chenzo

Thankyou to everyone that has had an input in this post and any other that I posted along this journey . The wealth of knowledge , advice and experience you all bring to this forum is invaluable to the many people that hope, plan and succeed in moving "Down Under" . I have learned alot and hopefully I will be able to pass it on aswell . [emoji6] [emoji106]

No worries best of luck in the future

Cheers [emoji6]

Thanks a million for all your help mate . I cannot thank you enough [emoji106] . I ended up turning the job down in the end [emoji53] Ive explained why in the thread " offered a job in Aus "

My decision was made last week , and with a heavy heart I had to turn this great opportunity down . I know some of you may disagree but it was not right for us a family . Ill explain a little .

The position on offer was a permanent night shift working wed, thur,fri rotating to a sun ,mon,tue every 2 months . (With an expectation to work every other sat night as and when needed, which right now was all the time ) As I explained earlier this came with 12 days hols +bh .... which if fell on a shift I was due to work I was expected to do in return for single rate + a day in lieu . All overtime was at single rate . My projected earnings inc ot, would have been ×3+ my current salary ( not exchange rate ) .

When compared with my current benefits I felt as a family we would not have as much quality time together, and as my child is 6 years of age I did not want to look back in 5 years time and realise I had missed a lot of his growing up by (a) working practically every weekend (b) having less holiday entitlement to enjoy as a family .

The sick pay worried me too . Btw I am never off sick ! but should I be, I currently have a safety blanket of 3+ months paid sick leave ,which as a family man is comforting . For example, a friend of mine had a kidney transplant and only received the bare minimum statutory sick pay, working for a different company.

My wife works full time and her employers allow her flexibility around my shifts which is great because we do not have to rely on child care .

This decision has not been taken lightly, and has been in the planning for 12 months with me even doing a one week reccie to Sydney ( not long enough [emoji22] )

We have a holiday home next to the beach and I plan on getting a jetski this year now. Although obviously colder and ill need a good wetsuit/drysuit maybe I can achieve a little bit of the lifestyle we are looking for .

I would just like to say a huge thankyou [emoji106] [emoji6] to everyone that has helped me with advice including the gentleman I spoke to on the phone when I was in Sydney ( @Joebloggs)

I certainly now have had a taste for Australia and who knows , if a position becomes available with more family friendly hours we will give it a go .

The offer you have in Australia is about as good as it's going to get - we shared the same dreams and came crashing down to earth with a bump - longer working hours, less leave (and no progression), a longer commute (obviously specific to us but higher house prices meant we had to live further out of the city centre)

 

The sick pay provision is shocking in Australia and unless you are a high risk taker, critical illness insurance is almost mandatory - depending on your super fund this may be an optional extra & can be taken out of your premiums.

 

I think it was shown that you will have a little bit more time off in Australia so in that case you are doing well but you are going to have to think long and hard and do some proper research (not just from opinions of forums!) as to whether Australia is a 'better lifestyle' and will actually give you 'more time'. Factor in whether you will be visiting the UK - that was a killer for us, 4 weeks leave and then spending half of it in the UK (very much our choice due to our circumstances).

 

It's not a bad lifestyle in Australia, probably no worse that the UK depending on personal preferences (we prefer the UK but others prefer Australia, I think a lot depends on how you like to spend leisure time) but outside of the public sector salaries don't generally make up for the cost of living and terms and conditions are nowhere near as good.

 

When you say the salary is similar, on what basis? The current exchange rate isn't relevant - the best guesstimate is your salary in Australia needs to be 2.2x your current salary to afford you the same standard of living. You do need to consider house prices where you are moving from/to as well - people moving to Sydney from London don't find it expensive on the other hand where I live a 4-bed detached house is under £200k so we found Perth excruciatingly expensive (& Sydney is more expensive again). Don't be fooled by 'median' house prices - what they call a city in Australia is more like a county in the UK, end to end the Perth Metropolitan area is almost 100km of urban sprawl.

 

In my opinion Australia doesn't give you a better lifestyle, you have to change your lifestyle for it to be better and you don't need to move to Australia to do that, for a lot of people it may be the impetus they need but you have to consider what you are giving up.

You have hit the nail on the head tbf , and you make alot of sense , thankyou for your input .

If the sponsorship is for a 457 visa at a salary that is not much more than you get in the UK and you have a young family, you should think very seriously about the whole deal. Living in Sydney is extremely expensive, you'll have to pay school fees for your children (5k per child in a government school or higher fees in a private school) and you will not be eligible for any Family Tax Benefits. If your partner wants to work, the cost of childcare will be very high. For most families in Australia, that cost is substantially reduced by the government Childcare Allowance (CCA) and Childcare Rebate (CCR) but 457 visa holders are not eligible for either.

 

IMO, if they're currently offering sponsorship for a 457, you should be holding out for immediate sponsorship for a 186 which is a permanent visa. On a 186, there will be no school fees for tuition in a government school (or lower private school fees), eligibility for Family Tax Benefits plus CCA and CCR. Downsides are that you will need skills assessment before you can apply for a Direct Entry 186, the VAC is higher and you will all need medicals.

