crazmook

G'day, Would anyone happen to know if the NHS pension is subject to the asset test when it comes to reaching state pension age here in Australia? Or it is just the actual payment that you get that will be subject to the income test? Cheers!

Hi! and Welcome! Sandgate is nice. Also the surrounding suburbs of Brighton and Shorncliffe. Tends to be a bit pricy round there though, but you would just about get a decent 3 bedder for that. Has train to cbd in 35 mins. Cant comment on the other 'burbs you mentioned as not been to them. There is a new rail line going to be built over the next few years from the city that goes through Northlakes/mango Hill, Rothwell and on to the Redcliffe peninsula which will be well under an hour to the cbd, so may be worth considering there. It's a bit tough to get around without a car though, but not impossible. HTH

Hi Only you can make the decision on whether to take your car or not, but hopefully if you can find enough information about it, it will make it easier to make that decision. It is true that cars are generally more expensive in Australia, but not necessarily across the board. Some new cars are actually comparable to the UK. A Suzuki Alto for example is less than $12000 here, compared to around 7000 pounds in England which at an exchange rate of 1.6 is not too far off. I was reading the post about the 03 Freelander, and I wondered if I was able to point you in the direction of some helpful sites? I see the owners value the car at 5000 pounds, but expect it will fetch 3 times that much in Australia. I searched through the car sales websites and found 10 2003 Freelanders available in Australia at the moment on Carsales.com. They averaged $15.000 with the cheapest being advertised at $10,000 (private) and the dearest at $18000 (dealer). The Red Book price came in at just under $11,000. If you were to sell yours at 5000 pounds and add the 3500 pounds you were to pay to ship it, and then transfer that to Oz at a rate of 1.6 you are going to end up with $13600. As you will be without your car for 3 months till it arrives and clears customs, you may need to rent one for a while at around $50 a day. Also the display price in Australia is rarely the price you pay, so it's likely you could save another $500+ with that. I used the Freelander example, as the OP kindly included the value, but this may apply to all vehicles. You can get the information here: Used Cars - New Cars - Search New & Used Cars For Sale - carsales.com.au Car Prices - Search Car Prices & Values Online - Red Book and in the UK, I remember Parkers and What Car both gave free used car prices, with Autotrader being the biggest sales site, which will help to compare. Hopefully this is helpful, Good luck with it!

Hi, I don't think I have met anyone who earns over $100k here in QLD! I must be moving in the wrong circles. Maybe you need $150k a year to get by in Sydney, like you need a larger salary to live in London. However, all you have to do is look at the salary for jobs advertised in Australia. Maybe try SEEK - Australia's no. 1 jobs, employment, career and recruitment site 11 million people live here doing jobs, just like the 60 million in the UK- they sell cars, drive ambulances, build houses, works in banks, bakers, shops, the trades etc. They all survive here in Oz and they aren't leaving in droves, so you must be able to survive! We are a family of 5, paying rent that is twice what my mortgage was in the UK, running twice the amount of cars, working in the health service at 2 bands lower than in England and surviving ok. And the wife's given up her 2 days a week job. We don't have as much left over as we did in the UK, but then again we don't need to spend loads to cheer ourselves up lol. If you need a massive new McHouse, 2 brand new cars, kids in private schools, and top dollar health insurance, you need to earn more, obviously. here are some links/info, that may be helpful: Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, Nov 2010- Source Australian Bureau of Statistics Full-time adult ordinary time earnings $1272.50 =$66170 a year. Take home pay calculator: Income Tax Calculator As pointed out, salary sacrifice is available which means in a nutshell, you don't pay any tax on earnings that you spend on mortgages/car loans/ and loads of other stuff. PS- I picked up a bottle of Islay single malt the other day at $65 which isn't too bad.

Hi We've been here for 6-7 months and have just bought a 2nd car yesterday, having done a fair bit of research. Ok- used cars are expensive here, but you have to look at the price in detail. If you are changing English Pounds at 1.6 to buy a used Australian car you will find the prices astronomical. However, if you multiply by 2.3 you will get fairer figure. Granted, it won't save you any money, but the price of the goods in Aus is easier to compare if you do this. After all, just because the UK pound is in the doldrums, you can't expect Australians to take this into account for you. (this depends where you live etc, but most people will agree that if you multiply costs by around 2.2 -2.4 you will be looking at a fair UK/AUS comparison- i.e you should look to be earning 2.2 times you UK salary in pounds to get the same standard of living in Aus) So, I found that the older the car, the dearer it gets. New cars, when you are earning in $ are not really any more expensive than in the UK. Some are much more expensive, but some are cheaper. Depends where they are from. Audis, VWs are really dear here, but Fords, Holdens, and some of the Far Eastern companies like Mitsubishi and Suzuki are cheaper. You can buy a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer for $20990 for example. Most of the smaller engines in the range won't be available in Aus, and auto's are more common than manuals. Diesel is common, but probably like 20% of cars are diesel compared to maybe 40% in the UK. Lots of v6s, and v8s. Arguably, used cars are actually worth more here- they tend to be serviced every 6 months, and the roads are a bit smoother so bits don't fall off as easily. Also there's no snow, or freezing conditions (in QLD anyway lol), so they may be in better condition. And finally if used cars retain their value so well, you are likely to be able to sell it for a decent price even when it's like 15 years old! Have a look at Used Cars - New Cars - Search New & Used Cars For Sale - carsales.com.au which is the equiv of autotrader in the UK. We got a 5 year old Toyota Kluger (4x4 in between a Rav 4 and Landcruiser) for $19000 and a 5 year old Toyota Yaris for $8500 from a main Toyota dealer and both came with a 3 year warranty! One thing to remember when you ship one over is car hire costs- if it takes 12 weeks or so for it to arrive, you will need 12 weeks car hire- either here or in the UK, which will obviously have some effect on any savings. Happy hunting! PS I agree with the previous poster about the wet weather traction, but wonder if this is more the road surface rather than the tyres. Either way, your tyres are going to be Aussie tyres after the first lot wear out!

