Quoll

It's a provisional visa which, whilst ostensibly temporary, has a pathway to PR providing you abide by the rules set down. NSW don't charge for 491 visa holders so if they don't, I doubt any other state will either https://www.deinternational.nsw.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/16410/Visa-Subclasses-and-Enrolment-Conditions.pdf

Shouldn't think so, it's a provisional visa, so whilst it is temporary with the prospect to apply for PR., it's not a sponsored temporary from a company like the 482 which does incur school fees in WA. The definitive link on which visas incur fees is for staff only so your best bet is to call the school they're likely to enroll in and ask them but I doubt there will be tuition fees. That said, all schools do levy school fees on everyone - they're called voluntary contributions but you're expected to pay them as well as stationery packs, excursions, incursions, extra lessons and in senior schools some courses incur fees like photography and other courses where there are consumables. You'll be putting your hand in your pockets for something most weeks. In general, the states that charge are NSW, ACT, WA, SA & Tas

I'd forgotten the bull ants - nasty little buggers. My FiL carried an epipen because he was allergic to them. I've been bitten by them (do not wear flip flops when walking in the bush!) - the pain is right up there!

Here in the bush capital the bloody cockatoos are worse than jumbo jets at antisocial morning hours mind you, I'd take the screeches over the random Koels that visit here every summer - not for nothing are they called the drive you crazy birds. I'd agree with the others, check Bushfire and food risk, broadband connection, mobile coverage (so many black holes). Personally I wouldn't choose to back onto bush - too big a fire risk given the modern land management practices and having eucalypts on your block can be an expensive hobby. We lost 500 homes in Canberra suburbs in 15 minutes a few years ago so fires scare the sh!t out of me. We are 3 blocks from bush and my DH is paranoid about management on our block because embers travel. You'll get flies so ensure your fly screens are good. If you're near any standing water you'll get mozzies (they love me, the feeling is not mutual). If you have a woodpile you'll likely find redbacks and watch out for Sydney funnelwebs. You're not likely to get snakes unless you're right on the bush but you might get lizards in the garden. Keep your screen doors shut and they won't come in. You might find you get rats and mice occasionally, they often get in under the house. Possums, if you live in a treed area can find holes into roof spaces and they're a bugger to remove if you get them. I think Sydney might be more inclined to get cockroaches too - the pest controller will be your mate! Asbestos isn't an issue in Canberra any more since they demolished all the Mr Fluffy houses (well almost all) but in other states they haven't been nearly as assiduous. Definitely worth a full survey before you buy. Oh, and don't eat the mushrooms, they can kill you.

If he can't get an ETA because of this current issue is there a plan B? How about he leaves with his current partner and they apply offshore perhaps?

Anyone sending private messages like that should be banned imho.

So sorry to hear that! The Hague Convention was supposed to be a Good Thing but for women (usually) who want to escape from Australia, it's a bloody millstone and I'm sorry you are trapped by it. There is an organisation called Global Ark which aims to support parents who are trapped because of the Hague Convention. You certainly present as a strong woman so more strength to you and I hope you can find a way to see the silver lining in the bloody great clouds!

You can download one online from the Attorney General's department

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/visa-pricing-estimator Looks like £5290 at the moment.

I’d agree with Marisa, Kiama would be a much nicer option and access to a train line up to Sydney is a definite plus. The south coast is very tourist oriented with lots of blow ins and weekender homes. JB doesn’t really have much going for it unless you’re going to work for the Navy.

They basically won't have anything to do with you if you are foreign resident! They'd close the account and give your money to HRMC. You might have been able to transfer to an Australian account or just send to another UK account and send to Australia from there.

It took him 45 minutes to load the move cube (good point!) but we had a practice lay out so it was a doddle. The van was on its way within the hour! I didn't know they would pack the move cube for us! DH did an amazingly organised job.

Quite a lot! We got a big cube and there was plenty of room for what we had. I couldn't load a pic here but somewhere in one of the threads there is a pic of our loaded cube. If you've got lots of furniture then it probably won't be enough but just a load of boxes and random stuff you can pack in a heck of a lot. They give you the dimensions - you can mark them out and see - we had an area in the dining room marked out and we just fitted our stuff into that but when the cube came it was so much easier to pack and we ended up with just under 1/4 not used at a guess. However, the down side to a cube is that you have to pack everything yourself - my husband did ours and he was at it for a good month, slowly, box by box. If you get a container you can get someone else to do it for you and you can take the kitchen sink! Just found pic here in this thread

No, there's a limit as to how much you can sacrifice tax free.

Yep, sick leave accrues. So if you work for 20 years and never take a day off you've got 200 days sick leave entitlement.

If you don't use your account they close it and they will only send new cards to the address on the account. Not sure what evidence they need for a local change of address - wouldn't put it past Barclays to require a utility bill. Most user unfriendly bank I ever had dealings with.

You might be able yo change address, I don't know, they needed evidence of address when the account was opened so I don't know about diverting to someone else's address. It's all academic for us as my bank is OK with me living here.

