Canberra or Adelaide

[Guest Daniel N Sherine Foo]

Hi All, my wife and I intends to migrate to Australia but undecided where to go to. We will apply based on my wife's nominated occupation which is Program/Project Adminstrator and it seems that only SA and ACT sponsor such occuptation.

 

Understand that SA requires proof of funds of at least AUD25k whereas ACT does not have such a requirement.

 

I have read that Canberra seems to be a dull place to live and most jobs are government related. Adelaide on the other hand seems to be more lively as it's one of the world's most livable cities according to EIU.

 

Any inputs would be most valuable! Thanks a lot! :biggrin:

[Paul1Perth]

Depends what you want. Do you want a warmer beach style lifestyle (Adelaide) or would you be happy miles from the Coast but maybe within easy reach of snow fields for some of the year? (Canberra).

[Sammy1]

Canberra, deadly dull and freezing in the winter. Adelaide vibrant, beautiful and fun.

[Thom]

Canberra, loads to do and see, a well maintained and beautiful city with easy access to the great outdoors. Adelaide @rse end of nowhere.

 

The average wage in Canberra has now hit more than $83,000 a year, and is accelerating faster than anywhere else in the country, new figures show.

 

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics published today show that the average weekly wage for an adult working full time, not including overtime, in Canberra was a seasonally adjusted $1602.50, or $83,330 a year, in the May quarter.

 

That is a 3 per cent increase on the three months to February, the biggest rise in the country, and much faster than the 0.4 per cent increase for the nation as a whole. Annual growth is the second highest, behind the Northern Territory.

 

Nationally, the average wage is $70,262 a year, or $1351 a week. People working in the public sector continue to earn more than those in the private sector, bringing home $75,426 and $68,853 a year respectively.

 

 

ACT residents live longer than other Australians and most Canberrans are in good or excellent health.

 

But the Territory’s Chief Health Officer is concerned about levels of chronic disease, falls among the elderly and deaths and injuries related to alcohol.

 

Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly’s latest biennial report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly today and gives an overview of the health of ACT residents.

 

Dr Kelly said the life expectancy for males was the highest in the nation at 80.5 years.

 

 

It's official; Canberra has Australia's most sensible population when it comes to booze, smokes and drugs.

 

The latest snapshot of the city's bad habits supplied to the ACT government's health authorities show us drinking, smoking and taking drugs much less than our fellow Australians.

 

But the fourth edition of the extent and nature of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, and related harms, in the Australian Capital Territory, also shows that alcohol is the most harmful drug on Canberra's streets, accounting for 77 per cent of drug-related hospital presentations and 42 per cent of overdoses.

 

Although the report's author David McDonald found Canberra had fewer teetotallers than the national average, the proportion of ACT residents 14 years and older drinking daily was 5.4 per cent, well below the national rate of 7.2 per cent.

 

 

 

Canberra students take the prize for being the best in the nation, according to the latest report card on Australian schools.

 

The ACT topped the scale for reading, numeracy, and grammar and punctuation at all year levels.

 

Canberra's year 3 students lead Australia in all categories tested.

 

The preliminary results of the latest round of testing of students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 under NAPLAN - the National Assessment Program, Literary and Numeracy - gives a breakdown for states and territories.

 

From next week, schools and students will receive their own individually tailored results.

 

The full report will be released later this year and individual school information will be published on the next version of the My School website early next year.

 

Of the classes tested, Canberra's year 3 students return the highest score, being first in the nation on reading, spelling, numeracy and grammar and punctuation, and equal first on persuasive writing.

 

 

[Guest]

Never been to Canberra. Can't comment. I keep hearing people say its small, expensive and not much going on there but people live there and many happily it seems Its the Gov seat so lots of political bods there etc. Which may or may not appeal.

 

Adelaide is lovely IMHO. It isn't a city you can compare to cities in the UK or Sydney or Melbourne. Its smaller and I guess seen by many as being quieter. Which I guess it probably is. It's on the gulf so the beaches around the city and coast there are lovely and the water is great. Of course you won't be swimming in winter in it but it defo got a good climate being tucked in the gulf there. An hour away down the coast you hit the ocean and its noticeably different and cooler down there.

 

The CBD isn't massive but has a decent amount of shops, bars, cafes and so on. We've never had a problem with having a meal out, drinks or seeing a stand up gig or some such in local venues. The Botanical Gardens off the CBD are gorgeous. And the CBD is surrounded by parklands which I've always liked. Hubby used to live 5 minutes from the parklands, CBD and the Central Market (big fresh produce market) and Chinatown area. Was fab and I was very happy there although now we have a child we won't be heading back to that area and plan to be further south. Suburbs do the usual sprawl out for miles and depending on where you plan/hope to work where you live can make a difference in the commute. We love Glenelg which is a lovely beach suburb but is pricey compared to areas much further south. However there are other suburbs also decent to choose from.

