Peachy

Awesome thanks!

Hi We are due to apply for citizenship. We qualify having been in Australia for 4 years. However one of the family is now undergoing medical tests. Is a change in health status taken into account when applying for citizenship or is it just the number years as a permanent resident / passing the citizenship test? Many thanks for any advice P x

Hi These areas are fabulous for families. I live in a suburb close by. Michelton and Keperra are on the train line which is a huge advantage. All three have good shopping centres. Of the three, Mitchelton is more expensive to buy but has better quality of housing, shopping centre, coffee shops and closer to the centre. I would chose this over the other two areas, but I have friends in all 3 suburbs and all love the respective locations. If you are looking in those areas I would also consider Ferny Grove and Ferny Hills. Excellent station at Ferny Grove and end of the line so you always get a seat on a morning. Ferny Grove State School has a good reputation. It is a large school but I understand that it is a good supportive environment. Ferny Hills has access to the shopping centres, train line and a fabulous with heaps of free events put on for families. Within walking distance of Ferny Grove State School.

Hi My hubby is a SW. He managed to get a permanent job over here at a higher level, before we moved over. Telephone interview with questions emailed over beforehand. Tips for getting the job: 1. Look at Smartjobs - for gov / QHealth positions 2. Phone the contact to discuss the position (having done a heap of prep first). 3. Make sure you understand the impact of NDIS on the area you are working in, to show that you are up to speed with current changes. 4. Follow the gov format for your statement in support. Gov employers expect you to follow the selection criteria v strictly - use the headings and work through putting examples (anon) of your work. Most people cram heaps into their statements. 5. Research the legislation and the role. My OH had Australian text books shipped over before the move so that he better understood the landscape - this was great enabling him to complete (2) and (4) with sound QLD knowledge. 6. Be aware the SW over here is a little way behind the UK so have some ideas, but don't be too revolutionary 7. Check whether you do need to be a member of the AASW - most jobs say that you need to be eligible (which you should be, but I think you need an assessment done) but it is expensive to actually join up. OH only joined AASW once he was looking to move upwards again. Good luck!

https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Registration-Process/Standard-Format-for-Curriculum-Vitae.aspx This should help :-)

I had a job lined up. I applied online via the agent's website. I did not need to pay additional rent, over and above the usual. I did supply a lengthy statement in support of my application to make me more favourable than someone already in Australia. It had to be pretty good as we were also bringing over our 3 cats to stay in the rental!!

I am a little surprised that you can get from Ipswich to Brisbane in 30 mins. Is usually 50 mins to an hour on the train and 50 mins or more by car, traffic depending. The OP was also keen to get to the coast, which would be at least an hour away. I have family out that way, and they feel that they are 'a long way from things' and don't enjoy the commute from Ipswich to the city, or going into Brisbane on a weekend. Obviously the OP won't be doing a commute if they live and work out there. P

Will check them out. Very helpful to get quote online too. Thanks for the suggestion. P

Hi Captain R What did you decide to do in the end? Who did you go with and how much did it cost? I am now in the same position of going back to the UK to do a final clearout of my things. Any advice much appreciated. Thanks P

We exchanged on our house on the day of Brexit!!! We actually bit the bullet and brought the money over - we timed it to coincide with a rate jump when there were various court cases underway re Brexit. You can lock in a rate with Moneycorp so that you can benefit from a rate jump in the UK v a decline in the strength of the AUD. Sometimes it jumps momentarily when a government announcement is made or similar. I am glad we did bring the money over. It has prevented the constant watching of rates and enabled us some financial security over here, albeit having lost a chunk of money. We worked out what we would be happy with rate-wise and stuck with that. I found the people at Moneycorp very patient with my enquiries so would have a chat with them about the options. P

Suggest that you get a wriggle on with it. To get it done by February is doable but pushing it. We had the same issue coming up to my husband's 40th birthday. We contacted the skills assessment people and asked if they would be willing to expedite it, which they did for a small fee. Made things a bit more stressful though. Definitely get going with it now!

We rented from the UK too and found the perfect house for us. Great to prepare the kids before the move too so that they had a new 'home' the minute we landed. Good tips for others doing this - Google street view all the way along the street and surrounding streets Confirm with the agent that the photos of the property are recent (and not taken 10 yrs ago when the property was first tenanted!) Check out the crime map for the area - very useful to determine that you are not going to land in a hotbed of drug dealing!! Go with 6 months if you can, rather than 12 months just in case it is a pit.

Sunscreen is so much cheaper over here. We buy the massive tubs of SPF 50 - Coles own brand. We have never burnt and I have very fair skin. You will get through large quantities of the stuff so you might as well just get used to a new brand. Sunscreen has a shelf life and probably wouldn't travel that well in the high heat of a container and you wouldn't want to waste cabin luggage space on something that you can buy cheaply everywhere.

