Seizethedance

For anyone else who might be looking for similar information - I went back to Barclays and asked them to confirm that they wouldn't close my account as the guy on the phone had assured me. Their response was that in the past month or so people had been turning up with letters from the bank stating that as they are non-resident their accounts will close unless they have £75k in the account. The bank guy said he had called higher-ups but not been told much about it so he couldn't advise on whether this was a new policy or anything. Had a moment of panic but he basically said just to use our UK address even though it's not our residential address. So that's what we've done. Crazy business.

Panic over - thanks to everyones' comments I rang the bank and they said of course I could keep my bank account! Dont know what the guys in the branch were talking about, they seemed very sure that it would be closed but I have now been assured that they are wrong. Phew. Thanks everyone who replied

I had planned to keep our UK bank account to pay our UK mortgage from (we are letting our house out when we move to Australia in a few weeks). But the bank has just told me that they will close the account when I move. What do other people do? If I pay the mortgage from an Australian account wont I lose out on exchange rates and money transfer fees? Anyone help please?!!

Just to add - although isofix is available in Australia now, I think it's only in seats for little babies, though I'm not sure. If you're on facebook there is a group called 'child restraints. Is your child restrained correctly?' You'll get an answer if you post in there.

As others have said, you cant use UK car seats in Australia. In the past year or so new seats have been released in Australia that harness until at least 8 years old (and often several years more) and these seem to be considered the best on the market for older kids. The main two are the maxi guard SICT and the infa evolve caprice. There are a couple of other newer ones that are cheaper as well I think they're called type G seats. We've got 2 evolves for when we arrive in Australia for our 2 and 4 year olds.

Oh crap, they've cancelled the flight we were on from kl to melbourne!

I am planning to, but already on a PR (spouse visa). I dont know the answer to your question but what do you want to teach? If it's maths, science or engineering then that is more in demand. Also worth noting that they are phasing out diplomas and replacing them with masters which would cost you more. I think 2017 might be the last year you can do a diploma (not sure though) but you have to think how employable you are compared to most teachers who will now already be graduating with a masters.

I expect you'll find remote indigenous teaching isn't something you can/want to do now, but still you might find this other blog interesting which will give you a sense of the politics and challenges of indigenous teaching. It's written by the teacher husband of the blog I posted above (the wife's blog is more about the challenges of life there, this is specifically about the teaching). https://jarvisryan.wordpress.com/

Here's the blog, it's written by the wife of a teacher while they were living in Arnhem land. You'd definitely want to visit before living there - it takes a certain kind of person to live in these communities. https://remoteareamum.wordpress.com/ I'm not sure what you can do to get a visa, I have no idea if remote schools would even sponsor someone, I dont really see why they would, especially if you have no experience in remote communities (but I could be wrong). There is a teachers thread somewhere that you might find helpful.

Yes the only reason we were considering remote service teaching is because we have lived with indigenous communities in remote Congo basin so understand the emotional and practical issues. I love this kind of work but even then we have decided to wait until our kids have left home (a looong time from now) and then reconsider as we didn't feel it was right for the kids. Having said that, there is a good blog I read from someone who did remote service teaching with young kids that I'll see if I can find, it will give you an idea of what it might be like. Places that are not so remote and are actually nice places to live (especially for kids) probably dont have a problem recruiting primary teachers.

Very remote indigenous communities really are very remote - rainy season you can often only access them via plane. Definitely not commutable but even if they were, it's important that teachers live in the community because living elsewhere can create a sense of division. There are bigger town though which you would probably want as your eldest would need to go to a high school. You may be one of the only non-indigenous people in the town and indigenous towns can have a fair amount of social problems (for example, most are 'dry', as in alcohol is banned for everyone living in the community). It may well be quite isolating especially for your eldest. However, some of the bigger towns have mining families as well. You have to be very committed to this kind of work and it is not easy. I dont know if they sponsor applicants for primary teaching or not, but here is the website http://www.teaching.nt.gov.au/remote/ As I said there are easier options that are small rural towns but not 'very remote' which might suit you better as there would be more cultural familiarity for your kids. They are still very cut off from everywhere, no way you can commute. Think remote Scottish island with a small community (but sunshine) and then add several more hours onto the journey to the nearest town and you come close. No idea if these places sponsor teachers.

Remote teaching is often in indigenous communities, which is usually quite unlike other kinds of teaching jobs and can be particularly tough and challenging but also hugely rewarding. Teachers are generally wanted to commit for three years as turnover is high which disadvantages students. Communities are varied and you can get a sense of what they are like by looking on the NT remote teaching website. Sounds like this isn't really what you're thinking of but might be worth considering if it's something that interests you. We very nearly went that route but our eldest son would be 6 and we felt it was the wrong age for him as we really want to go somewhere to settle long term (younger one would be fine and hubby would look after her). Rural (rather than remote) communities could be an option, though you are still likely to be in small quite isolated communities. But I'm sure many of these places would be great if you dont mind the small community thing - personally I'd rather that than go to a major city but it's personal preference

Anyone know if biology teachers also in demand, or is it mainly the other sciences and maths? I'm planning on training as a teacher in Australia but can only train in biology methods, maybe general science if I up my chemistry (this despite having an MSc and PhD in social science - madness!).We'll be in north-east vic.

Thank you everyone! We've been married for 6 years and have two kids. You should go straight to 100 as well then right? It was important because I'm hoping to study and we may depend on the Austudy benefit if my other half cant find work initially while I'm studying - and I would not have been entitled to that on the temporary 309 visa. So good news for us.

VISA GRANTED!!!!! Wahoo!!!! Straight to a subclass 100 That's 8 days short of 10 months - we applied on 28th july and were quoted 10-14 months. Cant wait to get there now, we fly on August 26th and are heading for country vic. Exciting times!