 

What sort of lifestyle are you hoping/wanting to have? What sort of things do you like to do, what climate etc? All those things would be things I would consider and of course the biggie, employment.

 

Personally I'll be very happy settling in Adelaide next year. It might not be the most vibrant place on the planet but having visited some of the worlds busiest cities and travelled lots I don't mind that in the least. But it does have things for us to do, plenty of places outside of the city to head and explore from and so on. I don't want village sleepy either and tbh Adelaide sits well for me in terms of what it offers us as a family and for the future.

[Guest Ptp113]

Sadelaide is a sentence nobody deserves, not even a pom!!

[Jurls]

As Snifter says it depends on "What sort of lifestyle are you hoping/wanting to have? What sort of things do you like to do, what climate etc? All those things would be things I would consider and of course the biggie, employment."

 

 

As far as employment is concerned I would suggest you factor in that you really are locked out of most (if not all) of the APS (Australian Public Service) jobs until you become a citizen.

[sunniecat]

Citizenship requirement only locks you out of the federal government as far as I'm aware, not local government, and Canberra has plenty of private companies around too.

 

Canberra is a beautiful place to live for people that want the Canberra lifestyle. It doesn't have the sea, but it's less than 3 hours away, as are the Snowies. It has cold, cold winter nights. It has beautiful hills and lakes and outdoor life. People are well-paid - they have to be, to pay for the housing here. If you are looking for a buzzing city with a nightlife, it is not the place to be.

 

Choosing between Canberra or Adelaide is like asking if you want to live in Bath or Birmingham, so ask yourselves what sort of place do you want to live? I liken Canberra to the suburbia on the very edge of Bristol that we moved here from. It suits us down to the ground, but it definitely isn't for everyone.

[Guest Ptp113]

Citizenship requirement only locks you out of the federal government as far as I'm aware, not local government, and Canberra has plenty of private companies around too.

 

Canberra is a beautiful place to live for people that want the Canberra lifestyle. It doesn't have the sea, but it's less than 3 hours away, as are the Snowies. It has cold, cold winter nights. It has beautiful hills and lakes and outdoor life. People are well-paid - they have to be, to pay for the housing here. If you are looking for a buzzing city with a nightlife, it is not the place to be.

 

Choosing between Canberra or Adelaide is like asking if you want to live in Bath or Birmingham, so ask yourselves what sort of place do you want to live? I liken Canberra to the suburbia on the very edge of Bristol that we moved here from. It suits us down to the ground, but it definitely isn't for everyone.

There's a great nightlife. It doesn't kick off until about 11::00 pm though and that catches out the unwary

[richdownunder]

Hi,

 

We considered Canberra for a while, even visited it this year for a few days to check it out, but it wasn't for us. We live near London, not that we are always in London, but it just didn't seem to have much going on and we also found it quite expensive, especially the housing. While jobs were available and salaries were reasonably good, it didn't make up for the difference in price of housing between some of the suburbs in Melbourne and Adelaide.

 

I'm not saying Canberra is not a good place, it's very nice and I'm sure if you get into the hills it's a lovely way to spend a weekend walking and cycling. But for us one of the appeals of moving to Australia is to be near the beach and the further we drove from Sydney, the more remote it seemed. We drove North, South, East and West and amongst all that driving we found a couple of really nice areas, one was Manuka and that's somewhere that if I had a few hundred thousand more I'd happily live, but I think I'd still wish after a while I was somewhere else in Australia. I think for some Canberra is lovely, but so is North Wales, but it's not somewhere I'd choose to live if I was moving 10,500 miles.

 

I honestly can't comment on Adelaide as it's the one place I haven't visited. However, from a lot of recent research it's certainly an area we would be happy. We've discounted Sydney, Brisbane and Perth so we are deciding between Adelaide and Melbourne. Melbourne we love as we've been there a few times and there are some lovely areas, but those areas bring a long commute. Whereas, there are some lovely suburbs around Adelaide that are closer and at the end of a day would allow more time to spend with the family.

 

I guess all of these comments are subjective. I think what you need to consider the most is what you want and what type of area you want to live in. As I mentioned, we live near London, but we only go there, well apart from work, maybe once every six weeks as we tend to stay around where we live. But it's nice to know it's there if you want it. I guess the same can be said for Adelaide. It has most of the things that you want, but apart from work, would you go there every day? Probably not, as you'd probably spend the time around the suburb you are in. To me the suburb wins over the city.

 

I'm not sure if this has helped.