Ken

Really? Most people I know don't have it - even some who I recommend to get it because they're having to pay the surcharge.

Interesting to note that the 5c coin is still the same size and weight as the old 6d (which was the same size and weight as the British 6d coin - the one us youngsters used to call a "two and a half pence piece") - and they haven't changed the size and weight of the 10c and 20c coinage either unlike the deflation in size of the equivalent 5p and 10p coins in the UK.

That advice may not be correct. A citizen through descent (which is what the OP said he is) cannot (normally) pass on their citizenship to a child born outside Australia. It may sound harsh but if you think about it if people were allowed to pass on their citizenship by descent indefinitely then you'd end up with a situation where there were millions of people around the world claiming to be Australian on the basis of a Great Great Great Great Grandparent despite none of their ancestors even visiting Australia for generations. PS We needed a 101 visa for my son as he was born after our PR visa was granted and before we had moved to Australia and yes it was all done using UK address and work as that was all we had at the time.

I don't think they give you an option to close the account. I still use mine (or did before Covid) to apply for Visas for relatives visiting Australia.

I'm not so sure. Regional accents developed in a period before mass communication and when most people spent their lives in the same locality. You almost only heard the voices of the people that lived locally. With modern communications and far more travel it's going to be much harder for new local accents to develop. US children are even growing up imitating the accents of Peppa Pig and Bluey so I'm forecasting the exact opposite. Regional accents are bound to disappear eventually.

Well your personal effects, furniture and household goods appear to be OK - but not your clothing and footwear (unless it's fur apparel). But as I said I didn't come on a temporary visa so I'm hoping someone who did can comment from personal experience.

I wasn't on a temporary visa so don't have personal experience, but the rules on Unaccompanied Personal Effects appear to allow anyone (including tourists) to import "Fur apparel, personal effects, furniture and household goods not covered above" provided they've owned and used them for at least 12 months before departing for Australia. The items that are "covered above" and which only Permanent Residents can bring in as UPE are: "Personal clothing and footwear, hygiene articles and personal grooming products. Not fur apparel or perfume concentrates" regardless of how long they've owned them; "Non-motorised caravans and trailers, and boats designed for use in sheltered waters for sport or recreation which conform to published specifications (other conditions apply)" provided they've owned and used them for at least 12 months before departing for Australia; "Aircraft of all types, not having more than one propulsion motor (other conditions apply)" provided they've owned and used them for at least 6 months before departing for Australia; and "Machinery, plant and equipment (other conditions apply)" provided they've owned and used them for at least 12 months before departing for Australia. There's also a list that are never eligible for the UPE duty exemptions: Motor Vehicles; Motor Vehicle Parts; Commercial Goods; Bequeathed Goods; Items purchased over the Internet after arriving in Australia; Items belonging to another person who is not entitled to the concession; tobacco and tobacco products; and alcoholic beverages. See Unaccompanied Personal Effects (abf.gov.au) for the full details. The only thing that seems weird is that this suggests that temporary resident would have to pay duties on clothing and footwear in their shipments yet I've never heard of anyone coming on a temporary visa complaining about having to do that.

Permanent Visa's don't expire. If you were on a temporary visa (which do expire and may therefore need a bridging visa) you would not be able to apply for citizenship. Bridging visas are temporary and not permanent visas. You do however only get 5 years on the travel portion of a permanent visa and you can't enter Australia after the end of those five years - but you can stay permanently. If you want to travel overseas after the 5 year travel portion of your permanent visa has expired you need to obtain a Resident Return Visa which allows you to travel for another 5 years. Obtaining a Resident Return Visa isn't automatic you need to apply for it - but if you aren't going to travel overseas before your citizenship comes through there is no point in applying.

How on earth did you get to Australia with a fear of flying? Before direct flights you risked flying half way and then being unable to board the flight for the next leg!

No. Queensland was one of the last states to nominally be open to vaxed international visitors. Victoria was one of the first (can't remember if it was definitely the first). Now the only state still closed under state law is Western Australia. However the fact a state is nominally open to vaxed international visitors is currently meaningless because the federal government controls the international border and it's closed to vaxed international visitors until 21 February. The fact that the states (other than WA) already have the legislation in place to permit vaxed international travellers just means that the federal opening of the border will actually open the border everywhere except WA.

Are you asking about UK CGT or Australian CGT? For UK CGT you would be exempt for any period when you lived there and it was your only or main residence and for the last 9 months of ownership. There are other possible exemptions too so you should go over all of them in your particular circumstances with an accountant. For Australian CGT you can claim the main residence exemption for up to 6 years after you ceased to live there - but can only claim for one residence at a time (other than a possible 6 month overlap for buying and selling). This is however very useful if you are renting in Australia and not buying until you've sold your UK property. Again there are a lot of other possible exemptions (some of which have already been mentioned in previous posts by me and others) so you should go over all of them in your particular circumstances and visa status with an accountant.

