Wintery Woman

The Oz health system is a mixed system which means that you can opt for public or private treatment. It's difficult to find GPs who "bulk bill" (you don't need to pay, Medicare covers it) but for hospital stays you can go into a public or private hospital. You will need private health insurance & you aren't fully covered for the costs so you've usually got some out of pocket expenses. My husband & I pay $150/month for hospital & "essential" (dental,physio,ambulance,etc) private health insurance.

We are Australian & returned to Perth 2.5 years ago due a family illness & we had just had a baby. We lived in the UK for 8 years and have really struggled to fit back in the Aussie way of life. After living away it seems like we just don't have anything in common with our old friends but haven't been able to make any new ones. This is something we have found very difficult. Where are you ftom in the UK as bear in mind that after living in a big city like Melbourne your old town/city could seem a bit provincial. On the other hand, nowhere is very far away in the UK so I doubt you would feel as isolated as I do in Perth. When you say "home" do you see Melbourne or the UK? It's UK for me and so even though it seemed right for me when we cane back, I think of home everyday & really regret our rushed decision.