Farida Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Hello, We are probably like many other people that are planning to move to Australia are lured by the better lifestyle, weather, jobs and many more. But I wonder how many feel that the problems that we experience in society, unemployment, drugs, crime are as prevalent in Australia as they are UK and are these countered by the positives of moving to Australia? I know most of this will be subjective and based upon where you live. But for us we know if we go to our local town of a Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening it's not somewhere that we're happy to walk around and feel safe because of the teenage drinking, smoking and loutish behaviour. We're planning to make this move mainly for our daughter as we feel that she will flourish more educationally and personally versus if we stayed in the UK. Yes, we will be financially secure if we move which is one less worry for us versus living in the UK, but it still worries us that we will still encounter the same problems in society when we move and that where we want to protect our only daughter from that as much as we can. I know that peoples views will be different and maybe the coverage in the UK on Sky over glorifies what is in fact not too bad, but it really would be good to get a view from people in the ground in Australia to see what it really is like. I look forward to some useful posts. Thanks, Farida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 (edited) We are probably like many other people that are planning to move to Australia are lured by the better lifestyle, weather, jobs and many more. But I wonder how many feel that the problems that we experience in society, unemployment, drugs, crime are as prevalent in Australia as they are UK and are these countered by the positives of moving to Australia? Australia is a first-world country, of course you will encounter the same problems in society when you move! Unemployment is somewhat worse in Australia than the UK because the economy is now in a downturn, and likely to be so for a while. That inevitably leads to drugs and crime problems - but based on my experience (having recently moved from Oz to England) certainly no worse than the UK. Also, like the UK, it varies a lot from one area to the next - live in a more affluent area and you'll have few problems. As for your daughter's future being better in Oz, it depends. Australia has a small population, so there isn't such a wide variety of educational or job opportunities as there is in the UK, with more "niche" occupations poorly catered for. For instance, if your daughter wanted to become,say, an interpreter, there is only one course available in Australia and very few jobs compared to Europe. It's also almost impossible to make a full-time living in any of the creative industries. You don't say what age she is but if she's old enough to have some idea of a career direction, it would be worth looking into what opportunities are like in her field. Edited October 1, 2015 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srg73 Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 My point of view... Society, more global with many more immigrants than UK including myself. Aus is part European, part American but mostly Australian which is good. Drugs, ICE is the issue which had not hit UK fully as it is an ugly cheap and highly addictive, UK has more social drug use. Drink, big issue including drink driving. No worse than UK in volumes of drink and likely less fighting but definitely much more drink driving. Health, some are fitness fanatics others just normal however everybody is conscious about costs of health. Socialising, great however hours are different, starts earlier maybe even during the day with most bars etc emptying mid evening. Yes there are clubs etc. Much more sport and outside activities which is great. Costs, money seems to go further due to many sports etc being free. Yes foods etc are more expensive however local fruit and veg is much cheaper and better. In conclusion, you are the guest of Australia and expect to have to change. I hate to see people expecting to live their UK or other nations lives in Australia is little Britain mentality! Enjoy the differences and the vast majority of Australians are great happy to share their experiences and even help out if needed. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Australia has the same social problems as the UK. In the UK we lived in a rural community and so it wasn't so apparent; here we live on on the edge of rural and again to some extent we are closeted from social deprivation. However in any society there will be a mix of people- people with different incomes, no income and homeless. There will be drug use - both addiction led and recreational. Your daughter will be exposed to it wherever you live whether that is in the UK or Australia. I am a firm believer in education and even though my boys are only 7 and 9 it is a conversation that we have. Better to prepare them to make the right choices than pretend it doesn't happen. It doesn't shatter their innocence but instead prepares them for the inevitable exposure in a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Will second most of the above. Drugs are a major issue - particularly ICE, which is at epidemic proportions in some areas. I work in mining and this morning we are carrying out a site wide drug screen. As a result, I expect us to lose up to 20% of our staff. Unemployment is bad and rising with some areas particularly bad. My own city has over 10% and unemployment for young people is horrendous. City centres can be just as bad on a weekend as a UK city centre. No shortage of loutish behaviour fuelled by too much booze. Australia has just a big a booze culture as the UK. Education I cant comment too much on, as I don't have children, but as an outside observer, it doesn't seem any better or worse. There are good schools and bad schools. Moving to Australia, which has all the same first world problems as the UK, in an attempt to escape them, is likely to fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Birds of a Feather is the same all over the world. I am sure that as you are concerned