Melbpom

Maybe check your credit score before applying. Look at the government's website, www.moneysmart.gov.au for agencies that do this for free.

There are a couple of members here who are thinking of returning to the UK with disabled family members. I'm currently in the UK but will be returning to Australia because of the lack of support and services available. I'd rather not post personal details here but if I can help, please PM me.

Off topic, but don't let go of British passport, easier to renew than start all over again. Metoo, love the pool. Will you need fencing?

Rachel, I would recommend following Marisa's advice and wait until you qualify for the Australian Aged Pension. You can't be sure that there won't be issues with the Disability Pension. My son's was dramatically reduced (by 80%) after we had been out of the country for six months. I wondered if Centrelink was trying it on. I had to ring and query the reduction because nothing had changed in his health or circumstances. They said it was an error on their part and it was reinstated but it was a nuisance having to chase them from the UK. I would also be extremely careful about any Social Care you might need. My experience has been that is it woefully inadequate because of the recent period of austerity.

There is a safety net if you keep a record of all the prescriptions you pay for over a year, then once you get to a certain limit then future medicines are a discounted rate. Just google Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme safety net.

Not sure your 50inch TVs will work. Maybe check before shipping.

I know the new builds are attractive but a lot costs are hidden and the whole process to takes a long time to complete and only then can you tackle driveway and landscaping. Take a look at review sites such as productreview.com.au to look at what other people think about the local builders. Make sure you investigate the current housing stock which is usually on larger blocks and closer to amenities and transport.

I'm considering ping ponging back to Australia having previously transferred the proceeds of a house sale to the UK. The rate at the time was fairly good, about 60 pence per dollar. If I transfer money back to Australia and make a small gain would I be liable for capital gains tax either in Australia or the UK?

Be aware also of Lifetime Loading on private health insurance. Basically it is a measure brought in by the government to encourage people to take out insurance while they were young and healthy and to encourage them to keep it going. This loading starts from the age of 30 and if a person doesn't have private health insurance then they will pay an extra 2% for every year above this age when they take out insurance. So a 40 year old taking out a policy for the first time would pay an extra 20% on their premium than they would have done if they had always been insured. Also if you earn over a certain amount (don't know the figure) and you don't have hospital cover then you would get charged a Medicare Levy Surcharge. So for a lot of people it's cheaper to have the insurance.

Don't forget that when you are shedding stuff you will be donating or giving things away. You will get very little money for the small stuff. When you arrive you will be paying full price for everything unless you have the time and are lucky enough to find things in op shops and on gumtree. I wish I'd bought more oven ware, casserole dishes, scales, things like that. The other thing I'd say is decide what period you are going to be without your things. I.e. do you ship your stuff at the very last minute from the UK, or do you send it well in advance? I sent mine a month or so before I left and they arrived about a month after I arrived, so I had to have temporary stuff at both ends of the move. Hope that makes sense.

Scousers1, it seems to me that you are carrying the full weight of the decision to move back to the UK. I know you've got hubby on board and that's great, but is there anyway that you can get together with him and your parents and formulate a plan? Four adults, a lot of work to do, share the load?

I really do think you have to assume you're on your own at least initially. I was advised to apply for Universal Credit on behalf of my son (who has a disability). At the time of claiming we were in the country less than 3 months and his claim was denied based on residence. I'll reapply after a while but I've assumed that I need to support the both of us for at least 2 years. I'm not sure where you get the waiting period of 3 months from. Maybe there are different rules for parents with young children. I know when my brother anb his family moved back a few years ago they were able to claim benefits straight away but I think things have tightened up a lot since then.

The most pressing issue right now is surely your parents. It's a big move for elderly parents but it's doable and if they're keen they'll cope.

Scousers, If your daughter was living in the UK the most likelihood is that she would be living away from home at university in another city. It was very unusual for kids to say at home and go to their local uni. I know that in Australia it's very different because of the distance and cost to fly interstate and that most youngsters stay at home and don't seem to leave until their 30's. I think they miss out. I say this as someone who's parents left for Zambia as soon as I turned 18 and had finished A levels. Things turned out fine. I think you really want to go back and so why not start by booking flights at some time in the future, say 6 months or 9 months. There's nothing like a date to focus the mind.

