Rhian1

Hey all, very early days in planning but wondering how far in advance we need to put names down for nursery, childminders. Likely moving to West Sussex area.

Lovely post. When did u make the decision to move back?

Lovely post. When did u make the decision to move back?

Work/life - better for us both. physical health - better mental health - better family life - same. Miss my mum and sister but have been lucky with family visits so far. Husband and I are closer. social life - better. Do some much more here.

So much hating here! You should definitely go back go the uk - life is way to short for all the hate! Just saying, il leave you to it!

The people the landscape melbourne mornington peninsula the wineries - so easily accessible the work life balance how it's given us so many opportunities in both our careers the food the markets the beaches how there is always something happening in Melbourne the weather the pay how much my family love it when they come here the wildlife could go on... I'm a fan!

I would recommend speaking to the employers and hospitals about this predicament before applying. Employers are aware of this aprha problem and do employ British ots. I got a job before this came in but still had to do 6 months supervised practice and they were absolutely fine with it. Where r u based?

Absolutely. My husband and I moved back to the UK in October 2012 after 2 years back in Australia. We loved our time in Aus but felt we should go back for family reasons and to be closer to family in general. We packed up everything, shipped it or sold it, booked flights, got jobs in the UK over the phone and skype and flew back. To be honest, I didn't want to leave and didn't feel ready as I was loving life in Melbourne so that obviously didn't help the settling back 'home'. Initially things were good, good to see everyone again and spend time with family but it was soooo hard to settled back in. We both hated our jobs for different reasons and didn't like where we lived. Xmas was good, great to have a cold Xmas but after that things went down hill fast including our moods. We tried to get jobs in London but that didn't work out so after long discussions we decided our lives were in Australia. Huge decision and hard to tell everyone and accept their opinions that after 6 months we wanted to go back to Australia. So, off we went again, shipped, packed, said our goodbyes, got jobs again (husband got same job back, I got locum work - now have permanent again ) booked our flights and off we went back. Best decision EVER. it was expensive to do and stuck a lot on credit cards but now all paid off. We love our life back in Aus, so happy we gave the UK a shot as not always going to think 'what if?'. We love the Aussie lifestyle and the quality of life it gives us. Good luck!! Life is short x

We did it, best thing we ever did!

New grads are just finishing their studies so they'll be popular for that reason too.

Oh it might be different where you are? I'm in Melbourne so may be different.

It's quite different applying for jobs here than in the uk. Resumes need to be about 3 or 4 pages and more detail. In the cover letter make sure you write a paragraph on each of the person specifications and why you meet them. Go for grade one and two positions

You are unlikely to hear from any employers when not in the country. Ive been working as an ot here for nearly 3 years now, my advice would be to contact the employer when a job crops up and if you can get a letter or something to confirm that you WILL get aprha when u get a job. Good luck!

Hi Gemma, yes I'm an ot but came before the aprha stuff came through by still had to do the audit. My employer was good about it and they just left it to me really! employers are aware of this restrictions that aprha put on new migrants as we have had a few at my hospital starting. It's a bit ridiculous but I would just contact the emoloyers, go meet them, go into the hospital and speak to them about it. Good luck x

Fair enough! Good luck with it all! Im a huge fan of Melbourne so am always going to stick up for it! I also went back to the uk last year for 6 months so have experience life in both countries very recently