There has been much considered advise on here. It's a tricky situation. As some other posters have suggested - I'd suggest seeking help to first address your home-sickness and anxiety.

Be it a group of mums to be , professional assistance or both.

Going back to the UK may not address all the issues you hope it may do. When did you leave the UK?

Life has been difficult for a lot of people there for some time, and isn't going to get easy in the near future with The coming changes to EU membership.

You may find building the support networks here may be helpful and also, don't feel the need to give into extended family pressure if it is being applied (explicitly or implicitly). Siblings and parents could support you by visiting you here, for a part of your pregnancy or after the birth - if they wanted to.

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If this is true - NK on manoeuvres- then it says I all. The NK man-child has been sporting the dummy over successive US administrations without it getting out of hand (other than for he poor citizens of NK).

But now all it takes is the current US man-child in charge to start WW3, due to his own dummy spit..


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A Korean mate and Ozzy spouse are still going. Albeit the spouse insists on travel insurance just in case whilst the Korean says - 'she'll be alright' - don't bother. Interesting approach. I'm akin to go with the view of the locals every time. Still no accounting for the current incumbent in the White House and what his reaction might be....


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That's a completely different issue

Its a bit more scientific than that.

I'm sure there is some justification as you point out, but it's not the whole story is it?

Knowing personnel in the army, serving and retired, including majors who campaign for better conditions and PTSD support from within and without, I'd be willing to believe them over a publication from or for the military establishment.

I'm sure there are those in the army who'd disagree, but campaigns and charities for PTSD, war veterans, invictus etc don't come out of thin air....

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Hmm.....those in the Army who fought successive wars in the Middle East with substandard equipment and even poorer post war support may have another view on that. Being in the thick of it and all....


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More than the right fit and experience for the job, the language and way candidates express themselves tends to be an issue. Then there is the bad luck to factor in because Australia works on who you know rather than what you know. If you have contacts who vouch for your work ethics and experience then the recruiting manager happily takes their word to give that person a chance. They dont care if you always worked in the Energy sector but want to move into the Banking domain, if someone vouches for you then you get in
I wouldnt say that companies here dont look at expats with no local experience. From personal experience, I know of 3 companies struggling to get the right people for major work in Agile, DevOps, CI/CD etc. A lot of companies accept industry experience from European countries and America, which I can attest to in my own example. It took me 5 weeks to find a role and I'm just your boring run of the mill Project Manager while my partner is a PMO/finance analyst (BTW, she got a role in 2 days). At my work place we still need more PMs but can't the right candidates, whether with local or international experience
Dont want to scare people so its important to have a well balanced view. Spend a little time researching and you can quickly find out how you'd fare in the local work force market here. It's not a mature market so people with niche skills may take a long time to find a role or need to branch out. The complexity of projects too isnt comparable to bigger markets like the UK or USA, this has been said many times before on this forum. People tend to quickly get bored with the work as it's not satisfying professionally
KnK

Shame about what happened to Cavendish....and also the shadow cast by Lance Armstrong. Wiggins is also now getting sucked into the fray, worrying.


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Hiiii my lovelies [emoji8]  

I have been here a year [emoji33] I have no idea where it has gone if I am honest, and I have also not spent nearly enough time on here repying all the help I received. I would like to say it is because I have been too busy enjoying life here.. Maybe. Maybe not, honestly I am not sure.

Buckle up. Here we go.. 

Work

We came with no pre set up work. Hubby was the main visa holder as an Finance Controller (accountant). I was lucky, I got a job 4 weeks after moving here, as a general admin, it was a step back from my previous roles, but strangly an increase in pay. I hate it, but it pays the bills and a year on I am still in it.. Hubby (bless him) truely has struggled. It has taken 10 months and 400 + applications and a major pay cut to get a permanent job here. I won't lie, it is tough for accountants in my hubbies field. General feel: I read it before I came and I could go on about incompetence and nepotism in the Australian workforce, yes,  it is very much there. Without going into hours of detail, career wise, we are both miserable. 

