Amber Snowball

This was in the paper this morning. Assume some more details might come out later today but some possible issues already in evidence. MEMBERS of the public who apply to take in Ukrainian refugees will have to undergo background checks overseen by the Government to make sure they are suitable, it has emerged. Applicants will also have to personally name the Ukrainians they wish to house rather than be offered an individual to support via a council or central government. It is also understood that the £350-a-month “thank you” payment is only due to last a year, despite refugees being able to stay in the UK for up to three years.

Yes a few years back, prior to 2019, there was a backlash about new grad nurses being unable to get jobs and this was blamed on overseas nurses “taking jobs”. A whole bunch, about 300 ish, of Qld new grads came to Scotland at that time just to get work. Covid may have readjusted that but I find it ludicrous that with the incredibly low covid figures in Australia that the health system couldn’t cope. Must have been running on a shoestring. No idea about visa allocation or timelines so I’ll butt out and won’t derail the thread.

It’s hard isn’t it. I have always admired people who retrain once they have more “life responsibilities”, I have never been able to afford to and now can’t be bothered anyway!

Hi, yes pretty sure you can. But you have to be a citizen from memory. They will only fund you so many times at each level. So I think it was 3 undergraduate degrees for example. They then take the repayments straight from your wages once you earn over a certain amount. Sorry I don’t know what that amount is these days, $52000 or there abouts maybe? Others will be better informed. Sorry lots of maybes in my answer! What are you thinking of doing? That might help others with a more detailed answer.

I had a small pond at my last house in Victoria, that had loads of frogs in it. I think I repopulated the hills with frogs, there were loads. Wish I’d taken a picture for you now! Frogspawn bobbing around in the waterfall feature.

Quite possibly as even when I was there the ACAS wait time for assessment could be as long as 8-12weeks or more to being seen the next day after referral, really varied quite wildly. I think in Victoria at least they continued with assessments through covid but probably remotely which is not at all ideal, we picked up so many other things with a face to face. Thing is you need to have needs at the time of assessment otherwise you are ineligible, bit of catch 22. It will be interesting to see what effect the single assessment workforce has on it all. There is a fight for obvious reasons to keep the assessment and approval process away from private companies with a vested interest in providing the actual care. Also to keep the highly skilled ACAS/ACAT assessors who are all nurses, social workers or other allied health professionals, which isn’t cheap but far superior to less skilled or experienced staff doing it.

They are talking about home care packages which are via my aged care. The acat assesses for those but it is part of the same system. All aged care in Australia is now under federal government so states aren’t receiving any funding for this area now. They are planning a single assessment workforce this year, which will be better. Currently acas or acat assess home care packages and care home eligibility, along with transitional care and short term restorative care and councils assess for the home support program for those lower needs like a bit of cleaning and a shower. Both programs are via my aged care. No way around it unless you pay privately for everything and for some people that works out better. Residency isn’t assessed, it’s the income that will stymie most people.

Absolutely.

I worked on the implementation of my aged care, but will say I have been out of Australia for over 3 years so not up to date! The staff on the my aged care phone line are just call centre staff. Everyone is entitled to an aged care assessment. That assessment will state your needs and if you meet threshold for assistance and at what level. There is no residency question on these assessments. Assessors are health and social staff not immigration. It will be when the government is required to pay that any issue will make itself known. This is federal government territory so will be the same across Australia. My advice would be to get an assessment, it’s free. Then if approved you will be required to complete a financial assessment. It will now depend on income as there is a scale of what you pay towards care based on that. You might find that it will be cheaper to pay privately for what you need than what a home care package will cost. At this point you still haven’t committed to anything so can make a decision with more facts to hand. Everyone is expected to contribute something towards their care, so there will be a cost, your income decides how much that is. When I say you I mean the person needing the care! Get an assessment, it’s free. Just thinking if you go onto the my aged care website you might be able to plug in their income and see the costs, think they had that on the website. Good luck.

To get back on track! It’s good to know you can get a refund on extra stamp duty.

Last off topic comment. So sorry for your loss.

Sorry, we have gone off topic!

That’s a nice way of looking at it. There definitely seems to be a crisis in public health funding and efficiency in either place, not sure that beyond true emergency care we can afford to care for everyone passing through for much longer. I don’t know how much non resident healthcare actually costs the tax payer to be fair, might not be much. We just don’t have the flex in the system to respond dynamically to anything really, despite some heroic work on the ground. That said any care I have needed has been timely and with the odd exception, of good quality. I work in Wales nhs and it’s the same battles but with a different mindset. No commissioning in Wales, makes a hell of a difference. Enjoy your stay here!