Dear Parley, if it makes your day interpreting my post as racist, then go for it, enjoy yourself. I don't care. Apologies to OP for the direction this thread has taken.

Hi Livvy, I've just returned to the UK after 30 years in Australia and what I really notice is the kindness of people. To give you an example I am a carer for my profoundly disabled son and here absolute strangers say hello to him all the time. In Australia we were invisible. Rarely did anyone offer to help or say hello. I think you will find the same kindness when you move back.

That's interesting. I got through to the MyGov help line and they never mentioned the secret questions or gave me the option to reset the Sign In Options. They suggested a mobile app instead but that didn't help because code was still sent to old mobile number.

Being a little tired of 0.1% interest on my savings account I thought I'd get back into share trading. Does anyone know a good online share broker similar to CommSec?

If you have any dealings with MyGov don't forget to keep your Australian mobile number active because to login to your online account they send a validation code to your mobile. Without this code there is no way to login to anything such as Centrelink, ATO, Medicare etc.

It's not only the time to buy new stuff, it's the time it takes to sell, sort, donate or give stuff away. I totally under estimated the final pack and clean of the rental house. Final week was extremely stressful (lost a few kilos in process). I wish I'd taken more back because shipping was reasonable and it's nice opening boxes to find familiar items. I used Grace who were the cheapest at $4K for a shared container (just over half full) from Melbourne to Midlands. Lleyton Percival were good too for that last minute insurance cover in a panic.

Because I selected to pick it up from the Passport Office in an attempt to save time. I was told by the Post Office that it takes an additional 2 days to post and that I had the option to collect from Docklands instead. My query to the APIS was what was the status of the passport given that on the web site it said "Passport Issued" and I had received no notification. But as I've mentioned they can't tell me that and mentioned that I would have to get Power of Attorney even though this had never been raised previously. Getting PoA in this timescale will be impossible.

I've just checked the spam/junk folder locally and on the server and there's nothing there. I've had acknowledgement of my application by email so I'm fairly sure that's not the issue. I also just spoken with Australia Post and they directed me back to the passport service to get a tracking number. Nothing left to do but to go into office tomorrow.

Hi Marisa, I'm female and therefore the request to speak to son. I don't think a male friend would work because I have already made it very clear that he can't speak and they track the conversation so it would be difficult to explain how he could now speak. This is a bit concerning because I have had no email to say it was being posted out and besides that I asked if I could collect it from the Passport Office at Docklands thinking it would speed the process up if I collected it. I think I will have to go into the city and try to get an answer but thank you for your reply.

I'm stuck in a "privacy" loop with the Australian Passport Office and I could use some advice. The situation is I applied for a passport for my adult profoundly disabled son. Prior to filling in the forms I rang the help line and described his special needs and the fact that even taking a photo was an issue due to him not keeping still and facing the camera directly. Anyway submitted an application with my best efforts at photography at the local post office on 2nd March. Then I've been tracking the application progress on line and the current status is "Passport Issued". This is the status since 12th March and has not changed since. So naturally I ring the passport office on Monday 19th and ask what this means and when will the passport be available for collection. But the person I spoke to said that since the passport is for my son that they need to speak to him because of privacy. I explain has no speech so that's just not possible. They said in that case they'd get the passport office to ring me back. So I said well I'm ringing the passport office and they say no, this is the passport office messaging service and there is no means to ring the passport office directly. So by Wednesday I've not received a phone call. I call the help line again and get the same privacy speel and again they said they'd ask the passport office to ring me back. Again no phone call. So my question is does anyone know what "Passport Issued" actually means? Has it been printed? has it been sent out? On the last call the operator suggested checking with Australia Post but without a tracking number that's not possible. I'm planning to go into the city to the passport office but I'm flat out and could do without this right now. We are both flying to the UK next week and at this rate we may have to go with out Australian Passport.

Does anyone have experience using the Tourist Refund Scheme at Melbourne airport? I've done some googling and found that there's a TRS app and then you have to wait in a queue for ages. I'll have my hands full on next trip and wondered if it's possible to fill in a paper form and lodge ìn a post box.