Moving to Adelaide

[Clare007]

Hi guys. Myself, husband and two children are patiently waiting for our 489 Visa to come through, around 3 months our caseworker has told us. We are from the UK, my husband is a general plumber and I work as a nursing assistant in our main hospital. We are after some advice on areas, schools (children will be 11,9) and work opportunities. I just want to say good luck to everyone that is moving or just moved.

Kind Regards Clare 

[samlab]

Hi Clare, exciting! Congratulations. 
 

Adelaide is lovely. It was the first place we moved to when we first came over. We’re on the Sunshine Coast now but would move back to Adelaide tomorrow if it was just up to me. 

I would recommend Henley Beach area. It’s beautiful. The public schools in that area are some of the best in Adelaide too. Our son went to Henley High School which is a really sort after public school. A lot of parents do decide to put the children into private schools in Adelaide but that wasn’t an option for us financially. 

You will also need to consider your commute to work too. The hospital is a 20/25 min drive from there. 

One thing to consider...Check your husbands work qualifications are valid in South Australia before you arrive so you don’t have any surprises. For some trades they require Australian certification and wont let you work in that role without it. It means taking a course in Australia. Even if you’ve been doing the trade for years in the UK. Plumbers might be ok, I don’t know but I’d check it out. 
 

[Clare007]

13 hours ago, Clare007 said:

Hi guys. Myself, husband and two children are patiently waiting for our 489 Visa to come through, around 3 months our caseworker has told us. We are from the UK, my husband is a general plumber and I work as a nursing assistant in our main hospital. We are after some advice on areas, schools (children will be 11,9) and work opportunities. I just want to say good luck to everyone that is moving or just moved.

Kind Regards Clare 

 

[Clare007]

Hi, Samlab. Thank you for your reply. We have heard several things about my husband's qualifications it is something we are looking in too. Henley area was one of the first places we researched. Hope your enjoying the sunshine, we holidayed there for 3 weeks last year.

Kind  Regards Clare 

[Jsmull87]

Hey @Clare007,

The construction industry here in Adelaide is doing quite well at the moment so your husband should be able to get a start if are arriving soon. It goes up and down though depending on projects. I doubt he will get much in reply while still in UK but once here things are a lot easier. I am an electrician and had no luck before arriving but once here I had my first interview on a Tuesday and started on the Thursday. Does he still have to do the Gap training on a 489? Trade assistant pays approx $25-$30 an hour. SA government were funding gap training if the skills assessment was done in the UK as part of visa application but not sure if it counts for 489. Might be worth asking immigration SA.

In terms of areas, a lot of poms end up in the southern suburbs (us included) to the point you might even forget you moved countries.. I would say don't try to pre-plan it all. Suburbs are different and what suits one family wont suit others. Perhaps pick an air bnb either North, East, West or South depending on whether you want to be near the beach or the hills, barossa or mclaren wineries etc.  and work it out from there. Houses you see on real estate (which i'm sure you have looked at) look nothing like the photos usually. My two cents would be go near a train line as buses are unreliable. Your hubby can use it get into the city for work ad you can get about easily without driving if you like a wine or two. There are some obvious areas to avoid such as Elizabeth in the north and hackham in the south. We were generally warned about anything with downs in the name but I wouldn't say its a fool proof method as there are good and bad pockets to every suburb.

 

[Clare007]

Hey Jsmull87. Thanks for the reply. We are try to pre plan everything which is proofing stressful lol. My hubby seems to think he has to do a few courses to transfer his plumbing skills. Again thanks for the advice in regards to finding work. Our caseworker said our visa should be with us in about 2 - 4 months. I forgot to mention in my first post if anyone had brought their pets over, we have 2 dogs.

Kind Regards Clare 

[Lavers]

Hi Clare

Im making the move to Adelaide around August time with my wife and 2 girls 10 & 5 (when we move).

Have a look on seek.com so that you can have an idea with jobs and wages.

Ive used homely.com to have a look at different suburbs which seem to have things which we want as a family, then i've gone on realestate.com to see if we could afford a house in the area.  With doing this ive got a list off about 5 suburbs which I will have a look at when we arrive.

I will be booking an Airbnb for the first 6 weeks when we arrive as I wont a couple of months off to have a holiday when we first arrive.

Im looking at Glenelg for the Airbnb as its next to the beach and seems easy enough to get into the city for when we have to sort things out.

[Jsmull87]

If he has to do the gap course then I would say he needs to start making two enquires.

1. To PEER or TAFE SA for some dates. Peer only run two course per year. They will let him provisionally book and pay later. 
2. To immigration SA to ask about funding. The gap course is approx $2000 plus cost of books. They may pay the course costs but not book costs. It will depend if he meets certain criteria though.

seek is generally a waste of time for new migrants. A lot of employers don’t know what’s involved to get the qualifications changed over so shy away. Targeting big commercial companies direct is best. Try using LinkedIn to find other plumbers from uk and look for the first job they had in Adelaide. 

