DrDougster

3 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

We used to go on stag nights to Nottingham sometimes. It was either there, Derby or Sheffield. I'm from Chesterfield originally so we had a bus pick us up after 2:00am. This was when nightclubs closed at 2, in the 70's and 80's. We used to have more trouble getting in places in Nottingham, learned that if you had a girl with you you were straight in, if you went in with 3 or 4 guys the bouncers would just say no. Girls were usually willing to go in with you though, specially if you bought them a drink once in.

Sheffield was better and more choice of clubs

 

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Probably The Palais or Ocean? Actually the Palais was called something different back then and Ocean probably didn't exist. Ocean was the dodgier of the two down near Broadmarsh. There was then a big one - Oasis I think - that opened up on the ring road near the cinema which morphed into a strip club which largely functioned as a money transfer establishment for the flow of student loans from male to female students at the University!

Also worth noting that this year lots of people have at least an extra year's worth of holiday money and spending burning a hole in their pocket and time on their hands to waste on realestate.co.au 

It is also worth looking at any salary sacrifice schemes your employer might have. They are better than in UK. Having said that, we bought a used car and put the tax avoidance money through our rental payments at around 900 a fortnight or so. 

11 hours ago, ramot said:

We lived in Keyworth for 10 years until we moved overseas as expats. I still spent part of the year there as all our children were in UK at boarding school or university. We retired to live in Australia.initially for a few years to have a bit of adventure, that was 18 years ago this month, and we aren’t leaving.

Used to ride around there a fair bit - I lived out in Staunton in the Vale for a while. I went to med school in Nottingham back in the last century before it got too many guns! Plastic surgeon who taught me got stabbed by a former work colleague a couple of days ago after a longstanding work dispute - the guy broke into his family home in Hallam with a jerrycan and a knife at 4am ffs!

1 hour ago, ramot said:

Did you come from Nottingham? 

Yup

12 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

$11 cauliflowers are optional, but rent or mortgage payments aren't. We are in the unfortunate position of having to rent because our house sale in the UK has fallen through twice, and we're paying almost double what we we'd be paying in the UK for a similar property in a similar area. If you're also earning double your UK salary then that's fine, but as @FirstWorldProblems pointed out, most people aren't. I'm a teacher at the top of the main pay-scale and I earn a third more in Queensland than I would in the UK, which I'm very happy about - no whinging teacher here! - but it does mean I have to make my own coffee in the morning.

I totally agree that the quality of life is better than in the UK - and certainly at the moment - but when it comes down to the cost of living, it certainly isn't 'swings and roundabouts'.

Yeah, I think we are in a very fortunate position where we often don't notice how much things cost. However, I do notice how well kept all the parks and green areas are, how spotless the public transport is and how pleasant supermarket cashiers and other people you casually meet are. I think you can see where your tax dollars go a bit more easily in Brisbane than you can in London or Nottingham.

I remember when I lived in New Hampshire there was an all you can eat for $5 at a Pizza Hut fairly close to the co-op where I bought fruit and veg where a single red capsicum was also $5. Easy to see where obesity comes from in this kind of economics and it's often obvious here too. Eating out is pricey in Australia.

Our babysitter/nanny is $25/hr. Nursery/kindy is $640 a week.

It's all swings and round-a-bouts. Some things are better value, some more expensive, some jobs pay better, some worse. Land, for example Queensland is three times the size of France, is gonna generally be cheaper but Kangaroo Point is more expensive than Moss Side. (I've not actually checked but you get my point!)

You're likely to be able to invest earnings at a higher interest rate here if you are saving for the future - supers have been pushing 7-8% over the last five years or so in Australia.

I saw a cauliflower at $11 up at Sunshine one weekend last summer and $3 a cucumber is not uncommon. Fresh fruit and veg varies massively with seasons, far more so than in UK. Beef quality is superb here and most butchers carry Wagyu as a norm. High street butchers are a dying trade in UK and something that I really appreciate here. The food is more continental perhaps in that it is often more expensive but higher quality.

Coffee in Aus is just superb and from a quality of life point of view, texting our almond flat white and long black order to an independent barrista on our five minute drive to work is priceless.

Earnings are occupation dependent. I earn probably about 2.5x UK salary for the same job. Working conditions for us are better than they were in NHS. Much better. Our rent is steep but we live in the kind of house you just wouldn't rent in UK.

