grahamffc

I feel I have done a fairly good job of travelling and establishing a career. I didn't want to travel straight after Uni and be 25 before gaining any work experience. I worked for three years while feet got itchier then got made redundant when the company was taken over and travelled then. I thoroughly recommend it and genuinely believe it broadens the mind. It actually makes me grateful when I've subsequently had a routine I'm content with, steady income, and job I feel engaged with. I could undoubtably have achieved more career wise without that six month break and without moving to Australia but still feel I'm doing alright.

The chicken parma doesn't rank too highly either.

I would be fair confident in assuming that teaching is an over subscribed profession here. I have only been in Australia a year and have met plenty.

Australia is a big place so it depends where you are etc. I have been in Melbourne for a year but have found the weather not that different to London, 3 months of summer, 9 months of rain and freezing nights. The only difference is that even those winter days will get up to 10-15C around midday, and half a dozen summer days push 40C. I expect Tasmania is comparable to Scotland.

Once someone becomes an Australian citizen (ie after 4 years on PR) are they entitled to an Australian State Pension, even if they were to leave the country?

Good on you for following your heart. I have been in Melbourne for a year now, right up until Christmas I was convinced I wanted to go home but that I'd stay for the summer. It was so frustrating seeing that it was warmer in London right up to the end of November. Now I have to admit the summertime here has been great, so I really am envious of how clear your mind is.

I moved from London to Melbourne just over a year ago on my own. Right up until Christmas I was sure I wanted to move back as the winter here went in until about November. However the last couple of months have been great here so I've stopped trying to put timeframes on it and just seeing how it goes. If it gets to June and I'm over it then I'll go, but I'm no longer trying to predict that. In terms if coming in your own, it probably is better to come with a partner who wants the same things etc as it is difficult to meet people and when you do it's unlikely you'll have the same rapport as you did people you've known all your life. That said it is also nice to have the freedom and do what you want to do without having to consider a partner or children etc

Does anyone have any experience of obtaining a return resident visa? I have only been in Australia for a year on a permanent resident visa but am considering going back to London in June because I want to finish off my accounting qualifications which is UK based and need to be passed by 2017 or else the ten exams I have already worked so hard to pass will be cancelled. It is possible to do distance learning and sit the exams here but I fear that would be near impossible to achieve...pass rates for the finals are less than 30% as it is, and that's mostly people learning in classrooms etc. I'm aware that if I was to stay two years it would be easier to obtain a return resident visa but does anyone have any idea how ruthless the immigration are or aren't in accepting "compelling reasons for leaving Australia?" Please refrain from pointing out the bleeding obvious that I should have waited until I had completed my qualifications before leaving the uk. My partner was Australian and desperate to come back but we have since separated. I do like it here, am not certain that I would definitely want to move back as on balance I had a better quality of life in London but it'd be nice to have the option.

Trust me, I'm sick of hearing about it but it's near impossible to avoid, it's still mentioned on TV, in newspapers, by people at work...all completely out of context too. For example I was reading about the tennis in yesterday's paper and the opening paragraph was about how hot it was 7 days earlier. Bush fires aside, which of course are terrible, I fail to see the need for such hysteria, we should be able to cope with 4 days of 40+ weather. And if people really do find it difficult spare a thought people in the world who live under such conditions every day, or asylum seekers locked up in Nauru with no air con, no fridge full of cold drinks, or freezer full of ice cream etc.

Everywhere has idiots, but given the choice of an encounter with a group of English chavs or a group of Australian Bogans, I would pick the former every time.

Every case will be unique, I personally work longer hours and am paid less than I was at home which is pretty annoying but I love things like being able to play cricket every Saturday (there is far more space pitches in Melbourne than in London). I don't have any children but can definitely appreciate that it would be a great place for kids. I also think Australia is a much better place to grow old, the seems to be far more older (50+) people in the workforce, pensions are more than double the uk, and everyone is forced to plan for their future with a superannuation. A timebomb the UK is really burying it's head in the sand about at the moment. Also for those complaining about the NHS, anything is run better if run privately but that's the great thing about the NHS. Having been to doctors and A&E in Australia, I really took for granted how great it is not to be asking "how much is that going to cost?" or "does my insurance cover that?" after everything a medical professional says, as opposed to just concentrating on my health.