Husband and I both secured permanent jobs before we set off. Lots of hard work, research and carefully focussed applications. I put in my application and had my interview before I even got PR!! It can be done :-)

Do you have a choice of area? If not, then there isn't much that you can do. Certainly not terrible, but wouldn't be my first choice of location. Areas close by that I would choose in order of preference - Eatons Hill, Cashmere, Warner.

Hi Suggest that you just google CV / Resume images - people style their documents differently but at least you have the content outlined in Luisa's response. It would be completely inappropriate for someone to share their actual CV with you so Google will be your best bet. Have just googled 'sample CV for AHPRA' and there are heaps on there for you to use. P

I agree with Quoll. It is heading in the right direction but at least 10 years behind the UK in terms of approach. A lot of people find it frustrating. NDIS is coming in soon so this will mean that there is more pressure on jobs - people will be transferring from disability services to other fields of social work, but I still think that in CP you should be okay.

Hiya Sorry you haven't had any replies yet. Am bumping your post to the front page again. I am based in Brisbane, so probably a bit far out for meet ups. I have made most of my good friends through interests. A great place to start if you need to extend your network a bit. Hope you find some people to connect with. P

Do you have a particular reason for Perth or SA? If you are thinking about better work prospects, have you considered other states?

We looked into this when we arrived. It is worthwhile paying now, because if you join when you are much older, the costs are astronomical. It is also tax effective for us. We have gone for family as well because the kids wear glasses and are likely to need orthodontic treatment. I used iSelect - http://www.iselect.com.au/ good way to narrow down an extremely extensive field.

Yep, I would agree with kissofthegypsy on those areas being not first choice for moving to. Generally speaking everywhere has very nice pockets and then less desirable areas, but if you are moving over, you might as well start with a nicer pocket if you can. If you decide to go 'Northside' post on here and I can advise on some good suburbs / areas to avoid, depending on what sort of area you are looking for. Also agree re Bruce Highway - if you are working in CBD you will need to set off before dawn to get in on time ;-) Buses and trains are an excellent way to commute if you can. The Brisbane suburbs summary on PIO is a really good place to start. Then have a look at real estate. For example Paddington is lovely - rental is quite pricey but manageable but it is out of most people's budgets for purchase. I looked at rental + purchase prices so if you end up staying, you can afford to buy where you have rented. Places like Toowong look really nice on paper - good traffic links, some lovely houses, but it is a nightmare on a morning - traffic is at a standstill unless you go down the backstreets.

I know lots of army families and they are all lovely! The schools are fantastic at settling in the new army families because they are aware that they move around so much. When I pick up my kids, there are always men and women in uniform dropping by to collect their children. Eatons Hill is nice and leafy with houses on big plots. And about the only place in Brisbane where there are lots of roundabouts!! Not sure if you are churchy people but there is a great community church in the area too - even if you aren't church people, they do good children's groups which would be a great way for your granddaughter to make friends. I really like Eatons Hill and would have considered moving there but for the transport issue.

I am from up North (UK) originally but I have acclimatised really quickly. It is really cold in the winter - I wore scarf and gloves this morning to work and have a log burner going now. You definitely need to bring the winter woollies ;-) Brisbane is a fabulous city. So many wonderful suburbs. Are you planning to go Northside or Southside?

Hi I assume you mean Eatons Hill Brisbane. I have lots of good friends in Eatons Hill. It is a great area for families. There is a new shopping centre with supermarket etc. There is also the Eatons Hill Hotel which has lots of events - gigs etc. Would be good for nightlife for your older 2 children, without them having to go into CBD. Eatons Hill is also close to Albany Creek, which also has a great centre, roller skating rink which your son might like - very popular with my kids. Only issue that I have with it is that it is a little more tricky to get into CBD because it isn't on the train line so you may end up ferrying your children around a bit. Schools are fine. What visas have you got for your daughters? Are they in education? Good luck - October will come around quickly! P

Council tax? If you buy your home you do have to pay rates, although not 'council tax' as such. It is costed according to the value of your home. Pretty similar to council tax. I think that Nemesis is referring to renting when she says no council tax (your landlord has to pay this). gas electric? We don't have gas in our property - only electric. It is cheaper than in the UK, but depends on if you have your air con on all the time. We manage without. water? Even as renters you may have to pay for what you use. The landlord pays for the general water charge. Water is expensive, particularly if you have a pool but you learn to be economical with it which is a good thing. car insurance averages? We pay $550 a year, but we have a pretty old car. mobile phone contracts ? I pay $60 a month including international calls. Would be a lot cheaper without the international credit. Internet / broadband: depends on your package. We pay $90 a month including a TV recordable hard drive thingy.. House contents insurance - seems more expensive over here, but then in UK we were with the same company for years so got a large discount. Sorry haven't put the figures in but can't remember as we pay quarterly. It also depends on whether you live in a house, apartment etc. Basically our costs are about the same over here as they were in UK. Everyone talks about it being so expensive, but we save on our utilities bills and travel costs - we only run one car now because the public transport system is cheap (in comparison to UK) and very reliable. This makes up for the additional food bills - we probably spend $30 more each week on food.