Gin100

We couldnt find anything like that at the time (3 years ago) so we just bought another camping stove...

We brought some stuff over from the UK to Australia only to find it doesn’t work over here. We’re not intending to return & it would be a shame to throw them away, so is there anyone heading back to the UK who could make use of: a sodastream machine (takes a UK gas cylinder only) a camping stove (takes UK gas bottle fitting only) a digital radio (only picks up radio broadcasts in Europe) We don’t want any cash, just a good home where they might actually be used. The items are located in North Warrandyte, Melbourne, but we could potentially drop them eastern Melbourne or Geelong...

Thanks Alan for posting on is subject. I've read the posts & some of the links but I'm slightly unclear on how it might affect my personal circumstances & was wondering if you could perhaps advise? We moved to Australia 7 months ago & have rented out our UK home on the basis that we don't know if this is a permanent move or if we might want to return. I recall reading something about a limit on the number of years you can be away for (some people mention 6 years) before CGT applies? Also, I'm not sure whether the Private Residents Relief & the Annual Exempt Allowance apply? I'm just trying to understand what the implications are for us & if there's a specific time at which it makes sense for us to be making a decision about whether to keep or sell our house - any advice anyone can give me would be most appreciated. Thank you!

Eltham all the way - ticks all of your boxes. And ours - we love it here! 40 mins on train to CBD, shops & doctors etc - all the things you need, very family friendly, great schools, and *very* green (and hilly)...

Both are nice but I would say don't decide until you're here & can look around - by all means have some places on a list but get a holiday let for a couple of weeks or so & do some exploring before making any firm decisions. We moved to Melbourne 6 months ago & thought we were going to live Bayside but when we got here we didn't care for it so did a complete about-turn & are now living in a suburb near the bush & it's just perfect for us :-)

Thanks lastonealive, that looks interesting & a potential option...

That would be great, Bronyaur, it's just that while we are iPhone users, the people we tend to phone in the UK are not :-(. We also find ourselves having to phone our UK banks, tax office etc from here too & FaceTime/Skype isn't much of an option for that either. I think we could probably make more use of Skype/FaceTime but being able to phone cheaply as well would be ideal...

When we arrived in Australia 6 months ago we got a mobile phone deal with international calls capped at $1 so no matter how long you talked it never cost more than $1. The phone company have now removed the cap so I'm looking around for a better deal. I'm wondering what others have found to be the cheapest ways of phoning the UK? We've not got a landline but would perhaps consider getting one. Skype audio would work for some people we phone but not others. Any advice on what works well for other poms in oz would be welcome! Thanks :-)

Books! We massively downsized our book collection before moving and now really wish we hadn't. Books cost an arm and a leg here & there's no Amazon (well, not in the form we knew it in the UK). You can buy second hand from Abe or Book Depository but then you have to wait for weeks for them to arrive as they're posted from overseas. Clothes, shoes I'd stock up on too before your arrive. Things we brought but shouldn't - Sodastream (gas cylinders here don't fit UK models) and camping stove (gas bottles don't fit).

We've been renting out our UK house since we moved to Melbourne 6 months ago. You need to get a non-resident landlord code from HMRC. This will ensure you pay no tax on your rental income in the UK - you declare these earnings in Australia & pay the tax here instead. I'd recommend going through a reliable estate agent who can manage the property on your behalf - the last thing you want when you're getting to grips with life out here is worrying about how to vet prospective tenants and how to get things fixed that go wrong. The better state you can leave your house in the more it will be looked after and the less you'll need to do from 10,000 miles away. Keep receipts of all the work you have done to make it fit for rental and estate agent fees etc as you may be able to offset these against tax. Good luck!

Brilliant news, I am so pleased for you! No more waiting & worrying about what the decision is, you can just get on with planning your move. We finally made it to Australia in August last year so we're 5 months in and have settled into a lovely suburb in Melbourne. All the best to you - enjoy your celebrations!

We arrived in Melbourne a week and a half ago (2 boys aged 11 and 8). When we'd done our internet research from the UK we'd identified the Bayside area as where we thought we wanted to be - Sandringham & around was high on our list. Once we got here though & started looking around the area, we found that it didn't grab us at all. Various reasons; it looked a bit tired like it had seen better days, Sandringham Secondary school is about to go through a substantial rebuilding of the Beaumaris campus. While this is much needed (it also seemed needed at the Sandringham campus too) it does mean lots of disruption, noise and relocation of children lasting for a long time. In short, the area just didn't feel right for us. Hampton looked OK, we didn't check out Mentone (no school for boys unless you go private or travel). We did like the look of Brighton & the secondary school looked good but it's very expensive & busy. We decided to look elsewhere to see what our other options were &, after various trips around, we've decided Eltham is where we're going. It's north-east of the CBD, lots of green & space, wildlife, train into the CBD. Nice feeling about it, good parks, cafes etc. It's not where we expected to go at all, but it feels like the right place for us & everyone we've spoken to says it's a nice area. We've been on a couple of secondary school tours & have found one which we are very happy with. All the primaries look good. Just got to find ourselves a place to rent now! The one piece of advice I'd give from our experience is don't finally decide on a suburb before you've been there; have an idea of where you want to go but be flexible enough to change your mind. If you do love it around Sandringham when you get there then perfect, but if you feel, like us, that it's not for you then take a bit of time to find a place which does suit. Good luck!

