GeoffL

... but the insurance T&Cs would almost certainly say something along the lines of, "holds, or is entitled to hold, a valid driving licence ..." That is, rego covers the compulsory insurance (i.e. third party injury), so not "driving without insurance" and being entitled to hold a valid UK driving licence means the 'optional' vehicle insurance is also valid.

FWIW, I already have access to the required 'proof of residence' in the form of a bank account, together with a letter from the main utility accounts holder to say I am part of his household. The sticking point was always that VICRoads require something that I wouldn't have access to: i.e. my actual UK licence as (when I wrote the OP) that would be at DVLA, who won't provide a letter because they now provide that via a one-time share code [and it's not DVLA's fault that VICRoads remain in the dark ages]. Thankfully, I've now managed to renew my licence and so can drive on that while in Aus. I can see how that might apply in NSW, but not in VIC or the UK. In VIC, your compulsory insurance is included with rego and every insurance policy I've seen says the driver must hold, or be entitled to hold, a valid licence. In any case, I would be entitled to hold a valid licence, and could prove that entitlement. In UK, I could drive for up to a year under Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act (which provides that licence holders can continue to drive while their licence is being renewed). That said, it's moot for me since DVLA actually turned round my application fairly quickly.

Just a quick note to tidy things up and also to help anyone now finding this thread. The DVLA backlog seems to have now cleared. At least, both my wife and I managed to renew our UK licences and got the new licences back within ten days of posting our applications. UK licences for the over 70s last a maximum of three years -- so we're both good until some time in 2025. Thanks for the comments and help.

Thanks for the wishes. I'm not sure, but I'm going on a report from the Times that some drivers (including truckers and bus drivers now unable to work) have been waiting over a year, and have also seen reports in a UK motorhome forum of people renewing to retain C1 entitlement (vehicles up to 7500 kg MGW) suffering similarly. The issue here is that the backlog severely affects those who must apply using physical forms (which anyone who needs a medical does). I suspect your son applied online -- and online applications don't seem to be as caught in the log-jam. Coincidentally, we bought a used car in mid January from a dealer who entered my wife's details into the DVLA system online. It should have taken no more than four weeks for us to receive the rego but we had to apply for a replacement after six weeks of no-show and only received the rego from DVLA a couple of days ago: about 10 weeks for something that took less than two before the lurgy...

Thanks -- the rapid response is appreciated. Unfortunately, I won't have the original licence document as I have to send that to DVLA with my renewal application. So I'll either have my new licence (in which case, no issues -- I can drive on that in Oz) or just a photocopy of the old one. It's going to be difficult to get a letter from the DVLA both because of the backlog and also because they no longer issue letters, this being replaced by online status sharing. Hence, I would be able to provide Vicroads with my UK driver number and a one-time share code from which they could verify my entitlement -- but I know from when my son exchanged his UK licence for a Victorian one that Vicroads are (or at least were a few years ago) in the dark ages in this regard as they would not accept web-based evidence then. Thinking about it, we'll be on basic e-Visitor visas (which is why no more than 3 months at a time), so it would be relatively easy for Vicroads to discover that we're not residents Hopefully, DVLA will clear the backlog in time for our next planned visit otherwise I guess I'm shafted. We have Myki cards, but PT won't let us do what we need to. Thanks again, Geoff

I know this sounds weird, but I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. My son lives in the Dandenong ranges and we spend as much time as we can there. The massive queue for aged parent visas means that we typically stay over for ten or eleven weeks before returning to UK. I need to renew my UK driving licence when I get to age 70 but because I need to retain my UK C1 category, I have to have a medical and apply to the UK DVLA on paper. DVLA has a massive backlog and people are reporting waiting over a year to get their new licenses. While I'll be able to drive in UK, that doesn't help me in VIC as my licence document will have expired. I need to be able to drive in Oz, and so I'm wondering whether I could 'exchange' my UK licence for a Victorian one and whether Vicroads would accept a photocopy of my UK licence, perhaps along with "share licence details" code from the DVLA. Would this work? All help gratefully received and thanks for looking, Geoff

In a private pension scheme, your employer's contributions go towards your pension pot. Thus it seems only fair to include employer's NI in the amount contributed by you or on your behalf. That said, whether or not you take out more than you paid in is moot as the State Ponzi Pension Scheme is paid for by the workers of today, and successive government putting off the inevitable has made it an onerous drain on the public purse.

