Loopylou13

Have a look on Groupon and scoupon they often have holiday deals with flights included and are pretty reasonable :-) especially to Fiji, Bali and Thailand :-)

Thanks guys I shall come prepared [emoji38]

Ok so I am after a little help, we fly out to the Gold Coast on Sunday from Melbourne for a few days, can anyone who lives there tell me what I need to pack ? Obviously everywhere seems to have been hit with the weather the last few days, so I am struggling a bit on of its shorts and flip flops or jeans and boots .... Help please [emoji5][emoji5]

Hi Murta I am in a rural location about 3 and half hours out of Melbourne I will send you a message tomorrow to full answer your questions however I think a lot of the people that left arrived with unrealistic expectations (I would say 90% of the people that left returned back to the UK) People (including me) had been told by the agency's recruiting that in Oz they have caseloads of 10, work a 9 day fortnight and have team meetings on the beach (none of which is true) But given they were bringing 38 of us out it didn't take a rocket scientist to realise we were coming out to an area with huge issues. One person advised they were leaving as they felt unsupported as they hadn't been told by the agency what news paper they should read!!!! (Some of the reasons were quite bizarre and they actually offered us heaps of support As for the CP system there are about to be some radical changes next week... That's a bit exciting but God knows how they will go (we are still far behind the UK ) but things are changing for the better [emoji4]

Hi Murta I came out over 6 years ago with a really good relocation package, however there were 38 social workers that came out at the same time and there is only about 8 left (though on a plus note everyone of us is now in a management position so our skills were recognised[emoji4]). Some people lasted only a few days others a few months. There was a clause that if you left early you had to pay back a % of the package ... not one person did! They also got fleet cars through their salary and on leaving just parked them in the car park at the airport with no one having any idea where they were or keys. They borrowed car seats and furniture from other staff and just left them In their rentals when leaving in the middle of the night. It was unbelievable really! Hence they pulled relocation packages in the Melbourne area and I am pretty sure they are now only covering the cost of the visa. I have had a few friends move out since with no assistance and its such a shame that some people ruined it as many of the ones that left actually had no intentions of staying from the beginning. Hopefully you find somewhere with a package as it really does make a big difference when you first arrive. Good luck with your search Lou

If you are looking to move to Victoria try mcarthurs as they do all of our recruitment [emoji1] jobs are advertised on the DHS careers website..... good luck. I am not sure if the process for other states

McArthur are the agency that recruit to the department of health and human services so it may be worth contacting them and asking them to have a look over your qualifications [emoji4] good luck

I have lived in Bairnsdale for just over 5 years we came out in a 457 visa and are currently in the process of applying for our citizenship. Sale is bigger than Bairnsdale and has heaps more shops (though given I have been here years I am easily pleased :-) ) Gippsland is absolutely beautiful x close to beaches, lakes, rivers and heaps of places to explore. Within 3 hours you can be in Melbourne and the same distance in the other direction takes you to the snow We have done so many things here that we would have never got to do in the U.K. and for us out quality of life has really improved as we actually get to spend time together as a family The locals are great and we have been really lucky to meet friends that I now consider to be family There are also heaps of people that have emigrated from the U.K. Within both sale and Bairnsdale as lots of us have come over on visas for work Just like anywhere there are nice and not so nice areas. Make sure you take advice when you are looking for housing Feel free to send me a message if you need any more info [emoji1] happy to help wherever I can Ps which school will you be working at?? The schools are different to the uk but there are some great staff and schools within the local schools Lou

Is that sale in Gippsland ?? I live in Bairnsdale which is about 40 mins away from sale and work across sale and Wellington. I love the area as there is heaps to so especially with kids If I can help in anyway give me a yell. Lou

Congrats [emoji4]

Thank u for the replies :-)

My step father has just passed away and once everything is sorted the plan is for my mum to come over to stay with us in oz for a couple of months. Looking on the immigration website it looks like as a visitor she can stay for 3 months. Does anyone know of that's 3 months a trip or 3 months a years as I would also like her to come over again and visit for next Christmas too thanks lou

Hi I am a team manager on a joint child protection police family violence team and I love it. Things are very different here from the UK but are certainly improving, I would often find myself trying to compare the two countries when I first got her but have found it better to accept things are very different . I am based in a regional area of Vic so can't give you info about the metro areas, but feel free to message me if I can help in any way Lou

Thanks [emoji1]

I did my acro police check when I applied for my pr but no longer have a copy as it went in with my pr application. Are they likely to need to see this again when I do my citizenship test ??? Just wondering if it's worth running another check now before I complete my application thanks Lou