give you daughter is already a fine young person. I have two children, they drink but they do not take drugs, drugs were around and we talked about it but they decided like I did when I was young that it was not for them and it was not for me. We cannot prevent our children wanting to try new things but a lot don't bother. Same old situation the bad news gets the medias attentions and is only a small proportion of the community as a whole in most places in the world. Worrying about our children never ends till we pop our clogs and we can only guide them if they ask us to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave53 Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Moving to Australia, which has all the same first world problems as the UK, in an attempt to escape them, is likely to fail. Couldnt have put it better myself ... Absolutely correct .. Dave C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 If you really are only moving because you want to shield your daughter from problems in society, then yes you are going to be disappointed. It is just another first world country, we could debate whether the problems are better or worse for the next hundred pages, but I would probably apply law of averages and say it is much the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfromdublin Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I am going to go against the grain and say that in my personal opinion crime is much lower in Australia. I haven't looked at the stats or anything like that but in moving from Dublin to Brisbane (cities about the same size) I feel safe leaving things unlocked (bike, car, even front door on occasions), I have never been mugged or robbed and I never feel unsafe walking the streets. Now, having said that, I am now a family man in my 30s and not a lad about town in my early 20s so I am rarely out on the streets late at night and I don't go into the city boozing much. It could just as easily be a life stage thing. My wife had a handbag stolen from a car once, and there does seem to be an issue with violence against women (although that could just be media reporting), but by and large I feel very comfortable walking around the place. Although ice gets a lot of press, I have never seen anyone on the drug in the city. As compared to Dublin where you would be hardpressed to avoid seeing someone on heroin in the city centre. Also, I once had someone drive into my parked car and do minor damage. The cops sent round 2 officers including one to take photos and they sorted everything within a day. In Dublin they would never have bothered coming out in the first place. It will definitely depend on where you are and where you're going. Rural England to Kings Cross in Sydney will be a totally different experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambethlad Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 If your daughter is of good character, has common sense and high moral values she will stay out of trouble no matter where she lives. Australia has the same problems as any other country but I prefer to live in Oz because in my opinion it is a much nicer place to live, with the lifestyle and climate more suitable for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I am going to go against the grain and say that in my personal opinion crime is much lower in Australia. I haven't looked at the stats or anything like that but in moving from Dublin to Brisbane (cities about the same size) I feel safe leaving things unlocked (bike, car, even front door on occasions), I have never been mugged or robbed and I never feel unsafe walking the streets. Now, having said that, I am now a family man in my 30s and not a lad about town in my early 20s so I am rarely out on the streets late at night and I don't go into the city boozing much. It could just as easily be a life stage thing. My wife had a handbag stolen from a car once, and there does seem to be an issue with violence against women (although that could just be media reporting), but by and large I feel very comfortable walking around the place. Although ice gets a lot of press, I have never seen anyone on the drug in the city. As compared to Dublin where you would be hardpressed to avoid seeing someone on heroin in the city centre. Also, I once had someone drive into my parked car and do minor damage. The cops sent round 2 officers including one to take photos and they sorted everything within a day. In Dublin they would never have bothered coming out in the first place. It will definitely depend on where you are and where you're going. Rural England to Kings Cross in Sydney will be a totally different experience. The statistics are approximately the same - some variance on particular crimes, but broadly identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 The statistics are approximately the same - some variance on particular crimes, but broadly identical. I looked up crime rates from a couple of sources, they are very similar, but UK a bit lower according to both sources. According to OECD assault rates in Australia are 2.1% versus 1.9% in UK. The murder rates are considered more reliable as murders are generally reported, assaults and other crimes might not be, the rate in Australia is 0.8 and in UK it is 0.3. Both countries well below global average as you would expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 A lot depends on where you live. There isn't a problem where we are but in nearby suburbs you hear about ice addiction mainly. Locally the crime rate has actually gone down, though, as regards burglary and things like that. You feel safe walking around shops, going to restaurants, going on the train during the day- maybe at night I wouldn't be going on a train alone, though. If yopu go to a middle class suburb there should be no problems at all, much like the UK. Same applies to the schools. I think the discipline is much better in schools here but maybe that is just my experience as an ex teacher in the UK many years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainR Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) I echo the comments above, I think its much the same. I think its easy to be isolated from trouble here because of the