It is a lot of work! We arrived in Melbourne last week (me, husband, 2 kids) & it was certainly stressful getting ready & getting out here - there is so much to do - but it does get done. We don't have jobs here yet so you're one up on us! While internet research is a great thing (I did tonnes) I would say to use it as a guide rather than something to make final decisions on. For example, we did loads of research about suburbs to live, schools etc & since we've been here & done some exploring, we've completely changed our minds about where we want to be. You're probably better off doing enough research to get a rough idea of where you want to be & spending the rest of the time doing the practical things like getting a bank account set up (very straightforward process from UK with NAB), cleaning & disinfecting of stuff for shipping (this took longer than we imagined it would), getting your house ready, endless de-cluttering etc. make a list (or several); it does help!

Don't know about that (I had to look up what a WHV was!); I'd be surprised if you could but you don't lose anything by asking - it's all done at the same place as your Medicare. Not sure what the rules would be for Medicare on a WHV either. I'm on a permanent residents visa & am eligible to apply...

CentreLink is the Australian equivalent of the Department for Work & Pensions so you can claim the equivalent of job seekers allowance, family tax credits etc. Worth registering with if you're job hunting and/or have kids...

Having just arrived in Melbourne last week, you just need to apply for a TFN online once in Australia & make sure you go with the individual auto registration (https://iar.ato.gov.au/IARWeb/default.aspx?pid=4&sid=1&outcome=1) for migrants. You don't want to apply off shore anyway as then you'll be liable for Australian and UK tax. The other thing to be aware of (which we fell foul of) is that you cannot apply for a TFN without an Australian phone number (UK ones are no good even if they work in Australia) and address. We had our friends address but what we didn't have was a phone number and getting one of these was harder than we'd ever imagined! Just so you don't have the same problems as us - you can only get pre-paid phones as you won't have an Australian credit history and you need to take ID (i.e passport) with you in order to buy any sort of phone deal. Also, make sure you register with Medicare & CentreLink early on too. Good luck!

Hi johnborro, we've just moved to Melbourne & are looking for a car. How much are you selling this for, what's the mileage & what's the service history? Thanks.

Instalment 2. We finally have Australian mobile numbers but not without some hassle. Without an Australian credit history and proof of address you won't get a contract mobile phone (even if it's $20 a month & you show them your bank balance as proof you can pay). We were only allowed to get a pre-pay which is worse value for money (though the vodafone one I ended up getting does have international calls to the UK capped at $1 no matter how long you're on the phone for, which is great). Even for a pre-pay they insist on seeing photo ID so don't go without this but you don't need proof of address. The TFN application form is easy once you've got a mobile number!

Hi Gtaylor - we arrived in Melbourne last night and have spent some of today navigating the bureaucracy so I just thought it would be worth letting you know what we'd found out. We registered with Medicare & CentreLink this afternoon at the local office. You can just turn up (no appointment req) & the documentation they want to see is: passport, Australian bank account details, visa grant letter, more proof of ID (UK bank cards & driving licences fine), and birth certificates of any children. We just took everything which I think was wise. At no point were we asked for proof of address, though we did have to put our temporary address on forms. The thing we didn't have and we needed was an Australian phone number. They won't accept UK phone numbers. You can register with CentreLink but you won't get any payments till you have a TFN but you can't apply for a TFN without an Australian phone number. Medicare registration was ok - no phone number required - but you do need an Australian bank account. So phone number as a priority tomorrow for us then!

Thanks Suzukiiscottie - really useful!

Cheers Cal :-)

We arrive in Melbourne next week & will need to get new SIM cards for our mobile phones. Can anyone tell me where you can buy these & what the best network is in terms of coverage etc around the Melbourne area? Thank you!

We got a 189 without a migration agent. Lots of research & you need to be thorough but it was ok. Perhaps there were a couple of things we might have done differently with agent advice but don't think it made any difference in the long run. We fly to Melbourne next week :-)

Same as us tina0101. Moved out a couple of days ago, staying with relatives, fly a week today :-)

We had the removal guys in last week - it makes it all very real doesn't it! We fly to Melbourne a week today - where are you off to?