Money

Damn the brexit. We completed on our house sale the day after the vote. Good bye 2.05 hello 1.60. Yeay. We sat and waited and waited, the £ is screwed. Lets move on.

Houses

Compared to our part of the UK, it is bloody expensive here. But then to be fair, we did not live near a major city in the UK. We rented for the first 12 months. An rubbish old 80's style house that is cold, damp and dusty. Yes, pictures online lie, but we visited in person so we have no one to blame but ourselves [emoji23] what a location though, sea views and a pool. I forgive my realestate agent for being shocking, they all are. 12 months in, we brought another 80's style cold, damp house for far more $ than I am comfortable with. But I am still in Leicester price mode,  not Perth prices. $630k for 3 bed still feels ridiculous though..

Weather

Move to Aus, it is warm they said.... LIES. I have never felt so cold in my life 

I am told we moved during the coldest winter/summer on record (my luck!). Sure, those 28c days are peachy, but 4c at night in that 80's single glazed house, with no central heating, it has not been fun. Perth, you need to sort this s**t please [emoji23]

 

Social Life

We have no social life. But that is ok, we didn't in the UK either to be fair. We are not sociable per se, we do not have a big circle of friends so have not missed out on that. But, in the 12 months living in our rental, despite seeing our neighbors on the drive way everyday, I have no idea who they are. 

On the flip side, 2 hours in our new house 3 lovely neighbours (nosey sods) came around to say hi. Maybe its suburb related, maybe its owner/rental related. Who knows. I am sure if you make an effort to make friends (unlike us) then you will be fine.

Cost of living

We have not really noticed a diference. Yes, cheese is more expensive. But god fuel is cheap. It is swings and round abouts. We paid £6 for a glass of wine in the UK, its $9 here. Neither here nor there really for us. Overall, taking every houshold cost into account, I would say no more expensive or cheaper than the UK.

Overall

My god, I sound miserable. Honestly, we love it here. Yes, it has been the hardest year of our lives. We "knew" it would be tough. We "knew" it would take time. We had no idea. It has been the biggest learning curve for me and I discovered I am far more British that I realised.. I was the driver of this move and have felt in many ways accountable for it all. The days hubby was so depressed when he couldn't find a job. The days we froze watching movies. The day my mom got rushed into hospital and I was the other side of the world. Emigrating sucks.

But it is also the best thing we have ever done. Every day on the way to (my hell) of a job, I am in awe of the stunning beauty that WA has to offer. The ocean, the gorgeous parakeets, the sunshine. We are miserable here but we also love it here, in a weird twisted way. We know that the current jobs, houses ect are not forever and we have a hope for the future that we never had in the UK. 

So. Would I do the last 12 months again?

Yes [emoji3]

Thanks for reading (to the end... if you got this far [emoji6])

 

We've been here just six months, living in Sydney (suburbs), and a lot of what you say resonates. It's pure ecstasy and agony. Paradox and contradiction. Yet I wouldn't change it for anything (having instigated the move, my partner was willing however, being an Aussie

And wanting to be closer to ageing family)

Work - I had a job offer in my field before I arrived. My other half got one a month in -also in her field. So far so good, pays way better than the UK but yes - bloody incompetent, too laid back IMHO and wasteful. This, coming from someone who has worked pre and post Austerity in Britain and knows what the good and bad times were like. Still it's a 2-5 year plan before moving onto (ideally) running our own going concern.

House - we are renting, similarly in the U.K., and plan to buy in the next few years - investment and retirement property. Prices are high but seem to get a lot more for the money.

Weather still need to get used to the scorching summer - but Sydney winter so far is a doddle. More Autumn and Spring than winter. Where we rent is single glazed also and it can go down to 4-6 degrees, but the heating has been on sparsely and sporadically.