We did it but our situation was rather different. We squatted in my parents' back bedroom and didn't work (care needs made it impossible) and lived off our Aussie super. We kept our home - fortunately because our son's relationship broke down and he lived in our home and took care of it. I'd say take advice from a tax expert especially if you will be working there. Will you want to return to the SC or, maybe if your son is settled in Vic might you prefer to be closer to him on your return? Certainly paying rent feels like lost money to me. However, I'm not sure I would recommend doing what we did, either, but when you have a couple of stubborn, vulnerable oldies you do what you've got to do. And good luck! We lost mum at 92 and dad at 96!!! (Just to give you some Projection for your time frame!

Unfortunately, Barclays will do it for you!

I never got my head around the sickie abuse - came as quite a shock when I enquired after a colleague's health only to be told he was building his bbq. I thought about taking one once but, as it happened, the day in question turned to sh!t very shortly after I got up so it was actually a sick day - culminated in me falling out of bed and breaking 2 fingers but the rest of the day before that was one thing after the other! But on the plus side I had plenty up my sleeve for an op that had quite a long recovery time and I never took a "sickie" for the rest of my career.

Before you leave, make sure you have your UK citizenship sorted just in case your family wants to return. Sometimes it isn't so easy for a non-pom to return. Otherwise, pare down what you think you want to travel with (backpacks worked for us once after a total pare down!) and I second the Move Cube option if you don't own lots of furniture. Make sure your kids' vaccinations are up to date and you have their records (you'll need them for school) Think about whether you will want private health insurance - there is an age loading if you dont join up within 12 months of arriving and that can be a bit steep. Also remember that in some states you have to take out separate ambulance insurance (if you don't have private) and that is definitely worth doing. If you're with Barclays you may not be able to keep your UK bank account and there may be time when one comes in handy. I keep my account open but my bank knows I live in Australia and so far they're ok with that. So check to see if you can keep your UK bank account open as a foreign resident. It's worth taking evidence of your UK no claims bonus for car insurance as a point of negotiation if and when you buy a car - you'll probably be after a second hand banger in the first instance but be aware they are very expensive at the moment. Seriously consider where your family may want to live. This is potentially tricky. Personally I (the Pom) was very happy not to be living in the pockets of my in laws even though we got along very well. Even with some distance between us it wasn't hard for resentment to bubble to the surface that my OH was "home" with all that he knew and loved and I was not, especially when his family got us for Christmas and birthdays every year and mine did not. Don't underestimate your partner's sense of displacement and isolation. For you it may have been ok to be "overseas" but you believed you would be able to go home one day - your partner will, I assume, believe that there will be no escape - you might want to start planning for trips home for her so her family have time with your kids. Given that your family is from Sydney you'll probably want to live somewhere else anyway unless you've made your fortune in UK. I really think that for us, the whole family being in a new place (12 hours away from my husband's place!) meant that we were a stronger and more equal partnership. Be careful about staying with your family for too long!!!! Good luck.

Wow, never worked like that when I salary sacrificed - it was paid to whatever organisation I wanted it to go to (mine was mainly superannuation but I know others paid school fees, car lease etc), it never came back to me

My first introduction to Melbourne many years ago was standing on Flinders St station in August and the wind had not stopped anywhere en route from the South Pole - the only other time I had ever been as bone chillingly cold was on Holy Island in the winter! I find Ballarat to be one of the coldest places on earth and no matter what I put in the backpack it is never enough and I end up buying more layers (mind you, Ballarat can also be one of the closest ovens to hell in the summer on occasion!). Comparing Melbourne to Cambridge (which has a lovely kind of micro climate I think) - Cambridge would win.

That was the reason my parents - who loved Australia, dont get me wrong - decided that the UK was "their life" despite their only daughter and only grandkids being here. They made the decision to stay even though we had discussed the option of them moving several times and they had talked about it even more between themselves - we put no pressure but they would have been sorted here, a granny flat they built, a car they owned and membership of the local golf club. They had a fabulous social network at home - I really envied them because they had a much better network than me, partly because they were inherently outgoing people. They didnt regret their decision in the end one bit other than that they outlived most of their social network which increasingly saddened them. One of their grandsons emigrated back so they had a great grandchild for regular visits. My son was able to bury his granddad when I was stuck here in Aus over the Covid debacle. It is a very vexed question and not a decision I would make lightly and certainly not to appease one of my kids.

Rather depends on the state but he would be amongst the oldest but not the oldest. He can enrol in year 10 any time 2024. Kids generally start turning 16 in year 10 from about Feb/March onwards - in states where there is an April cut off, parents have often made the decision for the younger kids not to start school quite so early. Theoretically, though, you could have a kid in NSW who doesn't turn 15 until 31 July in year 10 in which case your son could be a year older than another kids. It'd be lovely if all our states had the same cut off for school age kids but parents usually choose to allow their kids, especially the boys a bit more maturity when starting school. NSW is the most out of line of all the states, several are April 30 cut off.