space, the nice suburbs seem to be separated from the bad ones. I haven't been to the bad areas of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne or Darwin, but have felt totally safe in the areas I have been. I do feel slightly safer in the CBD of Sydney then I do in London, but I'm sure thats just a psychological thing. As said above ICE seems to be a really big issue in some circles here in Australia, its terrible how quickly its destroying lives. From what I've read is that it gives such an incredible eurphoric feeling from the first time you try it, that it becomes addictive and destructive immediately. Scary! Edited October 2, 2015 by CaptainR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I think you summed it up with where you come from and where you have the opportunity to move to. If you feel that you can't go into your local town on weekends and feel safe then it can't be that nice a place and you could move to somewhere in Aus with exactly the same problems. With a bit of research though you should be able to choose an area where you can have a great lifestyle, go out, feel safe and in a way, feel you could still go out and leave the doors open and you wouldn't be broken in to. Obviously you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time anywhere. We live in a nice suburb, close to a gorgeous beach, the beach park and beach gets packed at weekends but it's with families making the most of the free barbies and great play areas on the park for kids. We are close to Joondalup but my eldest son (25) doesn't go there very much as he says there is a bit of trouble there at nights. He goes into Perth, Leederville, Scarborough and local more. I might get a bit of stick for this but he says Joondalup has a bad rep because there are a lot of poms up that way that seem to think part of a good night out is to have a brawl at the end of it. He was born in England but came out here when he was 2 so I guess he knows what the talk on the street is. I've been out in Joondalup a couple of times and I know what he means though. We were just going into a pub quite early 9:00 ish and the bouncers were in the process of throwing a couple of guys out. They were Northern English, maybe not too far away from where I'm from TBH. I was laughing to myself and made the mistake of letting one of the guys see I was laughing so I got "I'm having you". I was a couple of my squash player mates and the guy stood outside the window giving us the evil eye.:laugh: After a while I thought sod this and made the point of walking out and past him and he didn't say a word. There are heaps of very nice suburbs in and around Perth and there are some that I wouldn't even want to live near. Do your research and have a look round at places you might fancy once you're here and don't rush in to buying too early. If you are financially secure you should have plenty of choice of good places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I echo the comments above, I think its much the same. I think its easy to be isolated from trouble here because of the space, the nice suburbs seem to be separated from the bad ones. I haven't been to the bad areas of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne or Darwin, but have felt totally safe in the areas I have been. I do feel slightly safer in the CBD of Sydney then I do in London, but I'm sure thats just a psychological thing. As said above ICE seems to be a really big issue in some circles here in Australia, its terrible how quickly its destroying lives. From what I've read is that it gives such an incredible eurphoric feeling from the first time you try it, that it becomes addictive and destructive immediately. Scary! I've been over the Sydney lots with work and stay in Potts Point (Kings Cross really) at the Holiday Inn. Considering that is supposed to be one the dodgiest places I've walked from there into Sydney centre and all over that area, even late at night and never felt the least bit threatened. Sydney doesn't have the massive amount of pubs that a lot of UK cities do. Maybe the rocks just about has but that's a bit of a tourist area so a nicer vibe. Most UK cities and towns (probably smaller Northern towns are worse) at weekends seem to have a core of people that go out with the intention of getting smashed out their heads and causing trouble. I'm from Chesterfield and you would have been hard pressed to go out on a weekend and not see/be involved in a brawl. Sheffield was the nearest and easiest big City to get to from us and that wasn't nearly as bad. We used to go there most weekends and saw very little trouble compared to "town". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minch23 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 We moved to Australia to 3 years ago to give our 2 kids a better childhood then what we could offer them in the UK. And for us the move was worth every penny. We didn't move to a major city, but to a small coastal town in WA. The education that the local school gives to our sons is excellent, our eldest has learning difficulties, and they have progressed him so far with his learning you would be hard pushed to know he has any. Our children are thriving here (they are 10 and 11), and they have kept some of the innocence about them, that I believe they would of lost long ago in the UK, and are just happy to play rather then want things constantly (which was what they were like before we moved). Our kids will no doubt be exposed to drink and drugs as they get older, it's everywhere. But for us, where we are in Australia, we feel safer bringing our family up here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I've been over the Sydney lots with work and stay in Potts Point (Kings Cross really) at the Holiday Inn. Considering that is supposed to be one the dodgiest places I've walked from there into Sydney centre and all over that area, even late at night and never felt the least bit threatened. Sydney doesn't have the massive amount of pubs that a lot of UK cities do. Maybe the rocks just about has but that's a bit of a tourist area so a nicer vibe. Most UK cities and towns (probably smaller Northern towns are worse) at weekends seem to have a core of people that go out with