Friends - miss my UK friends and find socialising here is more family and community oriented. This is different/the one thing I find hard getting my head round. Back in Britain we lived in the South East - 40miles out of London, relatively 'white collar', 'white' ethnicity area. Still my group of friends were the most diverse - all ethnicities (White, Asian, Black, mixed race) - 90% of the group are Brits, 10% from Europe or further a field. All age groups - from 30s - 65, gay and straight, all religions, including atheists, varying jobs from lorry drivers to lawyers/; artists to ex army security personnel. And this was rural Buckinghamshire, not London. We all knew each other and socialised extensively.

I'm trying to get the same going here, and the ice is slowly beginning to thaw - glacial pace, but I'll keep chipping at it.

Food/lifestyle - expensive, but great variety - swings and roundabouts indeed.

Missing Britain - first three months, massively. Now - I catch myself out with the odd nostalgic moment but getting settled in. Glad that there is good Brit telly in abundance here - loving Line of Duty![emoji108]

So all in all at times difficult, sad, different, happy and loving the adventure [emoji3]

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Credit rating is very important and hard to establish if it's your first time in Britain.

If you are eligible to vote, get yourself on the local electoral roll (great for proving stability, so make sure you intend to stay at the address for a little while - up to three years).

If you intend to move regularly/often it may not work to your advantage.

Also open a local bank account. I was with Natwest and HSBC - it takes about six months to a year to establish credit-worthiness (this may have changed).

As for mobile phones, if you intend to travel to and from the UK to Oz, 3 (owned by Hutchinson), allow calls from Oz to UK numbers on their 'feel at home', option at no extra cost than your pre-paid tariff. When you go contract, it'd be part of your inclusive minutes.

So if you were in Oz, you could call any UK number from your U.K. Phone, at no extra roaming cost. It worked a treat for us when I moved over and had to call UK banks, utilities etc to chase up final bills, close things down etc. Also when I was on hols, and needed to call Blighty[emoji108]

Apart from that as Scottiegirl said, have a good curry, glass of wine/cider and enjoy the British summer [emoji41]

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Note the word 'similarly'- not talking about specialists/experts who have the skills we need. 

When I went back the first time, after nearly five years, in 1983, I'd been reading about riots all over Britain, three million unemployed, long queues outside Australia House of people desperate to leave, but when I got there, everything was just as it was when I left in 1978.  I lived there from 1996 to 2008 and again, everything was OK. I even got used to the winter weather.  I've not been back since 2008 and I am thinking again, "Britain is in the ****" but I wouldn't bet on "third time unlucky" if and when I do go back.

I can understand that. Being away, for some time, the local news and commentary when seen from afar can be perceived as incendiary.

In my case, we lived through the Blair and Brown years into the Lib Dem/Tory coalition into Cameron and then the beginning of Theresa May's stint.

I worked in the public sector and the education sector and I saw and experienced the sea change and also the change in tone and attitude, as the recession and then austerity hit. IMHO, things were going sour around 2013/14 and was cemented with the 2015 election. I wasn't personally affected, but things did turn.

The growing restlessness and dissatisfaction with poor and middle classes being squeezed economically, Uni or school graduates not being able, to get a job because there were none, the gap between wealthy and poor getting worse etc. The NHS, doc strikes, tube strikes etc. Stories of misdeeds in NHS trusts etc, the shrill press getting worse. People losing pensions over night, bedroom tax etc.

The vitriol of the Brexit campaign side-show, Jo Cox's death and then all the goings on in the last six months.

There is no hell fire and brimstone as such, but there has been considerable change over the past 9-10 years.

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If someone has trained in Australia at an Australian university and paid the exorbitant fees here then of course they should have priority over a similarly qualified person who has applied for the same job from overseas and trained overseas. Absolutely nothing to do with any prejudice ( which seems to be always in the mind of some for reasons best known to themselves). Same applies to any other country and any other person trained within that country. If you are a British trained doctor and apply for a job in a British hospital you should certainly be given preference over an overseas trained person with the same quals.  If you are an Indian doctor trained in India then you should be given preferential treatment over a similarly qualified person from Australia, Britain, China, Indonesia or whatever. Have to consider your own country just once in a while.