As the other post suggested. Air BnB for 4-6 weeks would be a good option. The dogs might cause you a few problems when applying for rental. You will find somewhere though.

I wouldn’t pay too much notice to Homely. There’s not really enough people participating to make a true picture. There are some bad pockets even around the ‘nicer’ suburbs and people leave bad reviews of the fall out with neighbours over a tree which can happen anywhere. Any suburb along a train line will get you to city in 40mins which is fine for most. After the honeymoon period, how often will you go anyway? 
 

We shipped our dog over with a company called Golden Arrow based near Telford. They were really good although a little eccentric. We were able to visit them and you could see they really cared. I assume you have started all the rabies and blood work. Maybe get a transferwise currency card for booking quarantine so you are in control of the exchange rate. Dogtainers are really good option to get the dogs from Melbourne quarantine to Adelaide. We paid about $250. 
 

small things you could do are 

asking your estate agent or current landlord to write a little recommendation for you. Ideally mentioning how clean the house was and how well behaved the dogs are. Even scan in the sales brochure. Even consider writing a letter explaining a bit about you as a family for the landlord to read. It can help. If you really love a place you can offer 6 months rent up front. 
 

Hopefully some of this is useful to you but it is kind of a big adventure and there no formula that works for all. Don’t overthink too much as it will drive crazy. Get an air bnb and take a couple of weeks to find your feet. Aussies don’t do things quickly anyway. 

[North to South]

Hi Clare,

We stayed in Henley Beach for a week in October and it’s a lovely place, much quieter than Glenelg, but still with some nice cafes and a gorgeous beach.  We’re moving in July and whilst we liked the coast are planning to settle in the Eastern Suburbs or around Stirling as we’ve selected a school for our daughter (14) in the East.  I spent a lot of time researching areas online before I went the first time and once you’re there you realize how far some areas are out of the city.  In October staying at Henley Beach took about an hour to cross time at peak time to Glen Osmond which really forced us to decide on the East to be nearer the schools we liked.

Take a look at Bettereducation for schools and I’d contact some of them to see if they have specific catchment areas as a lot of the best schools we’ve seen do which does limit areas you could live.  Most important for us is schooling so that’s what we researched first and found all of the schools we contacted very helpful and provided more guidance than just education.

Take a look at Stayz/Homeaway for places to stay as I prefer them to Airbnb.  

I wasn’t sure about Adelaide at first over Melbourne or Sydney, but having been there twice now it’s a lovely place with everything you could want on your doorstep.  Someone described it to us as the Manchester of Australia and that’s probably true.  It doesn’t have the glitz or glamour of London, but makes up in charm, friendliness and for us a much easier way of life.  After all, why would you want to pick the same life up as you might have in the UK and have a long commute to work, longer hours and higher cost of living.  We met some recruitment companies whilst there and again they were quite open and honest about the challenges in finding new roles, we’re both Accountants, but having those discussions reassured us that it’s not as bad as some people portray jobs in Adelaide, so I’d maybe contact some local businesses just to try and get some insight into your specific roles.

I’m no expert having only spent two separate weeks there but happy to give any help I can.

Enjoy

 

[Waffoo]

Hi, just adding to the Adelaide chat. We’re moving in September - I’m doing a military to military lateral transfer and will be posted to Adelaide; very lucky to have the job-hunting worries minimised. For living areas, we’ve had some useful advice from some of the folk based at Edinburgh, who also say avoid places with ‘Para’ and ‘Downs’ in their names - and don’t live anywhere around the Airbase - but like anything it’s not always that straightforward. Whilst we’re fortunate to have military-sourced accommodation to choose from, it doesn’t make the school selection any easier. We’re also having the September to January school term realignment to deal with, with a current UK year 7 - a few months back in primary school for him by the looks of it! We’re planning to use the military accommodation to give us a base for 6 months or so (probably Mawson Lakes or similar distance from work) whilst we explore the area to find somewhere to buy, although South suburbs will probably be too far a commute for me. My wife is a hairdresser so can pretty much work anywhere. Our Sausage Dog is coming too (Pets Abroad doing the transfer). 
 

Good luck to those heading out this year!

[Lavers]

 

16 hours ago, North to South said:

Take a look at Bettereducation for schools and I’d contact some of them to see if they have specific catchment areas as a lot of the best schools we’ve seen do which does limit areas you could live.

Do you fall in the school catchment if you have the same postcode as the school?

Then can you pick one in that postcode even if there are schools closer to you?