Yes it was hot, for four days but does everyone really need to go on about it now that more than a week has passed? I'm in no way singling anyone out, I have read mulitple references to it in the news all this week. Now it is back to normal, highs of 19C here in Melbourne today, strange how no one seems to mention that 90% of days that are on a par with the UK weather wise.

I've only been living in Melbourne for a year but will give you my observations. The weather pattern is different to the UK. The temperature will vary a lot through the day, and without fail it will drop about 10-15C by 8pm from whatever it was in the day time. In summer you'll have warm 25C days and be out in a shirt and shorts, but if you are still out into the evening you will find yourself cold. You get used to it though and just take a jumper/jacket out with you no matter how hot it might be in the day time, but it does rather inhibit things like BBQ's in the evening. Similarly in winter, most days will be a pleasant 10-15C but through the night will drop down to 0-5C so finding a place with heating is essential. One thing that has annoyed me is that I used to cycle to work in London from April to October, I didn't fancy the added risk of cycling in the dark and wouldn't cycle if it was less than 10C at 8am, sure call me a fair weather cyclist ;-) Anyway applying the same rule here meant I didn't start cycling until December. The weather has been great (40C) this week but everyone hates it. I get the strangest looks at work when I say it's been great weather. I find that a bit odd, we should be embracing the first hot weather for ten months! There are plenty of great things about the place though, I personally love all the sport both watching and playing. But I'll keep it to the weather as per your question.

I'm doing the same myself, although have only been in Australia for 18 months. I am not from London originally but lived there got 8 years before moving to Melbourne. I noticed a massive change in that time so am sure that after 20 years you'll be positively blown away by the range of things to do, how easy it is to get around, the cleanliness etc. It is also far cheaper and easier to get away to everywhere in Europe for a short break than I expect it was 20 years ago.

Scott I'd be up for this but am in Sydney for the weekend watching the cricket. I'll send you a PM and maybe be can meet up for a beer another time. Try the VIC forum above too but no harm in posting on here as some people (myself included) probably wouldn't see it on there.

I'm sure you are aware, but the best place to get am idea if share places is gumtree. A small one bed place certainly seems more affordable in Melbourne than London and isn't much more expensive than sharing. Sharing in somewhere like st kilda will be around $250 per week and you can find one bed places for $300-$350. As Rupert says there is no better way, it completely depends on your preference. Personally I would prefer sharing but it's a bit if a gamble. With the right people its much more fun than being on your own, but with the wrong people can be a living nightmare.

Yeah from University of Kent graduated in 2004 and have worked in various accounting roles ever since which is also crucial for the skills assessment.

Hi Conputerian, I had a degree in Accounting and Finance before I started ACCA, it was on the basis of this that I got my visa. Because I had this I never really looked into the Oxford Brookes option offered by ACCA. However if it is a Bachelor of Arts with honours and covers all the criteria required by the CPA/ICAA for a skills assessment then I see no reason why it wouldn't be accepted.

An easy mistake to make, ACCA is primarily the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art here in Melbourne!

Very helpful if you want to retrain as an architect first, not so otherwise

They probably want to check that you have covered the knowledge areas as outlined on the following link... http://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/The-Institute/Migration-assessment/Recognised-accounting-qualifications I had to submit a fair bit as I have not yet finished my ACCA (the two damn impossible optional exams remaining!) so was applying on the basis of my Accountancy degree. It's totally ridiculous that you should have submit anything more than your membership certificate as ACCA is a vastly superior qualification to either ICAA or CPA, both of which have a mammoth total of five exams and pass rates not below 70%. You should be able to obtain a transcript of your results from ACCA - this is available on the ACCA website but would probably be better if it could be obtained on some sort of ACCA headed paper or transcript. A record of experience is required not to prove you skills, but your years of relevant experience. From memory, I think it has to be five years, including at least 12 months of the last two years. I went through an agent (Go Matilda) as like you I had no idea what to send and what not to send. It was a very time consuming process to put everything together, especially as I had to contact a couple of old bosses to write references on their employers headed paper, and one of my lecturers from university to state that my degree covered all of the knowledge areas on the above link. I also provided four payslips for each of the last eight years as evidence that I had indeed worked where I had claimed to work. That might not have been essential but the agent said that enclosing 32 payslips and P60's would do no harm. If you want to PM me your email I think I have a copy of everything that I sent. I went through CPA but am sure they are much the same.