It may also come down to experience, reputation and skills in the role, not just a piece of paper (assuming the piece of paper is from a highly regarded professional body).

If a world leading cancer/heart specialist sought work in any country other than their own for some reason. For example a British, Aussie, South African, Indian doctor etc, eminently respected in their field wanted to emigrate somewhere else, I'd be surprised if the country that specialist wanted to move to would turn the Doc down on the basis of 'Our nationals first'.

A policy/decision maker/ immigration officer who turns down the opportunity to improve healthcare in their own country because of some jingoistic bureaucratic 'nationals first' policy is not seeing the wood for the trees.

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I'm afraid that as with many politicians with extremist positions they like to hide their prejudices out of plain view,  I'm sure that she appeals to a parochial electorate not just in NI but also on the mainland but thankfully few mainland politicians would admit to those views.
But  the Tories are giving these people a fig leaf of respectability by getting into bed with them and is frankly repulsive, it slows down the whole process of NI growing up into a mature democracy and risks all the divisions of the troubles coming out of the cupboard again

Owen Jones: The old Tory order is crumbling – it’s taken Grenfell for us to really see it

Similar to the collapse of the postwar social democratic contract, the neo-liberal Thatcherite consensus has also been rejected

about 6 hours ago Owen Jones 3

The burned-out shell of the Grenfell Tower block. “The right decry the “politicisation” of this human-made disaster, but to avoid talking about the politics of this calamity is like trying to understand rain without discussing weather, or illness without biology.” NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP/Getty Images

  Britain’s old order is crumbling. Those who sense this most acutely, such as the rightwing press, are its defenders. This week, The Sun was reduced to begging its readers to see the evils of socialism. They are right to panic when 30 per cent of its readers ended up voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party . Right to reflect that, according to a new YouGov poll, 43 per cent of people believe a “genuinely socialist government” would make Britain a “better place to live” and just 36 per cent say the reverse. Those who represent the future – younger Britons, particularly younger working-class voters – are decisively plumping for Corbyn’s new Labour party.
The political consensus established by Margaret Thatcher’s Tories – neoliberalism, for want of a more sexy word – is disintegrating. It is going the same way as the postwar social democratic consensus established by Clement Attlee, which fell apart in the late 1970s. That model – public ownership, high taxes on the rich, strong trade unions – delivered an unparalleled increase in living standards and economic growth. A surge in oil prices, and the collapse of the Bretton Woods international financial framework, helped bring that era to an end. The death of this political consensus was increasingly obvious at the time: its morbid symptoms were everywhere. Those who wanted to keep it together were powerless against the incoming tide of history. “There are times, perhaps once every 30 years, when there is a sea change in politics,” said Labour’s James Callaghan, days before he was ousted from No 10 by Thatcher . “It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of.”
The iconic episode that, for the right, summed up the fall of the postwar consensus was the “winter of discontent”. For the ascendant Thatcherites, this wave of public-sector strikes in-between 1978 and 1979 encapsulated the fragmentation of a social order they detested. Here was the chaos and tyranny of collectivism in full pomp. For the new right, it vividly illustrated the need to smash union power and roll back the frontiers of the state that sustained it. The individual would be liberated from the oppressive yoke of collectivism: that was the lesson the widespread strikes taught, or so the rightwing narrative went.
If any episode sums up the collapse of our own neoliberal era, it is surely Grenfell Tower. The right decry the “politicisation” of this human-made disaster, but to avoid talking about the politics of this calamity is like trying to understand rain without discussing weather, or illness without biology. The Tories are desperately attempting to shore up a system that has engineered the longest squeeze in wages since the Napoleonic wars, with deteriorating public services, mediocre privatised utilities, a NHS plunged into “humanitarian crisis” , and exploding debt. It can’t even provide affordable, comfortable and safe housing for millions of its own citizens. It is incapable of meeting the needs and aspirations of the majority. The right, therefore, is left with a dilemma. It can either double down and make the ideological case for its failings and increasingly rejected system, or it can concede ground. That’s what Labour did 40 years ago. In 1977, Callaghan formally renounced Keynesianism, arguing that the option of “spending our way out of recession no longer existed” , and had only ever worked by “injecting bigger and bigger doses of inflation into the economy”. The Tories may well now try abandoning cuts in favour of investment; but surrendering ground to the enemy didn’t save Labour back then.
There were Tory MPs who believed that rejecting the postwar consensus was desirable but impossible. The electoral success of Thatcherism changed their minds, and they became willing converts. A similar process is now under way in the Labour party. There were also those Tory MPs who believed rejecting the consensus was undesirable even if it was possible: the so-called wets. They became increasingly marginalised within their own party. And then, of course, Labour was forced to accept the underlying tenets of the new social order – just as the Tories once were compelled to surrender to Attlee’s new consensus.
That’s not to breed complacency. Labour’s assumption of power – with Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister – is not inevitable. But the Labour leadership has an extra-parliamentary theory of social change. Passing legislation is important, but they don’t believe society can simply be changed by a few politicians pulling levers at the top. They believe that people in their communities and workplaces should feel collectively empowered and politically engaged.
Nothing scares Britain’s vested interests more than a politicised, mobilised population. Our social order is tottering, but it can continue to disintegrate, with painful consequences, for a long time. A new society intolerant of injustice and inequality can be created. But only the biggest mass movement in Britain’s history can make it so.
Guardian Service