Seems non-sequitur to me as you haven't factored in inflation or employer's NI. When I started work, £1,000 a year was about the going rate for a newly-qualified skilled worker. The current rate for similar workers is about £30,000. So, working pro-rata for someone earning average wage adjusted for inflation they'd pay about £2,500 a year in NI. However, their employer would also pay about £2,900 in NI. That's £5,400 per year over 49 years (16 to 65 years of age), which works out to £264,600. Currently, the full state pension is £175.20 per week, which means that if you survive less than 29 years after retiring, you've paid in more than you've taken out. I wonder how many will survive to 94 or later if retired later... That said, the UK State Pension scheme always was a legalised Ponzi scheme. Even though successive governments (from Labour just after WWII) promised we'd get our turn on retirement, they eroded the UK State Pension until it's the pittance of today. From the 1960s onward, it was obvious that a whole lot of baby boomers would retire at about the same time. Boomers were great for the state pension while working because there were more workers than pensioners. Unfortunately, Boomers are now seen as leaches even though we've more than paid our way over the years.

Ouch! $23k+ seems a bit steep, particularly if you didn't call 000 yourself. Thankfully, we're now back in Blighty and can put the whole issue behind us -- albeit better equipped for the next trip. FWIW, my wife's scan showed she had a baker's cyst, a condition for which the health centre inappropriately prescribed antibiotics and later wanted to send my wife back for a further scan and prescribe another course of antibiotics (at additional cost to us). However, with the condition now identified, searching the NHS website and talking to a friend who's had one of these cysts gave us more than a passing suspicion that financial motivation was involved. We said, "Thanks, we'll refer back to our GP on returning to UK!" On the subject of Aussie bank accounts, I tried in person at a branch of each of the big four and was turned down. Later, I contacted Westpac by phone to be told I could open an account. When I tried at a branch, I found out that these accounts are intended for migrants preparing for their move to Aus and, although I could open the account, I could only withdraw money from it after I'd provided proof of identity including an Aussie utility bill in my name. Thus any Medicare reimbursement (or other deposited funds) would be locked in an Aussie bank account in my name but from which I couldn't withdraw any funds!

Thanks for the replies, but I'm baffled. I can only report as I found it: My wife had symptoms that could be a DVT that appeared about a week after our flight over. She attended a local health centre that advertised itself as "bulk billing", produced her passport and EVO printout and asked for reciprocal health care. The receptionist told us that she'd have to pay their standard charge and get a refund from Medicare, for which she'd need to register. The doctor she saw said she needed a CT scan and gave us a form to pass to the radiology centre of our choice, and recommended one in Lilydale, VIC (which is probably the nearest to where we're staying). We checked our travel insurance and noted that it required us to use reciprocal health care. It also gave instructions that confirmed the need to register with Medicare. So we attended the Lilydale Medicare centre only to find out they were on strike. An hour's drive later and we were in Knox Medicare office to be told that we couldn't have a card as we're not going to be in Oz long enough. We could have Medicare numbers, but would have to complete the form she gave us, which required us to provide Australian bank account details. This seems to be confirmed at https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/forms/3101, which says, "Use this form to enrol for Medicare if you hold a relevant visa, have applied for permanent residency or are a visitor from a reciprocal health care agreement country." and contains a link to the online version of the form, which makes it clear that they only pay refunds into Australian bank accounts. The staff at the Knox Medicare office refused to let us enrol until we offered to provide our son's bank account details (i.e. until we gave details of an Aussie bank account). We ended up paying out about $300 to the health and radiology centres and are expecting a refund of just under half that into our son's account. Strangely, the balance is just under the excess of our health insurance! I tried yesterday to open basic accounts with NAB, Commonwealth, Westpac, and a couple of smaller banks. Each refused as I'm not a resident but their websites suggested I could open a migrant account. On checking, these accounts seemed to be for those who intend to permanently migrate to Australia (which, thanks to visa costs, waiting times, and other circumstances, we're not). However, I've just contacted Westpac, who confirm that I can have an account as a regular visitor -- although they were silent on monthly charges etc!