I haven’t noticed GPs being very trusting when it comes to registering with them, they want evidence of address. And obviously if the practice is full that’s an issue, but not one I’ve heard about recently. that trust you speak of might be why the nhs has no money if it just treats everyone like a resident.

You just need proof of address to register with a GP and you are in.

I just added the cat to my normal TOR. I didn’t need a health certificate to get it. My vet filled in the health form for my shippers and then their vet did the pre flight check the day before he flew. edit: you are only supposed to have one TOR number as far as I know, so everything on one application.

Honestly I was quite hurt. This was someone who has known me my whole life, I used to spend one night a week at her house when growing up, called her auntie, closer than my own blood family. Grew up with her own daughter. My mum thought of her as a best friend. She went to visit some people she described as “best friends for life”, I’d never heard of them. Made me wonder about the entire relationship if I’m honest. She said she didn’t know NZ was close to Aus, which might be true (my mum thinks this is a result of a comprehensive education!) but her daughter and son in law would know where it was and they booked her flights. she was also a land girl in the war and would surely know about the ANZACS, so not really buying it. Anyway water under the bridge now. To the OP, I think this shows you can’t guarantee visits from anyone anyway.

I think that’s fair enough. I was in Australia 13 years, no one came to see me, which was absolutely fine! One went to New Zealand on holiday but didn’t even tell me, as had I known I would have arranged to meet up with them there. So stuff yer was my thoughts. I don’t know the rules for a 186, will you meet the visa requirements? If you do, crack on! People can be jealous as they can’t move or don’t have the balls to migrate, so lash out. Equally they might be wondering why you aren’t happy there with them, why the life they have isn’t enough for you. Who knows. All valid emotions but as adults you’d want them to regulate how they voice their feelings a little better!

Oh dear. Well you’ve done your bit, no need to repeat that experiment then!

I agree with @welljock if you have the opportunity and want to do it. Do it. I really can’t understand the attitude of some people, particularly when they are supposed to be the ones who love you. Let’s be honest, neither your mum or children are more likely to die or be unsafe in Australia, what a bizarre thing to say. Maybe they think Australia is all Crocodile Dundee and wrestling crocs in the outback. Australia is a long way from the UK but not life threateningly so. Good luck!

It’s a struggle and I only got the no claims from aami for the years I was with them. Luckily I had always had at least one car with them for my time in Australia, so got 12 years at least. Shop around in the uk though as not all are as open to overseas no claims anyway. I’m with Admiral here who were the cheapest for me as they accepted my Australian no claims without issue.I can’t remember the others sorry. I couldn’t get any evidence of no claims for my house insurance, so have started from scratch again, but it’s so cheap compared to Australia it hasn’t been a problem. I have multicover. Good luck.

Also medicare wouldn’t cover them if something happens in transit. Like slipping over and breaking a leg in Singapore or something.

You could try ocean grove or torquay on the surf coast. I lived on the bellarine peninsula which was nice. Depends on where work is for travel times.

It’s called This is going to hurt.

Brutally honest post there. I think that make the best of where you are attitude is great and who knows where your children end up. Might not be uk or Australia, in which case you’ll be free to go anywhere yourself, finances allowing. It is very important that we don’t focus only on the good of then compared to the bad of now, in either country. Not sure where outside Liverpool you are but I worked in Knowsley for 3 years when I returned in 2018 and if that was my only observation of the uk I’d have been on the first flight back to Australia. I’m in Frodsham which is 25 minutes and light years away from Knowsley. I work in the nhs and without doubt it is a basket case and has been for years. As an aside have you been watching This Might Hurt on the bbc? It’s based on an ex doctors experience back in the early 90s and everything rang true. But 30 years on and not sure what has changed. Worth a watch, some of it is pretty hard going but an honest account, all of it. Anyhoo, I wish you all the best, a bit of peace and happiness. Who knows what the future holds. My son has been been sick, he’s 27 and still in Australia and this is the first time since leaving Australia that I really wobbled. Not that I could do anything even if I was there, but I really felt the distance. Only saving grace is there are more flights and easing restrictions so I could at least get there now. Sorry, went off track there, bit of therapy at the end.