 

Arlene Foster letter on blocking same-sex marriage in Scotland released

DUP leader asked Scottish government to block NI couples from converting civil partnerships to marriage

about 13 hours ago Updated: 9 minutes ago

DUP leader Arlene Foster: requested restriction on gay couples from Northern Ireland converting civil partnerships to same sex-marriages in Scotland. Photograph: Gareth Chaney Collins

are to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Email App The Scottish Government has published a written request from DUP leader Arlene Foster asking that it restrict gay couples from Northern Ireland converting their civil partnerships to same sex marriages in Scotland. The publication comes days after Mrs Foster said she had no recollection of sending such correspondence to the administration in Edinburgh.
The letter, written in September 2015 when Mrs Foster was Stormont finance minister, urged then Scottish local government minister Marco Biagi to exclude Northern Ireland-based couples from legislation that enabled people in civil partnerships to convert those unions to same sex marriages.
Mr Biagi tweeted about the existence of the letter in the wake of the British general election, amid increased UK-wide focus on the DUP’s conservative stance on social issues such as gay marriage. The DUP is in negotiations with the Conservative party with a view to supporting a minority government in the House of Commons.
But in a radio interview last week, the former Stormont first minister denied sending such a letter.
“I’m not quite sure what he (Mr Biagi) was referring to but it certainly wasn’t a letter from me and I’ve no recollection of a letter from me,” she told BBC Radio Ulster’s Inside Politics show.
DOCUMENT PAGES Zoom           « Page 2 of  2 » “If I’d written to him officially as minister of finance or something like that around recognition laws here in Northern Ireland, I have no recollection of it. I certainly didn’t write in a personal capacity.”
The letter dated September 4th 2015 released by the Scottish Government on Tuesday is signed by Mrs Foster.
It was a follow-up to a letter from her predecessor as finance minister, the DUP’s Simon Hamilton. Mr Hamilton’s letter has also been made public.
The letters did not cite moral or political objections to the proposed legislation in Scotland, but highlighted potential legal issues.
They said complications could arise from couples having “dual status”, where they are recognised as civil partners in Northern Ireland but as married in Scotland. Mrs Foster wrote: “I’m sure neither of us would wish to place same sex couple in an uncertain legal position, which maybe difficult and expensive to resolve.”
Mr Biagi rejected the request from the Northern Ireland ministers.
In his reply to Mrs Foster, dated November 24 2015, he said it would “not be appropriate” to exclude Northern Ireland couples from availing of the legislation.
Stormont’s department of finance has responsibility for marriage regulations in Northern Ireland. 