I have to say that we've found Aussie health care more efficient than the NHS, but we almost found out the hard way that the combination of Aussie banking rules and Medicare's requirements potentially place out of reach the reciprocal subsidised health care to which tourists from the UK should be entitled. The issue stems from the following factors: You need to register with Medicare before you can access reciprocal health care. Medicare require details of 'your' Australian bank account for registration and will only pay into Australian bank accounts. AFAICT, you need to be a resident of Australia (as opposed to a temporary visitor) to open an Australian bank account. The "worst" aspect for us is that the health components of our travel insurance require us to use reciprocal health care in all countries that have an agreement with the UK and failure to follow this requirement invalidates our health insurance. A bit of lateral thinking on our part had us ask Medicare if we could give our son's Aussie bank details. They said, "Yes" and so we were able to register. However, I suspect that tourists who don't have a handy Aussie resident may find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

My primal instincts kicked in just after we'd backed out of a parking spot in Burnie, TAS a couple of months ago when one of those came crawling down the A-pillar of our car towards me. I jumped out of the car, completely forgetting that it was in drive with the handbrake off. I had to jump back in, put the gears in park, apply the handbrake and get back out. TBO, I don't think my backside touched the driver's seat in the process! The huntsman got evicted with a stiff piece of card a few seconds later -- and I spent the next week checking under the sun visors and inspecting the air vents before getting into the car!

Looks like a really nice place -- I'm envious! Regarding broadband etc. and FWIW, I have a prepaid Telstra 4G device ($99 with initial 3GB/30day bundle) that I use for Internet access and to connect my Australian 'landline' phone number to my Android smartphone. It's easy to get a VoIP account and hardware that'll give you an Australian 'landline' (I have a Melbourne number that gets to me anywhere in the World with an Internet connection!) Overseas providers (e.g. https://www.localphone.com/) don't even need to run the identity checks that most Aus providers do. https://whirlpool.net.au/ is a good place to start looking for Australian providers (look for SIP providers). Nowadays, 4G is good enough in many areas that you don't need a landline or wired broadband unless you do a lot of streaming and you can have the advantage of taking your landline around with you! HTH

I hope my apologies are in order to the forum: First, for not fully reading the pension forecast I received. In the small print was a statement that I may also be entitled to an additional pension (under the old rules), which I hope would be taken into account in establishing my "starting amount" under the new rules. The value of the additional pension was not given, but the two pensions together would be more than the £105 pw cited in the forecast statement. Secondly, for being potentially misinformed regarding whether armed forces and other government service pensions are frozen on emigration to Aus. My info came from a variety of sources and, on re-checking, I found this claim on Martin Lewis's site (money-saving expert), ARRSE and others, including a couple of posts by ex-servicemen who wrote that their AFPS75 pensions were frozen on emigration to South Africa and Canada respectively. There are even references to this on this site -- albeit at least one was later corrected. FWIW, I tried to get the 'gen buzz' from Equiniti, but the person I spoke to said that she couldn't comment on hypothetical cases -- so I'd actually need to go before I could find out. It didn't seem to matter that this is a major factor in deciding whether to stay or go.

It's based on a pension forecast I received under the old pension rules a few months ago vs the reported amount on the UK DWP website for the new pension. These are £105 and £155.65 per week respectively. The new rules came into force on 6th April this year.