I think life here is much better than in the UK and even more so in the current world situation. For children Aus is fabulous - the expression always sounds like you're describing something in a greenhouse but our daughter is thriving here.

Do it!

2 hours ago, paulhand said:

Clearly not all public sector jobs are ‘in government’ or have national security implications. 

Clearly. And, not all aerospace engineering jobs have national security implications!

6 hours ago, Marisawright said:

@Aimee25, I'm assuming you are planning to apply for a permanent visa.

If you want to work in a government job or in any job that pertains to national security or defence, then yes, you need to be a citizen.  If that is a requirement of the job, it will be stated on the job advertisement.  I guess your approach should be to check what kind of organisations could potentially employ your husband, and check what their requirements are.

In the old days, you could gamble on finding enough make-do work for 2 years until you could become a citizen. Nowadays it takes almost 6 years to become a citizen - 4 years till you qualify and 1-2 years to apply and get approved.

You don't need to be a citizen for all government jobs - as prev. I'm a Dr in a public hospital - government employee and started as such on a 457.

1 hour ago, ali said:

I think currently that significant cost is estimated at $49,000 over 5 years.  If the condition is permanent then the cost is considered over a 10 year period (if i've read the website right). The cost is estimated against medical and community services that may be required.

The other issue for the OP is that the support services on arriving in Aus may not necessarily be forthcoming very easily, and pensions will need to be applied for and not transferred.  Funding can be notoriously difficult, a colleague who has a severely autistic son had had her NDIS funding reduced every year

 

NDIS is a complete nightmare for patients in my experience of it.

4 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

I agree and the OP has also said the child gets disability allowance. They’d therefore likely be awarded it’s equivalent in Australia too. A lifetime of that will be costly on the Australian taxpayers. The OP has said whilst the vision is likely to be static, doctors can’t say the certain it won’t worsen.  It will be a great shame for the OP if the visa is declined but they cannot fail to understand why if so. It’s nothing to do with punishing people and I’m sure they know that really.  They are just understandably worried they will get turned down.  I have a friend who has a daughter with high special needs. She’s an adult now but when she was a child my friend and her husband looked into moving to Australia. His job was on the skilled list but it would have failed because their daughter needed special education and other things and the costs of that was very high. They were disappointed but 100% understood.  There could be no blame, it was just the way it was.  The idea was put to bed and that was it.  
@DrDougster, it’s not just the cost of the impairment in medical needs, it’s all the associated costs too. 
 

 Hope things work out for the OP. 

Yes, obviously the impairment has its associated disabilities and handicaps which may be costly. But, to be able to be in a mainstream school with support and not to be held back would suggest that these may not be insurmountable.

As all have suggested - a specialist in medical cases would certainly be the best person to consult with for knowledgeable advice and a potential application with a well prepared report.

1 hour ago, Raul Senise said:

I don't know for sure as there are no official statistics on what occupation were invited. 

However, considering that the Priority Occupation List was introduced on the 2nd of September and we saw invites at 65 points from September, it is a reasonable assumption. 

The assumption is also supported by the fact that other programs such as ENS are seeing occultations on the Priority List being processed very quickly, while other occupations languish in the queue waiting to be processed.

There was an interventional radiologist who put a few posts on here that got an invitation (189) on 65 points. Ours was a 190 on 75. 

As I've said before - I think there's certainly a Drs skills grab with the covid priority list. 

4 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

It sounds like there will be significant costs.   Not perhaps medically but the OP has said their child has extra support at school and gets disability allowance. It’s likely those things will be needed in Australia too and they certainly would run into many thousands of dollars.  They definitely should use an agent to give themselves the best chance, fingers crossed for them. 

From previous posts by agents it appears the important thing is to get a well written report. The costs need to be pretty high for it to be a straight no and I'd be surprised if being partially sighted would be a straight no on this basis as it's not an incredibly costly impairment for which to address handicaps.

I would've thought you'd be able to find a way if you get a well drafted medical report. Being partially sighted isn't actually super expensive to support is it? I mean, it's not something that is going to cost 10s of thousands year on year on year like a complex medical condition might do? There's another migration agent on here who is highly recommended for medical problems with visas - have a flick though and find them too. Always worth getting a few opinions on things like this.

