Graemsay

I think that passing or failing a medical is dependent on what the condition is likely to cost the taxpayer. If your daughter is in mainstream education, doesn't require further support, and is going to be able to cope on her own as an adult then there probably won't be a problem. You might need to convince the authorities that's the case, but people have emigrated with kids at the high functioning end of the spectrum. Gareth and Lisa (who don't seem to have posted recently) managed it. Might be worth dropping them a PM, as they're not frequent posters these days.

Are things going to change that much in practice? There seems to be a mountain of applications in the slush pile that are a long way down the priority queue. It's a case of making your position known, rather than putting them on hold before applying the dreaded cap and cease.

Degrees are more popular on the programming side. A lot of UK jobs will ask for a 2.1 from a top university in a related field, typically including maths, engineering, physics, or computing. Paxus and Peoplebank can sponsor contractors, and Jumar Solutions have shipped a few people out from the UK. I know that they look for programmers, but not so sure about the support side. It's probably worth sending all three a copy of your CV.

A PR visa doesn't require a job offer. Australia is one of the few countries that allow a migrant to apply on a prospective basis. The ACS handles skill assessments for IT professions. The relevant page is at: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=load&temID=skillassessment In particular, there's a handy "am I eligible" guide here. http://www.acs.org.au/public/ska/docs/Summary%20of%20Criteria%20-%20V5.pdf Given your background, your options would either be getting yourself assessed in lieu of education (Recognition of Prior Learning), which would need eight years work experience, or get a suitable professional qualification (some of the MS certifications count, see the link above), and five years experience. I'd suggest the latter, but it depends on how much it'd cost to do.

I've been chatting to a contractor in Sydney, and he reckons that things are slowing a little, but still significantly better than they are in Europe. If you're willing to move between cities (something a lot of Aussies aren't keen on) then you should be able to find a job. Sponsorship probably depends on what skills you've got. If you're degree qualified with an in-demand speciality then that's one thing, but if you're a junior support guy then that might be another. The other thing to consider is getting a PR visa. The ACS has pretty strict requirements for its skill assessments, and you might need another year or two to qualify. But that might be easier than trying to dig up a sponsor.

You need to look at the contents of your degree course to determine whether or not it counts as suitable for the ACS. An Electronics and Telecommunications course is likely to have a significant amount of programming and working with computer hardware (albeit at a low level). If you're lucky there might be enough to put you into Group A, but it's more likely you'll fall into Group B. The ACS assessment isn't that difficult in itself, the problem is that their documentation isn't that clear. I found it the hardest part of my (DIY) visa application.