 

 

[North to South]

Hi, I honestly don’t know how the zoning works, but we looked at Marryatville High School for our daughter and the zoning was very specific. I’ve also seen that on some other schools we liked, but regardless of the zoning they were not taking any new students.  We’ve made the decision to go down the private route as it takes the zoning out of the equation and gives us more flexibility on where to live and with most schools having bus services it makes the school run that much easier.

I would recommend finding a couple of schools you like then seeing how the enrollments work.  I know it’s difficult from the distance away, but most schools we contacted were very helpful and very welcoming when we visited them.

 

[Clare007]

Hi, guys just want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has replied. Will take your advice on abroad.

Kind Regards Clare 

[Clare007]

Hi guys just to let you all know , we were granted our  visas yesterday. I can not believe how quick the turnaround was. Sat here feel every bit of emotion. Once again thank you all for your advice.

Kind Regards Clare 

[Lavers]

28 minutes ago, Clare007 said:

Hi guys just to let you all know , we were granted our  visas yesterday. I can not believe how quick the turnaround was. Sat here feel every bit of emotion. Once again thank you all for your advice.

Kind Regards Clare 

Congratulations when you looking at moving?

[Clare007]

Hopefully May/ June time.. waiting for the house to sell. 

[North to South]

Hi Clare,

Congrats, now the fun starts

And to put you in the mood here’s a couple of nice Adelaide beaches

[Lavers]

3 minutes ago, North to South said:

Hi Clare,

Congrats, now the fun starts

And to put you in the mood here’s a couple of nice Adelaide beaches

Not a patch on blackpool beach

 

[North to South]

And of course some sliders.....

[North to South]

And best of all some vineyards.

[JetBlast]

Hello,

 

I moved from the North West to Adelaide. I love it and feel at home. Im sure you will also like it!

 

 

[Clare007]

 

Hi.

When did you move? We are just waiting for our house to sell. Can not wait to buy those one way flight tickets.

On 20/02/2020 at 17:44, Clare007 said:

Hopefully May/ June time.. waiting for the house to sell. 

 

[llessur]

I'm from Brighton and have been living in Adelaide for 8 years now, I moved over with my then girlfriend (now wife) when I was 32. I love it here - as one of the above posts said it's definitely not Melbourne or Sydney in scale but it's still a very sizable city by UK standards and has a lot going on (especially right now as we're smack bang in the middle of festival season with Adelaide Festival, Fringe, WOMADelaide, V8 supercar racing and all sorts going on in the city centre).

In terms of where to live - definitely don't rush into anything. Ideally you'd want a few weeks at least in a rental place fairly close to the city and then use that time to explore different areas on the weekends - there's beachy suburbs to the west, posh and leafy suburbs to the east, koalas galore up in the hills and plenty of pommies down south Different areas can give remarkably different lifestyles so it's well worth getting to grips with the place before you commit to anything. Where you work, how you want to commute/how long you're prepared to commute for and what sort of house you want to live in (i.e. heritage vs modern) will also play a big factor.

Schools will be a thing too - many public (i.e. state) schools are zoned but it's not necessarily done by postcodes, a lot will have very specific zoning maps so it's worth checking with a school if you're interested in it. A lot of the time the data is on the school's website, otherwise this website should help: https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/schools/choosing-a-school/school-zones

The state schooling system here is generally very good and at least on par with (and arguably better than) the UK's. As in all cities some schools will have a better reputation than others but that tends to be in line with the area they are located in. There are some rankings on SA schools here: https://bettereducation.com.au but in my opinion, especially with primary schools, blistering academic performance isn't the sole indicator of a good school. Our local primary school sits around the middle of academic performance league tables but has a very good reputation with local families and excels in pastoral care.

Private schooling seems to be a bigger thing here than it is in the UK - it's a genuine option for middle income families, although there are some very expensive schools too. It's worth bearing in mind that many of the more affordable private schools are church-affiliated so given Australia's arguably higher levels of religious conservatism than the UK you'd have to weight up the pros and cons depending on your own values. For example, finding out that sex education is often taught as part of religious studies rather than science or biology tends to make me a little wary of this route for my kids. A secular state education sits better with me.

I'm not sure about the specifics of nursing recruitment but it's worth mentioning that the new Royal Adelaide Hospital completed in 2017 is probably one of the most advanced hospitals in the world and situated right in the middle of Adelaide's emerging biomedical precinct which in a few years time will include the southern hemisphere's only proton therapy unit. It would most likely be a great place to continue your career  There are various other hospitals scattered around the metropolitan area so you should be OK for choice depending on where you end up living.

Best of luck with it all - keep us updated!

Edited March 2, 2020 by llessur

[Clare007]

Hi guys, wherever you are in the world, hope u and your loved ones are safe and well.