rosiew

They have overstayed and cannot apply for the visa they need onshore. As the minister cannot comment on cases, it is very easy to report only the one side to the story.

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.

You can find rooms to rent on www.flatshare.com.au or www.gumtree.com.au and don't forget air BnB which is huge here

NSW no longer sponsors visas for primary school teachers as the profession is very over subscribed. You will be arriving mid year so hopefully you can pick up some supply work to gain some local experience before recruiting for 2018 starts in earnest in about October 2017. There is a degree of luck involved and you may have an opportunity to impress a school whilst doing supply work which might lead to a longer term contract. Sydney is is one of the world's most expensive cities so make sure you have funds behind you and polish up polish up any other skills you have. The good news is that unemployment is relatively lower in Sydney. Have a look around the forum for suggestions of lower priced areas to live and work which will make the move less stressful financially. i hate to sound so negative but the competition is fierce both from new arrivals and the thousands of unemployed teaching graduates - be ready to hit the ground running. Hopefully the excitement of the adventure will outweigh that initial uncertainty when you arrive.

What type of visa are you coming on?

If you are lucky enough to live here in Victoria you can - Ferguson Plarre sell Cheese and Onion pasties!

What I suspect Quoll is trying to do is NOT give you false hope that there is a way around this. You require the same qualifications to teach in any school - unlike the UK. I know you feel like you are banging your head against the wall, and I hope you can resolve it quickly.

There is growing pressure in the media from the nurses union to stop 457 visas being given to nurses when Australian graduates are struggling to find placement after graduation. Anyone planning on that route may be advised to get a wriggle on.

Anyone thinking of moving to Australia as a solicitor should make some in depth enquiries of recruitment agencies and the various law societies to check out the actual level of demand for any lawyers - let alone foreign trained ones. You could also look on http://www.seek.com.au which has pretty much all of the vacancies. There are a lot of lawyers looking for work in Australia and thousands of graduates in the pipeline. Many of the large firms here have merged with, or have a relationship with, international firms who are looking to circulate their staff through the Australian offices. It would be good if some people who have made the move could share their stories so that people have an idea of whether their move to Australia will be at the cost of their career - and whether some states are better than others.

It also concerns me that people say "Oh well, I am prepared to look at private schools" as though it is easier to get a job in a private school. In my experience there is just as much competition for those places - if not more.

My husband is the emigrant so I can relate to the issue and help with what NOT to do. When you leave the UK before you are a parent yourself I think you never truly empathize with what your parents feel. You are off on an exciting adventure and you do not have a grip on the depth of their feelings. I think it is important to be honest about how you feel without going over the top into the guilt. It will not stop him going but it will made things hard between you. I know that my mother in law in the UK was never honest about her feelings and this meant that for 30 years it has become apparent through spiteful outbursts at certain times which have done nothing to foster a healthy relationship with her son. I think it will be very difficult when she dies as there will be unresolved tension and guilt between them will likely manifest itself when it is too late to do anything about it. So be supportive and encouraging but it is Ok to be honest that it feels a bit like a bereavement but that you know it is not. Time does help but as the other posters have said, concentrate on the positive things in your life and don't let this eat you up. Hopefully your son will thrive here and be able to afford to bring you over from time to time. Particularly if you buy the tickets in the UK it is not TOO expensive with free accommodation at this end. Best of luck.

we don't really eat cress

It's actually in Sydney I think, have not heard in 49 years in Melbourne- it is an old fashioned NSW name for a suitcase. it is a shortening of Portmanteau - so now you know....

Australians do not eat roast at lunchtime on Sunday (as a rule) - I'm not sure how many POMS really do either these days. Yorkshire puddings are uncommon. Ready meals have never really taken hold. People do not eat anything like the number of crisps There is no tradition of getting something to eat after the pub shuts, which I am sure the proprietors of Indian restaurants and chip shops don't mind. Drunk people buy kebabs all over the world. You can't buy 10,000 kinds of yoghurt, but the dips are better!

I live in the Victorian countryside and Coles is open from 6am until 10pm 7 days a week. Are you in WA or SA where the shops keep quaint hours?

In Melbourne, we call them runners. Joggers are the people who wear them!

And I'm not sure that we have spent convictions in Australia anyway..............