Pre-Covid we moved house from one part of Melbourne to another. My wife who'd been waiting 10 months for a ceremony got an invite from the new council about 2 week later. It's not just a matter of which capital city it's about the individual council within that city. They all operate separately and have their own priorities.

In the part of England I'm from "caff" was a pronunciation used for a greasy spoon type cafe - but not for a tea and scones type cafe. "Homidge" was also used as putting on a French accent to say "O'marge" would have been considered pretentious - although of course theatrical lovelies would say it that way because of course they are pretentious.

Hi ramot. that advice was written based on the OP having become Australian back in 1992 so I didn't bother to mention the temporary residency rules, but yes that makes a big difference. As a temporary resident you are exempt from Australian tax on your foreign income and assets so you would only pay Australian CGT on the gain made after you gained PR (assuming you were already an Australian resident at the time).

No, the April 2015 date is for UK CGT (which you have to pay even though you are in Australia because the property is in the UK and so is UK taxable property). Prior to 2015 residential property was free from UK CGT regardless of where you lived. The good news is that you can claim any tax paid in the UK as an Australian tax offset. Australian CGT however has applied to UK residential property (owned by Australian residents and other than a property claimed as their main residence) since 1985 (when CGT was introduced), so you will have to pay for the gain since 2000 when you bought it. You will however be entitled to the 50% discount because you've owned it for more than 12 months. It doesn't sound like you ever lived there so you won't be entitled to a main residence discount for any part of your ownership. Don't forget that any costs of buying or selling (including solicitors and estate agents) or property improvements or other expenses (other than those you've already claimed against rental income) will reduce your gain. Don't forget also that it's only 50% each and (as I've already mentioned) your UK tax paid is a tax offset.

Bournemouth vs Weston Super Mare? I believe the Australian phrase is Hobson's choice. If you want sun and surf the closest to Frome is found in the Algarve or the Canaries.

But where is the syllable break? Is it yo-ghurt (typically Australian and American) or yogh-urt (typically British) or even yog-hurt (typically confused)? There is also an alternative spelling yogurt which is often seen in Australia.

What do you mean how is it pronounced? Southerners use a soft "a" for Pasta the same as Northerners despite the fact that Southerners use a hard "a" for bath, last and castle. I've also never noticed a difference between how Northerners and Southerners pronounce data - it's never dar-ta!

Spotted you were a northerner when I saw how you pronounce bath and last. Pasta on the other hand is in my experience never pronounced Par-sta in any part of the UK.

No, under the Australian equivalent of the UK state pension you can pay in for 30 years and still might not pass the residence test, the income test and/or the assets test and so not receive a cent. You are getting confused with the Australian Superannuation system which is the Australian equivalent of the UK's personal pension plans.

If you are resident in the UK for tax purposes at the time of your death then you are subject to UK inheritance tax on your worldwide assets regardless of the country the will is processed in or was written in. If you are resident overseas then you only pay it on your UK assets (again regardless of the country the will is processed in or was written in). The reason for wanting a UK will is that an Australian will might not meet all the legal requirements in the UK and so your wishes might not be followed. It doesn't change the tax liability. If you have assets in both countries it is sensible to have separate wills to make sure your wishes are followed. Whichever is the latter says "this will supersedes all previous wills except for my Australian will with respect to my Australian assets" or some such rather than the standard "this will supersedes all previous wills".

You may be out of date there. I recently moved (within Australia not overseas admittedly) and only needed to update my address once on myGov and it update all connected government departments including medicare. As such I would have thought the system must have been improved so they all have the same address standard now.

They seem to have provided all the information needed for how to sell your shares - use a stockbroker, bank, building society or 'share shop'. They're even suggested how to go about finding a stockbroker. So what exactly are you asking? Are you claiming that there is no stockbroker, bank, building society or 'share shop' that is capable of verifying your ID without you flying to the UK? That seems unlikely when some of them operate exclusively via the internet.

Family income is less than $180,000 so it's not essential.

Laws on sale of Alcohol vary by state. In Queensland Supermarkets can't sell alcohol. In Victoria and NSW they can - but most choose not to. The exception is Aldi. You can buy alcohol in Aldi in Victoria and NSW (it's in a separate area of the store not in a regular aisle like in the UK but you still pay at the same till) but they can't sell it at all in Queensland. Even in Victoria Coles and Woolworths don't sell Alcohol but they normally have a Liquorland or BWS next door which is generally the same as in Queensland. The layout of some of the older Coles stores in Victoria suggests that at one time you could collect alcohol from Liquorland during your shop - but access to Liquorland from the Supermarket has since been closed off and even when I first moved to Victoria in 2012 while you could enter Liquorland from the Supermarket you still had to pay in Liquorland and not at the Supermarket till.