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We are waiting on centrelink to sort out our claim and after being told it would be 2-6 weeks we have now been told it will be 12 weeks, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :arghh: We have been told we should qualify for a healthcare card but we will not have this in time to get our kids school books this week and will have to pay the $425. Has anyone else been in this situation? Can you claim the money back afterwards or defer payment for the books at all? We are trying our hardest to keep our heads above water but this extension in sorting the claim has really knocked us.

Gotta agree that garden furniture is cheaper here. Xbox will play Oz and UK games ok. Got the new assassins creed for $59 from Big W but you do have to search around for a bargain. Some of the games are a lot pricier though. Lawnmowers seem to be the same sort of price as UK. Become tea total before you come out too, booze is much more expensive!

Beds and mattresses and loads of bedding.........beds are expensive here Heavy weight duvets.........it gets very cold in Melbourne BOOOOOOOKS......didn't realize how very expensive they are here, even secondhand. Xbox etc games.....once again, dearer here Extension leads if you are bringing lots of UK electrical stuff Clothes and shoes.....get into primark and stock up! Clarks shoes....so much money over here Marmite! In suitcase School uniform from Asda for £3 a go....pinafores are $40 each here, school fleece cardi is $41 for 1 Favourite make up Carpentry hand tools (planer especially) So far we have found some things to be cheaper here: Printer/scanner/copier unit $29 bbq's nice artificial xmas trees laptops and tablets bikes and some of the toys for kids disney DVDs are £9 each at the moment, Mary Poppins etc. Hope this helps x

Hiya, we brought over gingham dresses for our girls at £2 a shot on offer at asda and was very pleased that we did as they are between $29 and $49 here. The girls sweatshirt material cardigans are $42. You can usually get Marks & Spencer stuff delivered free to Aus which is handy. The school that our girls go to are really slack with uniform and they seem to just wear navy lightweight sports shorts, logo t-shirt and trainers (runners) although they have a lot of freedom with choice as they can wear pretty much anything as long as it is navy. I would say if you have a shipment coming over fill it with cheap uniform and definitely clarks trainers when they are on offer (we brought over about 20 pairs!). If you are just bringing suitcases then just bring the trainers! Target has uniform quite cheap - $9 a sweatshirt and we got some great quality secondhand logo tops from the local charity shop (opp shop) for $3 each. In fact I buy most of my stuff from the opp shops, they are great!

Just to clarify....as it seems some of you like a good debate! I do not profess to having a genius 5 year old, just simply that she has already been to school for a whole year and so of course will categorically be ahead of the ones who are starting afresh in the new year. I was simply after some details from people who had experienced a similar situation, and many thanks to those who have shared their stories to help me. I have always been and will always be concerned about the best outcome for my children and any normal parent would be. Seeing as I already have two daughters - one a qualified English teacher and the other studying law at Cambridge University - I can't see that my worrying about suitable schooling for my children will ever be, in my mind, over concern. Thanks again to those who have offered valuable advice.

I have two in Uni as well so am not new to this. I do know however that early childhood learning makes a lot of difference to the rest of their academic life. I also teach. Just wanted to know if anyone else has been able to haggle with which year group their child enters?

Do you get anything back if you have a PR visa and leave?

Moved to Vic five weeks ago and really can't get my head round it being Christmas. I bought presents and wrapped them and left them for everyone back in UK but haven't bought a single thing here so far. Money is extremely tight and I really haven't decided what to do on Christmas day yet. We will take a pic of us all on the beach with xmas hats on to send back to everyone to make them giggle. May compromise with a turkey, stuffing and cranberry pastry pie and salad this year! Will be a very strange one.

Our daughter turned 5 in August and has already completed a whole year in reception class in UK. She is set to start school in February '14 but has been booked into the prep year. Obviously I have great concerns over her having to dumb down for the year. She is an intelligent girl and very studious. She was the top of the class in reading in the UK and was on a year higher level books as it was. I am booking in to see the headmaster of the school and just wondered if I can negotiate that my daughter join the year one group instead. I had thought that age appropriate placement would be best but my older daughter has been re-doing grade 2 since we arrived and is complaining that the work is far too easy for her - especially maths. There are children between the age of 7 and 9 in her year group and she is 7 but seems to be more advanced. Has anyone else been through this? I really don't want my 5 year old to be going back to basics when she has progressed so quickly already in the UK.

Then Geelong will be great for you. We like to shop there and go at least once a week. Lovely seaside feel about it and easy to find everything as it is on a grid. Also great train and bus link and doesn't take long into Melbourne. Good luck with your move and drop us a line if you move to Geelong, for a catch up. We are from Essex also.

They offer the level 3 at evening classes when you get to Australia too -costs about $400 for a PR.

Hi, we were keen on Geelong at first but found it a little too built up for our family's taste so we are now at Ocean Grove..a stone's throw from a postcard perfect beach. Smaller community. We found Geelong to have a Southend feel to it. Lots to do there and fairly easy to navigate but as I say - just too large for our liking.

I am from a coastal town in England and believe me I am very used to being cold but the house we are renting is freezing. No heating in bedrooms and you can see sunlight through the floorboards. Full breeze comes in the windows too. I have got my super dooper winter double weight duvet on at night and am wearing three tops during the day whilst in the house! Gotta move in five months when lease is up, roll on the sunshine and warmer weather. All the locals are saying it is an anomaly and it is normally much warmer by now. Timing as ever!!

Yep, having same problem here. My hubby is a carpenter and doing the odd labouring job a few days here and there (often driving 4 hours a day to get there) just to get some money in. I have loads of experience in several different fields of work and haven't had a response to the 30 odd jobs I have applied for in the past 3 weeks. Daughter has a couple of waitressing shifts in a restaurant but we are really struggling now. Not feeling the love at the moment.

