digitalis

It doesn't sound like a good idea to come back here aside from the fact you don't want to. Get a job, ANY job, get off centrelink and start putting the research down for selling your house and move. In all honesty, it's highly unlikely you will be caught by the system doing what you're doing at present BUT If you rely on the sale of your house to get off CL, then you are talking months. And every additional month is additional amount claimed technically fraudulently. I promise you I'm not preaching, I've been in a similar situation!

Ouch I sympathise. First things first, take a deep breath........Things are never as bad as they seem! I have been in a similar(ish) scenario and the biggest takeaway lesson I learnt was that it is very very easy for anxiety and stress to take over and for you to start admitting and confessing to things which at this moment in time may not be in your best interest to confess or admit to. Take that however way you want to. Forget about the tax implications of the UK rental for the time being, that's not a biggie at present. Your biggest issue is your immediate lack of funds THEN the Centrelink and lack of declaration. The Aussie governement isn't going to take away the value of your house. How long have you been claiming it for? Are there literally NO JOBS withing the vicinity for you? Anything? Desperate times call for desperate measures I'm afraid and if you get off it now, and start doing something as long as financially feasible you can sell your UK house and this will all be a distant memory.

Not gunna lie, if you declare it i'd say there is a fair chance you won't get one. Especially given how it relates to prescription drugs......

See Raul's post.

They're nowhere near as bad.

Route wise, the usual thing seems to be to base yourself on the East coast, travelling between Sydney, Melb and Brisbane then heading North to Darwin from May when their Autumn kicks in before going to Perth around September for a month or two and repeat. Not that many go to SA, there ain't a lot of work there and from what I hear Perth is the same now the mining boom has gone. Personally, I went in April and went straight to the NT. Darwin was quiet-ish when I first got there, but got busier by the week until September when they all went East/West again. Backpackers are like migratory birds, they follow work and the sun! Some backpackers spend their entire time on the East coast and make the odd sightseeing trip to Ayers rock etc. Ditto on the packing cubes. If you're going soon you'll be hitting their spring, by November work aside, you probably won't need anything other than t-shirts and shorts and the odd light hoodie. Buy anything "formal" for jobs out there apart from a good pair of jeans and max two pairs of casual shoes. You'll practically live in flip-flops in your downtime. Pick up a pair of cheap sunglasses from TK Maxx before you go. Don't take anything you will mind losing aside from essential documents. While theft is not THAT common, it does happen, and more to the point, clothes get picked up a lot in drying rooms etc on accident or not. My point is, err on the light side. You can buy anything out there you need and clothes weren't that expensive from what I can recall as they come from China. Long term accom, annoying generic answer incoming but it all depends. By and large, shared "normal" housing is going to be best especially if you're working but you may miss out on some of the social benefits that the hostels provide. You can find great small hostels with a relatively select group of lodgers who work and have the best of both worlds. At 31, you'll be a lot more self-sufficient than a lot of the other backpackers, which will be a plus in terms of adapting when you get there but can be a drawback when you're surrounded by backpackers in their early twenties who party till 2 am every day and sleep in the same dorm as you. Cost wise, it can vary widely. I was paying roughly the same to live in both but hostels are usually much more central so negate travel costs if you live further out in private accom. Plane tickets, book your own. If you can't get a second year visa, then use your whole year in Aus and have short de-campments to Asia if you feel the need. Trust me you'll miss it when you're home!

I found this when I moved into a shared residence with an Aussie having previously been in a backpackers hostels. They're cramped and loud but they do provide a great social environment. When I moved into the house, a few miles away from the hostel I was at previously, I quickly became a bit isolated. You're kind of in limbo, as a backpacker you're at the bottom of the ladder in the ease of assimilation hierachy with Aussies i.e anything other than exchanging pleasantries, and yet to remedy this you either have to work a lot or have to move to a backpackers with it's associated downsides....it's a tough one. If I was you I'd stay put in your apartment, gain causal work with other backpackers and consider socialising in backpacker bars and areas. Trust me, you aren't about to make a whole bunch of new Aussie mates, it doesn't work like that.

The more money you throw at it, the more it will absorb. The population (due to immigration) is too high to support the NHS as we think we know it when combined with every other old person living to late 80's. Every single Winter it's "the NHS cannot continue for much longer". Then Spring breaks and it's all A-Ok again.

Yeah makes sense as now the regionals have upped to 65, which I literally scrape with a Superior English. I really need to get a move on with this as it looks like the bar is being set higher continually.

How does that work out?

Why the rush to get it? By and large, a lot of the hostels that promise regional work are toilets, they get so inundated with backpackers they can afford to let standards slip and do. I heard some absolute horror stories about the banana farm hostels. And regarding the "spoiling it" angle, yeah this happens but tbh there is no shortage of sketchy employers in Oz who frankly take advantage of backpackers, or try to, there are two sides to the story. The smart move IMO especially if you have a background in construction is to head out to one of the regional cities and work construction. It was AFAIK, still classed as regional. I know lads working in Darwin on site were getting their visa when I was there. Also you're cutting out 50% of your competition i.e. female backpackers because let me tell you, everywhere you go in Oz that's on the relative beaten track you will be in fierce competition for work make no bones about that.

Don't bother it's nothing you can't do yourself. Backpackers hostels are full of people who have ventured solo and are looking to socialise. Also, I would give yourself some time to chill out a bit and "acclimatise" before doing the regional.

You can see the logic, given the choice everyone heads for the cities which presumably do not need more population compared to the vast open swathes of the regional areas.

I think the bottom line is migration is probably only going to get more stringent so to suck it up and be glad we have the opportunity full stop, as frustrating as it is. And I say that as someone on the lower end of points scale!

Does the time delay depend on profession?

The catch is getting the Visa in the first place.

He has a diploma if not yet finished from completing his 1/2nd year (presuming he has).

Thanks for the heads up on that Richard. May sit IELTS after all then as suffice to say I sound more like Oz from Auf Wiedersehen Pet than Giles Brandreth.

I think it would technically be a diploma.

Have a look at this. I did a WH as well, between 12'-13' haven't stopped thinking about the place since! http://www.harriswake.com/skillselectpointscalculator

Apply and get a 189 Visa so you aren't dependent on 1 company and its various personalities and politics sponsoring you! Check you have enough points or will have after the test, sit English test, put in an EOI (expression of interest) on the immi gov website then await an invitation to apply. When you put your EOI in, put in for a 189 and 190 incase you fall short on points. That's a start. I am unsure of status of partner and or what skills assessment you need as a Chef.

In my time there I found that as a whole Aussies identified far more with American culture than British and were proud of it too.

Thanks all.

Thanks, much appreciated!

Thanks Antony! How long did you revise for?