WelcomeIf you are new to Poms In Oz and migrating to Australia or currently living in Australia feel free to say hi to all the other either in or moving to Oz.
Hi all
This is my first posting so apologies for any spelling mistakes. We have been planning our move to Australia for a long time and are only now getting sorted. Had lots of the usual obstacles like gathering up post qualifying experience ( am a social worker). Finally got the ball rolling nov 07 through an agent and got skills assessment in Jan 08. Only problem is that we are late starters (only 41, still young really ) and have to go on a 475 Visa. Have decided on Victoria as they are short of Social Workers in regional areas. Looks like we will be heading to Ballarat just outside of Geelong as they are short of Social Workers . Has anyone else heard of Ballarat as we have four teens in tow who are worried about their social lives Application for state sponsorship went in at start of Feb 08 via our agent and no word back. Starting to panic and wondering how long this generally takes. Very happy though now we have finally got things moving, fingers crossed
Dec 07- Skill assessment application sent via agent
Jan 08- positive skill assessment from AASW
Feb 08- Regional sponsorship application online via agent- No word yet !!
The Grants - Paul, Sharon, (Richard, Pete, Paula, Mark -the four teens and the cat)
hi shaz, sounds like your organized, we are still at the chasing our tails wondering what to do next! we live in kent but my husband is from coleraine. (hes coming over this weekend for st paddys) we also have a teenager (george nearly 15) hes due to take gcses next year, so timings dodgey, how old are yours? georgia + gang
Hi georgia and gang
We have three boys Richard , Peter, Mark 16,17,19 and one girl Paula 18 so it is never quiet here. we really think a move down under will be fantastic for them but it going to be a nightmare with transferring courses and stuff. Counting the days now waiting on our state sponsorship will be celebrating when we finally do submit our main visa application.
Hope you all have a great St Paddys Day, no better place to celebrate and a day off work to recover makes it even better. Good luck with getting things statrted on your application, we used Go matilda would def recommend
Ballarat is a very nice country town. It is one of the original gold mining towns and it has some nice early Victorian buildings which went up at about that time. At its centre is a big (Lake Wendouree) except that at the moment it has little or no water in it! The lake was the site of the 1956 Olympic rowing competition. A couple of years ago the lake was so dry that my DH walked the length of the rowing course on the lake bed!
As for social life for teenagers - himm not really sure that you would actually call it the social hub of the south west! It is a country town and so you cant expect a huge "scene". It is about an hour from Melbourne by train and just over an hour to a reasonable beach.
The weather tends to be more extreme than Melbourne - so it will be colder than Melbourne in the winter and hotter in the summer. Mind you, I reckon it is pretty unpredictable at any time of the year - one year we had sleet at Christmas in Ballarat (with the inlaws) while in Canberra it was 40C and they were having a bushfire!
There are quite a few private schools in town - I believe (and my DH may be quite prejudiced here) that Ballarat HS is the best of the govt schools - so much so, I understand, that they only take in area enrolments (the Alfredton sort of area). My niece goes to Ballarat Grammar and my cousins in law's kids went to Ballarat College although one is now at Grammar. I think their respective parents are happy with those schools.
There is a University of Ballarat (so perhaps there is more social life than I have experienced but, then, our family isnt a teen social group!!!) and a very good competetive swimming club. The main tourist attraction is Sovereign Hill which is a re-enactment of the gold mining era with everyone in period costume (they take volunteers to be part of the township). There are some very nice restaurants in Sturt St and also around the (non existent) lake. The other big tourist attraction is the botanic gardens and the begonia festival along with the memorial for all the Australian POWs. It also houses one of the best stitching shops in Victoria - in Mair St!!!!
You could do much worse than Ballarat IMHO. I dont know how much demand there is on the social work services but I wouldnt think it would be a hugely challenging area - not compared with some other areas anyway!
and have to go on a 475 Visa. Have decided on Victoria as they are short of Social Workers in regional areas. Looks like we will be heading to Ballarat just outside of Geelong as they are short of Social Workers . Has anyone else heard of Ballarat as we have four teens in tow who are worried about their social lives 
Application for state sponsorship went in at start of Feb 08 via our agent and no word back. Starting to panic and wondering how long this generally takes. Very happy though now we have finally got things moving, fingers crossed
. Good luck with getting things statrted on your application, we used Go matilda would def recommend
