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I moved to Australia in 2007 and then after having 4 children there we decided to return to the UK in 2013. Unfortunately, in 2019 I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. I have been very lucky to have had a good response to my treatment and I'm still here and stable over 3 years later. However, recently I have begun to wonder if I would get better treatment in Australia than in the UK. The nurses strikes haven't directly affected me yet, but a shortage of staff means that when I have my 3 monthly scans I have to wait 1-2 months for the results. This causes anxiety for me and my family and could mean that if my treatment stopped working I wouldn't know and my cancer could be progressing without me knowing. It feels like this could be be just the beginning and with the increase in cancer diagnosis' expected after covid that there could be further delays in other aspects of my treatment in the future. I remember always having a pretty positive experience of healthcare in Australia although I have no experience of cancer treatment there. So, what I would like to know is if anyone here does have an idea what it is like to be treated for cancer in Australia? What out of pocket expenses might I expect, such as payment for prescriptions and scans. I had always hoped to go back to Australia once the children had all finished school but I'm feeling more of a pull to go back again and try somewhere new.

Can anyone enlighten me on the cost of MRI scans in Queensland . I've got to have three at the same time and my doctor told me I will have to pay for them. Will I get any Medicare rebate, has anyone had them in qld ? Thanks for any help , Micky

Hi Everyone Just completing my SiLs GSM application with her. I know that you can attach colour scans of colour documents, without needing to have the copy certified. But my problem is this: the marriage and birth certs are in colour, they have a green tinge to them (Irish). But when I scan them, you can't really see the green in the scan. It must be some sort of security thing?? You can tell that its not a black and white photocopy though, and you can sort of see the watermark of the harp. I am paranoid about getting this right - so do you think that these documents will be acceptable, or will I need to get certified copies done as well???? Many thanks.

I've read on some threads on here that when it comes to the certified copies of documents needed for the visa applications, colour scans are acceptable without having to have them certified. Would anyone who has done the Vetassess stuff know if Vetassess accept colour scans too? Thanks

Hi I am arriving in Melbourne and will be nearly 20 weeks pregnant and need to organise a scan. I won't have a permanent address to register with Medicare immediately (we are staying in hostel til we find somewhere more permanent) and thought maybe I could get a private scan, so can anyone advise on how to do this and how much it would cost? Thanks a million in advance Caroline