Thankyou for your very informative reply , it has all the nuts and bolts I need to make my decision , what is the VAC though ? [emoji53]

If the sponsorship is for a 457 visa at a salary that is not much more than you get in the UK and you have a young family, you should think very seriously about the whole deal. Living in Sydney is extremely expensive, you'll have to pay school fees for your children (5k per child in a government school or higher fees in a private school) and you will not be eligible for any Family Tax Benefits. If your partner wants to work, the cost of childcare will be very high. For most families in Australia, that cost is substantially reduced by the government Childcare Allowance (CCA) and Childcare Rebate (CCR) but 457 visa holders are not eligible for either.

 

IMO, if they're currently offering sponsorship for a 457, you should be holding out for immediate sponsorship for a 186 which is a permanent visa. On a 186, there will be no school fees for tuition in a government school (or lower private school fees), eligibility for Family Tax Benefits plus CCA and CCR. Downsides are that you will need skills assessment before you can apply for a Direct Entry 186, the VAC is higher and you will all need medicals.

7 day cycle in Aus =52 cycles, 4 days off per cycle + your 12 days holidays = 220 days off per year

8 day cycle in UK = 45.62 cycles, 4 days off per cycle + 31 days holidays = 213.5 days off per year

So 6.5 days extra in Aus.

You could not have explained it better , thankyou ..

I think you will actually have about 10 more days a year off in Aus over the whole year.

Really ? Please explain [emoji53]

Holidays include 4 paid bank holidays

Thankyou wakeboard and scattley ..

I currently work a 4 on 4 off shift pattern 12 hours .. I get 31 days holiday + 3 months sick pay + life assurance ..

I am starting to think that my dreams of a better life style / more time with my young family in Aus are not going to be better than I have here .. #confused

???? How do you work that out?

 

what are the full details of the offer? In what industry, what role?

The job is a 3 on 4 off role on a 12 hr shift . which equals a 36 hr week .. so the paid holidays on offer are 4 weeks .. which in effect are 12 days , within the manufacturing industry , its a specialised role ..

Looks standard, except my sick pay was always 10 days

Based on 12 hour shifts so actually equals 12 days per year + bank holidays

What are they offering regarding holidays and sick pay and other benefits?

4 weeks holiday 8 days sick pay + super

Thankyou for taking the time to reply.

This position has been in the pipeline for over 12 months now, and they flew me over to Sydney at the end of last year to meet them but I have only recently received all the information I need to make a decision to uproot my family .

..thanks again :-)

Ive been offered a job in Sydney with sponsorship , but in comparison to my current role it does not compare well in terms of benefits .. ie paid holidays , sickness pay , life assurance and hours of work , salary slightly better though .

It has taken a lonnnng time to get to this stage .

What would you do ? [emoji20] [emoji33]

Brilliant post ! Thankyou for sharing in such detail , it is so helpful . Good luck x

I would have no income from outside Aus if I was to go .. unless renting my home out in the uk with no profit attatched ?

That could be good news .. cheers

are you classed as a resident on a 457 ? Ive used the income calculator and their is a box to tick for non resident ...not sure if I would be classed as one

Rent paid for 3 months , wife would need to find work around our 6 year olds schooling and my shift work .

I meant as a starting point really just to get you moving in the right direction .. I went for a reccie in November .. and looked around some areas on my own it was then I realised how much out of my depth I was .. if I had some assistance from someone with local knowledge at my side , it would have been easier

I probably would .. not sure how much though , if it was inexpensive it would be a no brainer as landing in Aus without any help at all is very daunting when you arrive and realise the sheer size of the place . Even when you know the area you are looking at via the Internet ... in person it is very different .

Very interesting thread . I have been offered a job with sponsorship in Sydney , I am at the final stage of negotiations regarding the contract of employment , I need to know exactly how it compares with my current employment before we can make a decision . I earn £38k here and at the moment $85 k is on the table ... im not too sure if that will be enough for us to survive on in Sydney ... decisions ..decisions .

Good to hear, have a look on http://www.realestate.com.au/rent an have a look at the houses in your price range. Now you sort of know the rough geography of the area you can do more research.

Joebloggs , the chat I had with you on the thurs was invaluable, cheers [emoji6] I literally bumped into a conveyancer in kellyville ridge, who was watering their lawn ,when I got out of the car for a walk around by pure luck , lol .. she reccomended the area highly and said it was booming and to use the site you have linked above . She mentiond something about "community schemes" which sounds like a good idea for a new family arriving in Aus , as I guess you would get to know your neighbours quicker and possibly settle In to Aus life faster ? .. it seems a bit hit and miss trying to find them though [emoji3]

Just got back to the UK !! before I left I managed to have a look around Kellyville , the Ponds and Rousehill shopping town.. very impressed with those areas , time ran out to look around everywhere but at least I now have a much better idea than I had by just looking at them from the Internet .. .. thankyou @Joebloggs and @ cathy99 for pointing me in the right direction :-)