the intention of getting smashed out their heads and causing trouble. I'm from Chesterfield and you would have been hard pressed to go out on a weekend and not see/be involved in a brawl. Sheffield was the nearest and easiest big City to get to from us and that wasn't nearly as bad. We used to go there most weekends and saw very little trouble compared to "town". I so agree with you on this Paul. Moving from Sheffield and having many a great night out in the city, with no trouble at all. Yet just this year when youngest daughter went back there for a holiday, she was out in an outer lying suburb, border with Barnsley and Rotherham, first night there and she got jumped and had her mobile phone stolen. Same seems to have happened here, we have frequented Perth CBD and Northbridge on numerous occasions no trouble whatsoever. Both daughters go clubbing there regularly too without incident. Youngest DD now has a bf who lives joondalup way, so has been going out there along with other friends. She too now says the same about it being the poms in Joondalup who are causing the problems. Disclaimer: I have never been for a night out in Joondalup, so for all I know this may/may not be true, just saw Paul's post on it and thought I would reply!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxh Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 What I found really noticeable when I first arrived in Sydney (Inner West) was the lack of youths hanging around street corners, parks etc. In the UK, even in the 'nicer' areas, you'd often get groups of youngsters hanging around smoking, drinking and often getting up to no good. Where I used to live they were generally pretty tame, but in some areas you often heard of people being intimidated, things getting set on fire etc. I've no idea what the kids get up to in Sydney instead! So whilst it might be that the crime statistics of the two countries are pretty similar, it definitely feels a lot safer walking around in Sydney than back in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 It feels like less crime happens in my suburb than back home. Maybe Australia is just less socially mixed, seems the poor areas are further out of the city and all together (Logan) so you can avoid them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 We were never burgled in the UK and we've never been burgled here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I so agree with you on this Paul. Moving from Sheffield and having many a great night out in the city, with no trouble at all. Yet just this year when youngest daughter went back there for a holiday, she was out in an outer lying suburb, border with Barnsley and Rotherham, first night there and she got jumped and had her mobile phone stolen. Having grown up in Rotherham this made me smile. I can think of a few possible places you could be referring to and they all had a reputation for being a bit rough/dodgy. Yet the bit I grew up in and the part I lived in for 8 years before moving here were very nice, safe feeling areas. I guess it's the same in both countries - some areas are safer than others and the trick is picking the nicer, safer ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Having grown up in Rotherham this made me smile. I can think of a few possible places you could be referring to and they all had a reputation for being a bit rough/dodgy. Yet the bit I grew up in and the part I lived in for 8 years before moving here were very nice, safe feeling areas. I guess it's the same in both countries - some areas are safer than others and the trick is picking the nicer, safer ones. To be fair we had lived in that area for 13years without any drama. I would reg walk my dogs round to tesco express at 11pm without feeling unsafe. Best neighbours ever. i reckon its a kids thing, I've managed to live in all the spots they say don't go and been Fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Well as most have said Australia has all the same issues as the UK, no worse but certainly no better. Crime is pretty much identical with the murder rate in Australia higher and probably some other crimes higher in the UK. Neither is more or less safe to walk at night. Neither country is better or worse for kids to grow up in, our kids had a good life in Queensland and have an equally good life here. They still act like kids and being quite rural they seem to be hanging onto their childhood longer compared to their old friends which is nice. It is perfectly natural for those people looking to make what is likely to be the most important move of their lives to be to a 'better' place otherwise to an extent what's the point ? Anyone making the move should be happy to know that generally speaking they won't be going somewhere that is worse. Australia is a lovely place to live, just go knowing that you COULD be the victim of crime just as you could here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I know most of this will be subjective and based upon where you live. But for us we know if we go to our local town of a Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening it's not somewhere that we're happy to walk around and feel safe because of the teenage drinking, smoking and loutish behaviour. I will address this specifically as it stood out to me. In Brisbane we lived in the good part of a bad area (Logan), a few miles from us was somewhere most people wouldn't choose to go at night with gangs of youths causing trouble, drinking etc etc. We lived in a really nice area but the house opposite was burgled and a party once spilled out into the street and there were young guys running around with knives and in one case an axe. It actually took the Police close to 45 minutes to turn up. We were OK as we had a high fence (put up because our car was broken into). Where we are now the village has an average crime rate of 1 reported crime a month. Now if I had chosen to live in a city or big town here or a small town in Australia no doubt our experiences would be reversed. My point is that neither country is more or less safe than the other, it comes down to choosing where you live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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