Bridgeman

Thanks, unfortunately our limited private health insurance doesn't cover this.

Does anyone know where I can find/or have information re waiting times to see a gynaecological specialist at Armadale hospital? OH has been told 3 months to a year, but would like something more specific. I have found waiting times for surgery which state 33 days, but I am assuming this is the waiting time after you have seen the specialist. Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks Andrew for your reply. That's what I suspected. I have already transferred one large pension to an Oz super but on advice decided it was better to leave this one in the UK. Just trying to decide whether to take the lump sum or not.

I am about to activate one of my UK pensions which has the option of a lump sum with a reduced pension. I know I am liable to pay tax on the monthly pension payments in Australia, but does anyone know if I would be liable to pay tax on the lump sum which would be paid into my UK bank account?

Thanks everyone for your help.

Thanks, I suppose it's a question of ringing round. I did try one on Armadale who were supposed to bulk bill, but they only do it for pension card holders.

I understand that there are a number of pensioners who are now finding it very difficult to live in Australia and other countries due to the problem of their UK pensions being frozen. As a result many are returning to the UK (we are even considering this ourselves in the future if the exchange rate doesn't improve )and this is costing the government much more in the long run in social security payments and healthcare costs so maybe they will take another look at this.

Hmm, doesn't explain why another colleague doing a similar job and who only returned in February from a year's sabbatical to go travelling got the full percentage. If it's performance related it should be judged on the performance she has given while she has been there. The law says that she should not be disadvantaged by being on maternity leave and it seems to me that this is what's happened. Surely 'performance' relates to how you are performing at the moment - it's not based on 'productivity' over a full year. It's also not very motivating. Why should she put in extra effort, which she has been doing, even taking work home to meet tight deadlines, if she is not going to be rewarded for it?

Does anyone know of a medical centre/doctors who bulk bill near Piara Waters/Canning Vale? I printed off a list from Doctors 4 U but all the ones I contacted who supposedly bulk billed only do it if you have a pension card. Although over 60 we only have WA senior cards which don't seem to count and don't qualify for a pension card yet for another 10 years. I am not working at the moment and find it difficult to keep paying doctors fees, even with the Medicare rebate.

I am posting this for a colleague. We have just been given our yearly salary increases (%). The increases are supposedly performance related and at the manager's discretion. A woman colleague has just been told by her manager that she will only receive half the percentage increase that everyone else received as she has only worked half the year since she did not return from maternity leave till January. I know they do things differently here and in the UK this would be viewed as discrimination but surely this can't be right??

Can I just ask if you sent any attachments with your paper return? I know you don't have to when you do it online, but there seems to be a section on the paper one to list attachments, but I can't see anywhere that tells you what you need to attach.

I am aware that on my Oz tax return I can claim 8% 'undeducted purchase price' reduction against my UK state pension. Does anyone know if this also applies to a UK teachers pension as well - as it's a sort of government pension? Presumably I would need to know the exact percentage of my personal contributions to the scheme?

Just to say we managed to pick up paper forms at the post office. Thanks.

Thanks, that sounds good.

Many thanks, that's reassuring. I suppose there is the usual long wait here as in the UK?

Can anyone clear up some confusion please? OH will probably need to be referred by a GP to a specialist for a medical problem. Our limited health insurance doesn't cover this. I understand that people normally pay to be referred to a specialist, but I have been told she should ask to be referred via the 'public system'. Does this mean that seeing the specialist is free or will there still be a cost involved? Also if she needs an op, as we don't have private hospital insurance, will this be free?

Many thanks.

We need to complete our first Oz tax return. I know you can do this online, but OH isn't too confident about this so wanted to get a paper one. I have been on the ATO website but can only find the 'Short Tax Return'. I am sure I read something about picking up a pack from newsagents, but haven't seen anything,

Thanks for the tip. I will check it out.

Yes, I would be quite willing, but not sure I want to fork out the up to $2000 to do it! Especially as I am now reduced to trying to live off my various small pensions at the moment.

With regard to qualifications I actually have a degree, a postgraduate certificate in Management, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and D32, D33 and D34 qualifications (Training/Teaching Assessor, Internal Verifier and External Veirfier qualifications), 10 years sales experience in a blue chip chemical company, five years teaching experience in a college of FE, plus several years experience in a government funded body with the initiative to develop and standardise quality courses for industry. How many more qualifications do you want??

I moved to Perth a year ago from the UK to join my son and his family, hoping to be able to retire. Finding it expensive here I decided to look for work. Although I am 62 I feel I still have a lot to offer. After loads of applications I found a job with a training agency, although had to take a step down from the job I did in the UK as manager of a government agency invoved with upskilling of people in the manufacturing industry through Business Improvement techniques. Unfortunately this hasn't worked out mainly as most of the other staff were either related to each other, or living together and I found it very difficult to get accepted; the job turned out not to be what I expected. It seems however, that there is a lot of age discrimination in Australia and especially in Perth. Also I think there is a lot of 'who you know' in order to get your foot in the door. Also, despite being very qualified I am hampered by not having the required Cert IV in training. I really can't afford to fork out for this myself. I know they want young people but having recently seen that the retirement age is gradually to be raised to 70 how do they think people are going to be able to work to that age if they don't even get a look in at the recruitment stage? And where are the jobs going to come from? I m not saying that everyone of 70 is still able to hold down a job but feel some of us still have a lot to offer , including a very good work ethic and experience compared to what I have seen. I am not looking for a high flying position and am prepared to consider a variety of options, but even that seems too much to expect. My wife and I are able to offer a lot of support to my son and his family, including childcare so my daughter in law can go back to work, so see this as a way of contributing to Oz and this way they are less likely to leave Oz. We have already paid out a considerable sum towards our health care here as part of our parent visa conditions. However, it may be that we will need to return to the UK if I am unable to find any suitable work and so the family will lose this support.

Yeak, looked in Target but couldn't find aniything. Unfortunately I'm a guy so Millers is out. Guess I need to fork out a bit more money.

Does anyone know where in Perth sell inexpensive jeans of different lengths (like M and S in the UK)? I used to buy the short leg but can't seem to find the equivalent here. I don't want to get the shortened as you lose the stitching. Just wondering what all the small Chinese people do. I know there are specialist jeans shops but want something inexpensive.

Thanks for the info.