rosiew

It's called New Zealand - they import shiploads of second hand cars!

It has always had a good reputation as far as I know unless something has gone wrong recently! It is a very popular school. The first question she should ask before going too far into it is whether they have a place. We tend to put our children down for private secondary schools in Melbourne!

Her problem was that as she had lived in the Uk so long she expected consistent pricing across the year for Fruit and veg out of season. Limes are only cheap when in season and that's when you use them. There was another poster on here complaining that grapes were 6 pounds in November - of course they were! I appreciate it takes a while to re-learn the seasons for things but it hasn't really been that long in the UK since produce was seasonal too. I can remember having to explain what a passionfruit was to a checkout girl in Sainbury's only 5 years ago....

Are people asking your visa status or are you telling them unprompted? If you have it on your letter or CV I would get it off. You are quite right to say in your letter that you have recently moved here but you may be making it too easy for people to dismiss you without ever meeting you. Just a thought.

OK. I just don't want you to get your hopes up. Without a degree it will take you a minimum of 8 years part time study in Australia to be a teacher, and before that you will need to be sure that you can get a university place. That is a long road with two children to support as well. Australia is a very expensive country to live in (much more expensive than the UK unless you live in private accommodation in London). It would not be an easy road with less back up support than you might have in the UK. Also, on a 457 (sponsored by an employer) visa you have no access to any allowances for your children which you may be getting in the UK. After all that, working on your French might seem easier! I wish you all the best and understand your issue - but don't build up your hopes just in case.

I can tell you how it works in Melbourne and I doubt that Perth is different. If your child is in a state school they need to attend preparation classes after school for some weeks before the first communion. They will then make their first communion alongside the children from the local catholic school. It is organised through your local parish so you will need to know what suburb you will live in (or close enough) and then contact the local church for dates. Don't worry if your child is 9 or even 10 as there is a mix of ages (but the Catholic school children do it when they are 9 in Victoria) There is no "communion season" in Australia but it tends to be once per year in each parish. Remember that the school year starts in February and they need time to prepare so it tends to be mid - year. I think my son's was in August/ September. Hope all of that helps.

What are your qualifications now? That will give people a better idea to advise you on the cost of living.

Yep we still seem to have a reasonable amount of jobs here in Victoria, but everyone seems drawn to Queensland and finding it much harder. Perhaps you could sell them the benefits of Peninsula beaches!

I take it back - I have now looked at the Centrelink website and you may indeed get rent assistance if your rent is high enough - but on rent that high you may struggle on $65,000. But by the time you get Family Tax Benefit as well you may be OK. I know plenty of people who live in Melbourne on less and it must be as expensive as Perth. But you must get used to eating seasonally and just live without grapes in November!!

I'm not sure what you mean by the "rent element" in FTB. If you are talking about rent assistance, I doubt a family on $65000 qualifies for that. That is not part of Family Tax Benefit it is a supplement for very low income earners. Happy to be corrected...just don't want you doing your sums on something you may not qualify for..

Before you race out getting cover you should know that most people just pay as they go. You tend not to get much back on your cover considering how much you pay for it. You will only ever get a proportion back. Check ups for children are not expensive.

Perhaps you should consider looking into starting to study the units for the diploma of financial planning as a new skill builder. The tax course you are doing is a lot of work and interesting but it leads to 3 months part time work at best and that work only pays $18-19 per hour. The work finishes on the last day of the tax season - 31 October. Banks are cutting down on the back office but financial planning would seem to have a bright future with so many people set to retire in the next 20 years all with superannuation to invest.

As someone who lives here it was difficult to see why it was ever on the list. Yes, there are always lots of ads for hairdressers, but that seems to be because a lot of people want to own their own salon and they need staff. There are simply too many salons, just like there are too many cafes for everyone to make a decent living. I live near a town of 7,000 with at least 12 salons - never see more than a couple of chairs taken in each. They all advertise for staff in the hope that someone will come and bring clients with them. It was always an artificial "shortage" and as I understand it the pay is not great and certainly not worth moving to a much more expensive cost of living. It might be worth trying another avenue. Best of luck to you.

I also reckon that Mordialloc house prices are undervalued so it is probably a great investment. In newer areas houses go up slowly whereas Mordialloc is very established and a lot closer to town than Frankston South.

can I just put in a good word for Ringwood North as I grew up there. Great schools - big choice. Very established with proper shops, cinemas, frequent trains, buses all over the place. Also has a major public hospital (and soon a Costco if that floats your boat). The Eastern Freeway is a very quick run into town (off peak!). Check out Eastlink access straight down to the Peninsula for beaches in about half an hour. Mordialloc is also nice if you want to be by the sea. I always think Berwick is a long way out and that Monash Freeway can be really busy.

It is important that she studies in the country where she will be admitted to practise. It is relatively straightforward to change country once you are fully qualified and admitted to practise (although there is often a requirement to retake some subjects). If you only have a degree from a foreign uni you will certainly not have completed all of the subjects needed in Australia and then there will be the complication of trying to get as much credit as possible for the study already done. So, either is fine, but she will do best if she plans top spend a couple of post-uni years getting fully qualified after she finishes study and then deciding on the country. I would probably choose whichever country would only charge me local student fees!

i think you've just picked up some dodgy imports on Gumtree. We were definitely PAL in Australia. English tapes usually play fine (having received and bought plenty over the years) , but you are right to play it safe!

Remember, Perth is not Australia. Perth is quickly developing but coming off a low base. The East Coast has had Aldi for years - in the country as well as the cities. You will find it really does shake the others up, so it will be great.:biggrin: