Tom Amy Lancaster

Small world Keira, i'm in Kelbrook! Although we're heading to Adelaide! But thought I'd say hi

We are going through Go Matilda - Marina has been nothing but helpful with all our queries & worries & never fails to respond. We feel guilty everytime we have another question, but she's never off with us at all. & all this before we've even handed any money over. I can already tell they're going to be fantastic, & we haven't even started yet.

Hi Heidi, we're in the same position as you at the minute. We've just started the process & my partner's a mechanic too. We've been in touch with Go Matilda quite a bit over the last few weeks who have been amazing & given us loads of great advice & information. My partner needs to start with the IELTS test to get the extra points, which we're looking to do in the new year. After that we'll be back in touch with Go Matilda to make a start with the skills assessment. They said it can take 4-6 months to get the assessment done, & after some research I understand there's quite a lot of paperwork involved initially. We're looking at between £6000 & £7000 for the whole visa process - this include IELTS costs, police & health checks etc. Where a bouts are you wanting to head to? We're looking at Queensland ideally, but if you're happy to go WA or SA, I believe Mechanic is on the State Sponsorship list, but I could be wrong on that one, so best to check. Amy x

Ahh yes! We'd be heading to the Gold Coast Do you know which suppliers offer month by month broadband/phone? I presume it'd be more money.

Hi guys, I have a quick question regarding renting properties & the telephone/broadband contracts etc. I've been looking around the internet, trying to get a rough idea of costings etc as I'm putting a budget together so we can have an idea of what we would be paying out weekly/monthly when we make the move, but I'm confused as to the length of the rentals & the length of the contracts available on some of the contracts. Electricity & gas - would we be required to set up new accounts with suppliers, or is it all in the Landlords name, we'd just be billed by them & pay direct? We've never rented before, so it's all new to us. Telephone/Broadband/TV - these all seem to be available on 24 month contracts, but if we're just in a 6/12 month rental how do we go about getting these for the term of our rental, or would we be able to transfer them across to our new rental should we decide to move when the rental contract was up? Water - I've read about water rates, any idea how much these are? Do we pay these, or are these included in the rent? I've also read about water usage. I presume water meters are big in Aus & we'd just pay as we use sort of thing? Again, is this all in the landlords name, or are accounts needed to be set up? It's stressful enough moving house in England, so I want to make sure I have as much knowledge about things before we make the HUGE move across to Aus. Thank you

I have no idea on any of the answers - but thought I'd post to keep it bumped up as I'd be interested to know too. Particularly the utilities - currently trying to do a rough monthly budget, so would also be interested to know what people pay on a weekly/monthly basis for them (& what sort/size of house this relates to)? Amy :smile:

We've done our budget based on him earning $50k, which I *think* is doable for us - it's roughly what we earned here in England, but we're not expecting to be better off financially, as long as we can match how we are here, we'll be happy. It's encouraging to know that there are bonuses/overtime available. Will your partner' salary increase when probation has finished? How easy did your partner find a job? Did he apply before you went out? Does he find there to be much difference between the English & Aussie ways of mechanising/working? This was our discussion last night, & we agreed that he would have to find a job, before settling on an area for living BUT we're not sure how easy it would be securing a job whilst still in England. Obviously, as soon as flights were booked & we had a date for going over we could start seriously looking & applying - but would they be a bit reluctant to employ until meeting him in person!? So many questions - sorry! & thanks for your responses so far!

Hi everyone, I came across this site last week & so far have found a huge amount of information through it. We are in the beginning stages of our process - having decided this month to stop talking about it, & just get on with making the move. I'm Amy (28), my partner Tom (30), who's a mechanic with 10 years experience & our 2 boys Oliver who's 4 & Harry, who's 2. I've been researching allsorts, from different suburbs & rents, cost of living & I've done this weeks online shop with Coles to get an idea of the cost of groceries etc, i've done car insurance quotes based on our current vehicle which we are considering importing, fuel costs, looked at Broadband/Phone subscriptions & mobile phone contracts, gas/electric costs & so on. So all in all for the general everyday things I think I've looked into everything (unless there's anything someone thinks I have overlooked). We'd be hoping to either get a skilled independent, but have been reading up on sponsored visas. There's also the new SkillSelect to consider - what if we get through all the skills assessments etc, i presume there's then a chance that we could sit in the system for years with no invitation to lodge our visa? Ideally we're looking at the Brisbane/Gold Coast area, but nothing is set in stone at the moment. So, does anyone have an idea of what Tom can look to earn as an experienced mechanic? Would $60,000 be a reasonable amount to expect? & what is the demand in the Bris/GC area? I would be staying at home looking after the children initially, but would then look at getting a job once the boys are both at school - obviously this depends on how long the process takes, if they're both in school when we made the move I'd be looking at getting a job straight away. My mind is completely blown at the moment with all the information, but I am so excited to get the process moving forward. Sorry for the long post - just trying to get a few things straight in our heads so we know whether it's actually a viable option. Thanks, Amy & Tom