Hi, just moved here a couple of weeks ago. Applied online for my TFN and went in 2 days after submitting application to the Centrelink office that had a government tax representative in and they printed out the TFN for me there and then. Simple as. Didn't catch where you are - we are Geelong area, Melbourne but it may be the same in other areas. Good luck.

Wow, I really hope it warms up soon (I will be too British and moan about the heat when it gets here, lol!) We have a quite nice rental house but geeee it really is a shed! It is sooooo cold. I really haven't got my head around the kids going to school in the morning wearing their shorts and t-shirts when I am wearing my leather boots, coat and scarf! I really don't understand how people cannot feel the cold. I am from England, I thought we had the colder weather. Something is just not right with this picture. Give me an insulated house pleeeeeease!!! Lucky we brought over lots of heavy duvets.:wacko:

Hi Wooky, just read your post. Did you get sorted in the end? We have just moved to Geelong area and hubby is finding it extremely difficult to get chippie work. Despite phoning the builders named on the large housing sites going up they don't seem to pass on any details and it's really hard to get into any work going - despite there being massive housing developments locally. He has been given some tatty labouring jobs but hardly ever gets a sniff at proper carpentry work and some weeks is only getting one days work. We are really struggling now. Hope all went okay for you

Hi, we have moved to the Surf Coast, South of Melbourne. Husband came over 3 months ago and the rest of us (me and 3 of our 4 girls) arrived 2 weeks ago. After selling our house in the UK and still having a deficit we juggled with money to allow us to get to Australia. After some terribly unorthodox advice from the citizens advice bureau to just skip the country and leave our debts we set up a debt management plan with Step Change and we have a manageable payment scheme in the UK that we send money back for every month. They don't charge for this service and have been brilliant. Hubby came out first to set up a job and rental etc and stayed with my uncle whilst doing so, rent free. The rental side was difficult as they make you view the property before you can put your application in. Most viewings are during office hours. You apply and they let you know if they want you! Lucky enough we got accepted for both the rentals that we put in for immediately. I had prepared a folder of references etc and they didn't even look at it, didn't ask for bank statements, references or anything. We chose between primary schools - one was a play led school but our daughters are quite studious and would prefer traditional teaching. Also we chose the one that ranked higher in the league tables. We got the bank accounts sorted 2 hours after landing (I am highly organised)! The tax file number posed a problem as we got redirected online and the paperwork went astray in their system, bit of a hassle - we were told after that if we had gone into Centrelink they would have issued us one on the spot in the tax office part. Setting up internet took only a week, very efficient with Telstra. Be prepared to spend some on this it is much dearer than UK. School uniform is pricey so I brought over some summer dresses in the right colour from asda £2 each in the sale as opposed to $21. Everyone has been sooooo friendly so far. I have met loads of mums through school and pre school groups and been invited to our first party already! There seems to be a lot of groups of people from the UK that meet up regularly which is lovely. The hubby is a carpenter and is finding work very sporadic, not knowing from one day to the next when he will have work and he is travelling quite a distance but he is getting to know the area very well now!! Haven't seen any red backs or huntsmen yet! We have found some things to be so much cheaper than UK - electrical goods mainly, printer for $29. Bikes for the kids were crazy cheap from target. Food is quite comparable in my estimation as long as you don't buy out of season fruit etc. The houses here are so interesting to look around, they are so different to each other, such variations. Very much enjoying it so far.

Just booked my girls in for free. They have had the first one of three. Youngest is 5 and older one is 7 and they said they might as well do both. Nobody seemed overly concerned either way. School didn't even ask about it.

Just moved to Ocean Grove and my daughter is feeling a bit lonely. Waiting to hear about jobs so is sitting around bored all day at the moment. She would like to meet people of her own age locally.

The little plastic filter fits in the hole where the screw on hose attaches to the screw on bit of the washing machine - only this does protrude and the hose we bought in bunnings has a rubber piece that is also protruding so won't fit on. It fits without the filter piece but then the machine doesn't work properly. Going to go to a plumbing place to have a look tmrw. Just a bit annoying as I don't know what has happened to the original. Ah well, minor problem really - saves me doing the ironing!! Thanks all

Hi, just arrived in Australia and had shipment delivered. Tried to rig up the washing machine and the Aus fitting on the cold water inlet won't allow for the little plastic filter that is in the back of the machine. When we took it out the machine didn't work properly. Is there anywhere I can buy an inlet hose that matches the UK ones in Australia or will I have to ship one out? Thanks for your help

We only want a cheap run about so only looking at spending about $3000 max. Cars are really quite expensive in Australia. I have a little fiesta here that is in brilliant shape and only cost £700, we've been spoilt here!!

Hi, my hubby went over two months ago so he could get work sorted first. He is staying with my uncle there so no over heads. It's just as well he did as it took him 5 weeks to find work in the building industry. He is a carpenter by trade but has had to settle for a labourers job on site just to get work. Most of the work on sites seems to be 'who you know' and word of mouth. Obviously he knows no-one! We shipped all our things a couple of days before he left and myself and four daughters have been living in our rental in the UK for 2 months with no problems at all. The younger children don't miss their toys or anything! Keeping very busy still. We have found it difficult to sort a rental house out over there as you have to view during the day and other half working cannot get back in time to see them, they are often gone by the Saturday and real estates don't like showing you round individually outside of the open days. This is the only drawback as far as I am concerned. It has been easy with skype to keep in touch and the children haven't been subject to any upheaval - which was our main concern. We have been able to pace the move and make decisions in our own time without feeling rushed into car, work and house decisions. We will be joining him in 3 weeks and hopefully house and contents will all be set up ready for our arrival :wink:

Thanks DonnaBB these look very competitive. Are you with these? Do they have a good track record? Thanks again