immigration can be tricky, many ins and outs, you may be better prepared trying to give them a call if you have any relevent questions.

Also, as Dylan Moran says, everything here wants you dead. Snakes, spiders, sharks, koalas, natives, drivers etc. They all want you dead and are equiped to achieve that 'want'.
 
What's the most profitable city for a software engineer? I've heard that Perth or Adelaide for example don't have a lot of jobs in IT.

Sydney has two of the 4 major banks and the biggest one (Commonwealth), Melbourne has ANZ and NAB.

Brisbane had a huge program called Corptech...and some investment from the government.

WA still has some mining based software gigs.

Melbourne's mining software gigs mostly went to Singapore 3 years ago, Newcrest is the only real mining company left in Melbourne.

Depends on your skill sets, I've hired a number of people from South Africa, US and UK over the years

Personally, I'd target Singapore for an IT gig.....there are a lot of monster enterprises building their business's there...
 
I moved out to Sydney in Jan 11 on a working holiday visa (applied online got it in 20min super good system) and scored a job within my first 2 weeks here which sponsored me within a couple of months.

Australia rules, fine weather and fine women everyone has an upbeat attitude (was so refreshing from the 3 years of constant depression in Ireland) and its very easy to get ahead out here if you are good at what you do and work hard.

A lot of Irish come out here most seem to do ok with work and getting sponsored (construction industry, nurses & hairdressers lol) although there are also a fair few who did not and had to leave 99.99999% of which did not want to go home which is a endorsisment in itself of the quality of life here.

That said it is very expensive to live here so you need a good wage and depending on the industry you work in it might not be that easy to get sponsored as always YMMV - but my experience has been very positive