All the best with it. Very hard dealing with things like this and make sure you and your husband have good support too - we often forget to look after each other when focussing on our kids.

This is how you do good track and trace to control a respiratory virus pandemic. It is a sensible option.

South African variant is different to UK one and looks like it actually spreads even more easily.

Sorry to say it but your brother and the covid conspiracy theorists are dangerous idiots.

There are many examples through history to show you that early, seemingly harsh social restrictions in pandemics lead to the best economic outcomes.

On 06/01/2021 at 09:33, Wanderer Returns said:

 

What's the rush? When I arrived I hired a car for a week, and that was plenty of time to find a car I liked and complete the purchase. That said, I could live with a car I didn't like very much - assuming there was enough legroom. A car's one thing, but a home another. You'd be mad to rent a place without seeing it first and getting a feel for the area that it's in. I've lived in Brisbane on and off for over a decade and there's a big difference between suburbs, especially on the north side - even Ashgrove and Newmarket are quite different, despite being right next to each other.

Totally agree with the last point. Even areas within Northern suburbs vary much as they do in London - literally two streets apart can be chalk and cheese.

I would get on and get in touch with an agent asap with you as the primary applicant.

You should probably go for a 190. The website you need is https://migration.qld.gov.au

You have being a nurse in your corner at the moment but being offshore is a bit of a knockout blow.

The reason I say do things asap is you should try and be ready to go by 25th Jan! (I know!) It is unlikely that offshore EOIs will be entertained in this round but if the desire to grab healthcare workers and other occupations that can help with covid outstrips the border restrictions for covid then there may be a window where you can apply. Also, having a deadline always gets things moving. 

The other hurdle will be getting accreditation and through the AHPRA maze but start eating the elephant one bite at a time...

Opinions expressed are my own and may not be those of my employer.

It does sound like you have a very troubling real case here and perhaps your legal team were inexperienced in this field. Thus, I would be happy to represent you if you wish to revisit legal action and I will hereby pm you my BSB and account number for deposit of only a $10000 retainer forthwith.

I just listed my roles as a doctor. I didn't feel my paper round, cleaning, kitchen hand, dish washing, salesperson in GAP and chocolate packing at Thornton's were particularly relevant!

On 04/01/2021 at 20:59, FJRIJR said:

Thank you Gaia,

This sounds really promising. 

Do you remember if the doctor asks the parents general questions about the health of the children? I guess I am thinking that if they ask if he is showing any signs of developmental delay or not hitting general milestones then we would be obliged to tell them about the speech therapy.

They didn't ask my wife (who she went in with) any questions about our toddler.

Ours went straight through in a few weeks in November. However, it was Qld, onshore, priority covid-helping occupations. A case of us being very fortunate with timing.

I'm sure I missed off quite a few trips, probably the odd conference in the US or holiday to Greece etc but there was no issue. Don't worry about it! There are so many more things to spend your worry reserves on!

Pretty unlikely that this would get picked up in the medical. For our toddler it was a quick physical and temp check. However, I can't remember the screening questions that I had to answer for her but you'll get linked through to these when you make the appointments for your medicals. Be careful not to lie but it is amazing the things you sometimes forget when you fill out forms. I was completely open about my mental health problems and the hospital admission for depression that I had only a few months before the medical and it went through ok. It is all based on how much your son might cost the state.

I think your plan is a good one. Good luck with it and Aus is a great place for bringing up kids so really hope it goes well for him.

Just reviving this. We are looking at schools for our little girl now she is starting kindy aged 3.5 as we will need to enrol her by April this year. We are in Wavell Heights so catchment for Nundah state which looks very good but just out of Eagle Junction which has excellent reports. However, as Steve has said, St Margaret's is meant to be great and a colleague has his girls there. This would probably mean a move for us and a longer commute. We are considering a move this year to buy anyway and a small move in Northern suburbs to Hendra, Ascot or Gordon Park would move the state options. 

The other decision is whether to send her next year and her be one of the very youngest in her year or hold her a year? She's certainly mentally ready to move and she has been to a Montessori so I know my wife feels it is about time she started to actually learn to write instead of grate cheese! However, she's so little!

If that's your worst nightmare just wait 'til you live somewhere with sharks, salties, poisonous snakes, deadly spiders and magpies that attack...