As for this attack it's as vile, pernicious and misguided as any of the others (before a competition about body count ensues)


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This certainly is a cut and thrust forum, which I've found to be quite nasty at times. If it wasn't for the nice people on here, who against the odds are still capable of participating in debates in a reasonable manner, I would have left the forum long ago! Guys, can we please cool the temperature a bit and show some respect for one another even when we don't agree with where the other person is coming from. That would be a more mature approach to participation in an otherwise interesting and great forum. End of rant.  

People of Indian-origin have become the largest migrant group in the Australian province of Victoria for the first time in history, Australia’s national census has found. The first results of the census revealed that after 12 years of strong growth, India was the biggest source of migration to the state, beating England for the first time, Xinhua news agency reported.
Harish Budhiraja, who moved to Australia in 2005, said Indians see Victoria as accepting and multicultural. “Indians still see Australia as the land of opportunity when it comes to education, research and the standard of living,” Budhiraja was quoted as saying.
The census showed Indians were Victoria’s highest migrant group, beating England, which held top spot at the last census in 2011.
The preliminary response rate was confirmed at more than 96 per cent, a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.
Head of the Census Duncan Young, thanked Australians who submitted forms, and said every form is welcomed.
“I’d like to thank everyone who completed the Census,” Young said. “We’ve received a fantastic response from Australians which is testament to the value the community sees in the Census and the insights it generates.”
More than 58 per cent of the household forms received were submitted online. The ABS is pleased to have received 4.9 million online forms - 2.2 million more in 2016, compared to 2011. 
“Our experience in Census 2006 and 2011 was that online forms produce higher quality data and are quicker to process. This increase in online forms will allow us to release Census data more than two months sooner than in 2011,” Young said.

As far as I know (and I don't see why this would have become less exacting with time) if you are not qualified from a reputable University/accredited by a world recognised training body for professional services such as Doctoring, Accounting Engineering etc, you have to study and qualify to Oz standards.

So even if you come from the UK, US, and Europe if it's not a qualification of good standing, you have to retrain.

On that basis Indian qualified doctors too I'd expect have to go through such rigorous selection.

So the question for me would be, why are the Oz doctors being overlooked if they are so good, and most importantly available (whilst the majority of overseas doctors re-qualify/re train)?


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Partner is Australian - so for her a move to be closer to family;

For us it's lifestyle, weather better job opportunities and options for future retirement.

Besides, the current situation at home in the U.K., Brexit, the results of cumulative economic austerity policies since 2008 and now more recently extremist and terror attacks on a very regular basis, meant we were getting to this point of moving, sooner rather than later.

So all in all, to be closer to loved ones, for a better life and all that Oz has to offer.




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not relishing it by any means ...just pointing out that trouble is brewing , the sides are being created.
trump - brexit ,it all has to be ..sadly

Next Taoiseach (PM) in Ireland is to be the openly gay son of Indian Immigrants.  Quite proud of that and shows how progressive Ireland is becoming.
 
 

It is about 65.5m but that's not material.  It is not so much about the absolute number but about the mix of demographics.  Most western countries have a tax and pensions timebomb.  I think currently there are about 5 working people for every pensioner, I think by 2030, it is expected to be 2 to 1.  Why do you think Germany are so keen to embrace highly qualified immigrants.
immigrants are generally net contributors to an economy.  Also immigrants tend to be in core working demographic (20 to 60) and at the younger end of it.  Their economic contribution is more than the resources they consume and they actually subsidize the domestic population.
Don't worry, it will continue to fall due to Brexit, a Tory government and the coming recession.
It may well fit with the narrative of the increasingly right wing UK but will lead to a lower standard of living for the next generation. 

[emoji2][emoji2][emoji2] really , that's not how I see it .
248,000 less people to be a drain on the nhs ,school places and housing .
I always ask the same question .
the population of the uk is 64,000,000 ....what do you think the population should be ?
our roads are clogged ...nhs struggling ...school class sizes rising