Hi Firstly check when your goods will be released- our weren't delivered until over 2 weeks after they arrived, so there may be a delay there. If you can string it out a bit more, there's the Easter hols, and then there's usually another public holiday the week after (depends where you are) so not much will happen then. I always found our shipping company to be difficult to negotiate with, lol- We struggled to even get an acknowledgement that our container was 6 weeks late, let alone any reimbursement! I would think that you will really struggle to get them to pick up the bill for storage because it came early. Getting your rental is not always as easy as it sounds- so you will probably end up with some overlap on your rental beginning and your temp accom finishing. You have to apply, along with other interested parties, and the rental agent/landlord picks who they think is the best. This means you may not get the rental you want straight away (depends on the house and area to some extent, but presumably you will not be looking for a dump in a bad area!). Consequently you will need to be applying in plenty of time, or have the facility to extend your temp accom. So, essentially what I'm trying to say is - you may end up in your rental sooner, if you get the first one you apply for. Therefore, you can get your stuff delivered asap and pay no storage but just lose some cash on the temp accommodation! Hope you manage to get it sorted out! Happy travels!

Car Seat for kids- All you need to know for Queensland. They reported that all the other states would follow suit afterwards, so a year on, this should be the regs for the whole of Australia. Biggest differences from the UK are- 3 yr olds need an "H type harness" till their 4th b'day. No one under 7 in the front (unless you only have 2 seats) and it confirms UK seats are not acceptable. Penalties are 3 points and $300 fine per incorrect kid! Link: http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/a34d7a95-2ff5-4b5e-b57b-47aeb515d0af/child_restraints_qanda_feb11.pdf HTH.

Hi Here are our outgoings. We have been living in Brisbane for 6 months. Family of 5. Monthly outgoings Rent $2,033 Contents ins $25 Internet/phone/tv $115 Electricity $160 - running pool and occasional air con. Water $87 Car tax (rego) $65 Car insurance $32 Car servicing $42 Phones $50 Life insurance $45 Total $2,774 Lots of places in QLD don't use gas. Not 100% sure on the water yet- if you rent you only pay supply and usage -no sewerage charges (which is about $800 a year extra). Our local state primary has better figures than the local privates, so our kids go there- its' about $200 per child per year. We have 1 car. We don't have private health cover at present (not completely essential, the state cover is more or less comparable to the NHS for basics) Internet/phone/tv gives us the equivalent of freesat, unlimited calls to UK and broadband with 25GB month cap. I have been living off savings waiting for professional registration to come through and we can manage with $500 a week for food, entertainment, fuel and incidental spending - lol just about. The Oz equivalent of Family Allowance will probably give you more than the UK equivalent. Hope this helps.

Hi, I'm in Australia and have been waiting for over 4 months for the jokers at APHRA to even look at my application! So I would factor this in to your time scales, lol. By the way, they take your $450 at the start of the process. The website is full of conflicting information, but this week they have decided that they cant even answer the phones any more, so they refer you back to the website, which is why you were ringing anyway...... I'm being flippant, I know, but the bottom line is- it'll take ages, so be prepared. I'd probably apply now before they change the rules again. I think you'll have no problem renewing once registered, you will be counted as an Aussie nurse practising abroad and fulfil their conditions. Then its about $70 a year. Have fun.

Queensland Transport Customer service centres: South-east Queensland north region Brisbane City (Elizabeth Street) Caboolture Caloundra Chermside Maroochydore Mooloolaba Nambour Redcliffe Rosalie Spring Hill Strathpine Tewantin Zillmere

Very best wishes and good luck with the move, wishing you a very Happy New Year!

"1) Go Compare Advert - Who thought annoying the s*** out of people would make them buy/use your product" LOL, wait till you watch TV here! You'll be begging for English adverts! Last night I saw the same advert 3 times in one commercial break!

HI, sorry you are having problems. You could try this. Write what you need yourself (to save them the bother), then tell your boss it's a statement of service / list of duties (not a reference!) and ask if they would be willing to sign it, which should help jobsworths with their policy problems. Is it any wonder that people want to leave?! Best of luck, and happy Christmas!

Hi, Your seats will be no less safe in Australia than in the UK, as they will fasten the same (i.e. with the seatbelts on most cars in Oz). However, it's very true that they don't meet the Australia standards which basically means they need an anchor strap or possibly isofix (or both). The Uk seats don't have the anchor strap, and when it comes to anyone actually checking your seats you won't have the approval stickers either. Also if you were thinking of shipping them - our stuff took 15 weeks, which is time that you'll either have to borrow seats or buy some new ones until your belongings arrive. We ended up leaving ours with the family members that took us to the airport. It meant that we knew our kids were safe whilst using various different cars in the UK (having sold our main car). And now the relo's have spares if we come back soon and can pick us up at the airport. Seats in Australia are comparable in cost to ones in the UK. Booster seats look to be the same though. Although saying that, in the event of an accident, no doubt the insurance company would use "non Australian standard seat" as a reason to decline a payout. HTH Ps there was probably so many food bits rammed down our kids seats, that they wouldn't pass quarantine anyway!

Hi, Usually see some most days. We in North Brisbane, outer suburbs. Mostly they are in the school playing fields and the land adjacent to the new house building. I would say the site that I see them the most is to the school fields off Anzac Avenue in Mango Hill, Rothwell and Kippa Ring if you are ever around that way. Never seen a wild koala though! Happy hunting (not literally!)