rosiew

As I understand it, in Australia the carer's allowance is a payment to help cover the incidental costs of the disability (extra therapy,medication, travelling around etc) and you tend to get it if a doctor will certify that it should be paid after assessing your child. This is different to a carer payment which is a welfare benefit paid to an adult to stay home and care for someone disabled, or a disability pension which an adult gets who is unable to work. If it's just the allowance you get, you may need to check that such a payment even exists in the UK where most things are covered by the NHS.

But will the 'like' button return?

You must be so proud :wink:

You'd like to think so. But look at all of the people on this forum who are determined to settle on the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast or Perth just hoping for the best that a job in their field exists there.

It's entirely dependent on where you are looking. Perth right now, you've probably got a chance. Inner Melbourne, unlikely.

I don't disagree with you necessarily but I think there are questions over fundamental freedom of movement that get in the way. As a related point, would it possible to do more to encourage immigrants to actually work in the job that got them the visa? We are trying to fix a skills crisis but importing people on a permanent basis who may only be using their skills to get a visa with no intention of working in that area. So we gain nothing to boost skills, but possibly take away a job from an existing resident. Maybe there is a case for a middle ground permanent visa tied to a profession for a certain time. But you would need to have a safety net system whereby you could prove that you were unable to get a job in that profession and then get permission to work in another. It would probably prove way too unwieldy. Perhaps the answer is to issue more visas tied to a particular state?

Would you suggest "a big, beautiful wall"?:cute:

To be fair the sunset time tonight in Melbourne is 8.08pm. We are 2 months past the solstice, so in Victoria and Tassie we get a lot more light. But I agree that Queensland has the early finishes - and often not a long twilight. It's a shame, particularly as they have no daylight saving either!

Two of the other drivers in the inner Melbourne market are international students (who drive the country's 3rd biggest industry) and interstate migration. We are not going to kill off the golden egg of education export and we can hardly stop people moving from interstate.

I'm watching last week's "A New Life in OZ". This show has even less knowledgeable production people that WDU. Today they said that new cars in Australia are very cheap because "The government subsidizes the car industry". They were buying a Hyundai......I obviously live in a parallel universe...... However, it doesn't top last week's assertion that a woman working in a lowish level HR position and her casual labourer husband were clearing 11,000 pounds a month.....

As a person who lives in Melbourne and spends every second winter in Barrow, I feel your pain! You'll be right. That white sky sitting just above your head will lift over the next few weeks and the colour will come back. You'll certainly appreciate Spring more than you did here! I'd take Quorn over Barrow btw but I imagine the houses are dearer?

I just googled it and it seems that the department will consider a request for an urgent ceremony for HECS reasons but will give preference to people who have already been waiting a while and still have a while to wait. So calling them and asking may be worth a punt. They may well have a ceremony lined up for this very reason!

That's a great policy and I'll bear it mind next time I'm shopping for a credit card. The OP is in the UK so will need to check any policies that come with a UK card.

We always get insurance to pay to repatriate ourselves or our bodies (!) but also because it covers the rental car excess and is cheaper than paying the rental car company to waive the excess. If you are going to rely upon the credit card travel insurance check the small print as it sometimes only covers travel paid for on that card. Also if you need any emergency dental work done that is covered by your travel insurance. Travel insurance is cheap in the UK. I'd get it.

Like button!

Yes I wondered how that student visa was going to play out. I guess what they had going for them was if they could get work as entertainers they could actually survive on the 20 hours a week work restriction - unlike people earning an ordinary service industry hourly rate like most students. I could see years of visa stress ahead though.

I'm loving you still saying "Buckley's" Quoll. Do people look at you strangely when it pops out in the UK?

Do they really want to drive the campervan for the experience or because they think it's cheaper? It's quite a long way via the coasts and the novelty may wear off quickly. A car may be easier with cheaper motels/ cabins along the way. I know that campervans seem to offer flexibility but you are often not allowed to park them in towns so they'll be up for camping fees anyway - plus the fuel of course. If they'd find the drive more stressful that way then it may not be that great - it's nice to see the Great Ocean Road rather than gripping the wheel to keep your campervan on the correct side of the twisty road from Fairhaven to Apollo Bay. But if they've always fancied it, then good luck to them.

Me too Comrade!

It's apparently a housing development near Melton - who knew?

Kilmore is a good hour, but it is a growing place. I suggest you look at Sunbury, north west of the city. It is very close to the Macedon Ranges (where I live) and that's established mountain bike territory. It has a suburban train line to Melbourne (last stop) and is about 4o mins. The drive is also easy on the Calder Freeway which is one of our less congested freeways. Sunbury is an old town (birthplace of The Ashes!) but also has lots of newer housing in your budget. It has reasonable every day shops (much more than Kilmore), restaurants, wineries, bars, pubs, sporting facilities, gyms, and good schools for any future plans. It is more affordable than places a little further out such as Gisborne/ Woodend where you are usually looking at closer to $600K. There is also easy access to the Surf Coast in about 90 mins. Melbourne beaches are bay beaches and they are about 50 mins away. So you have the best of both worlds. For example: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-sunbury-124582418 Homely is not a major real estate site here. To look at houses you need www.realestate.com.au As neither of you have directly transferable skills you will be renting for a while while you get that sorted out, so plan for that. The median house price in greater Melbourne is over $700K so you will appreciate that $400K is not going far in most of that. You can buy a new house and land package on the outskirts but you may be stuck for many years waiting for capital growth. The prices of those are deceptive to some extent as you will need to buy curtains, blinds, all landscaping and garden set up and often a driveway etc. So be careful. You may be better to stick to areas like Sunbury where values are established. Good luck - have fun and remember you don't need to make all of your decisions during your trip!

I have lived in Melbourne pretty much all of my long life and I had to google "Brookfield". It is a housing estate rather than a suburb and was constructed in the 1990s. It has 6000 people and it is not a town as such. It is 43 km west of the city and is part of an area called Melton which many people do not consider a very desirable place to live. But it is cheap. I'm not sure it will meet your idea of the Australian dream.... To help you with areas it would be good to know what your jobs are likely to be so that we know if you will work in the middle of Melbourne, all over the place or have a job that it is portable to lots of areas. An approximate budget would be good too. Melbourne is one of the most expensive cities in the world but there are housing options for everyone. You have picked a nice central spot for your reccie and it is a lovely time of the year here

And if you watched yesterday's episode (Gateshead to Adelaide) please do your own research on the actual salary of a teaching assistant in Adelaide - highly unlikely to be 29,000 pounds for 3 days a week in school terms as reported in the episode. But then butter doesn't cost over 4 pounds a week either, so I'm not sure a skilled mathematician was on the production calculator that day!

I am so pleased to hear that you sorted it out. It is great that you can still settle on the house you like. Don't worry too much about $3000 even though it is a lot of money to find. Remember in Melbourne at the moment your house will quickly recover that $3000 for you! Don't let this spoil the experience of getting your house.

If you can get a permanent visa such as a 189 you will be entitled to receive family tax benefits (like tax credits) which will add to your income. When your wife eventually starts to work again you will get 50% rebate on your child care fees (nursery or after school care). have a look at http://www.centrelink.gov.au which is the benefits website.