Move from UK to NSW

[Guest]

Morning all!

Just after some stories from people who have moved from the UK to NSW (With children in tow!)

We are at the point of starting our visa process and suddenly it all feels very real (and terrifying!) I know this is very premature!

I have a good job and a nice house, we are very secure in the UK… but fell in love with Australia while backpacking and can’t seem to get past wanting to live over there. 

We had hoped to move to Perth which is a bit of a comfort blanket for us. We spent a lot of time there previously and have lots of friends currently living there.

However, my profession is not on the list for WA.

Just would like to know how any families have got on with the move to NSW :)

thanks :) 

[Marisawright]

Don't go to Sydney.   Don't get me wrong, there are many lovely places in Sydney, but housing is TWICE the price of almost everywhere else in the country.   It means you're likely to have a much lesser quality of life there, because either your money will all be tied up in your home, or you'll be squashed into a cramped little apartment.  House prices are affected for a wide area around Sydney, just like house prices on the South Coast of England are mad because of London.  People commute from the Central Coast to the North and from as far as Wollongong to the south. 

If you want city life, then Newcastle is the next biggest city and about half the price for housing. Great beaches too.  I have friends who live there who say it's a great place to bring up children.  It used to be a rough working-class town but it has transformed over the last 30 years or so.  

Lake Macquarie is another option, smaller but close enough to amenities.

I seem to recall you are a teacher.  Armidale, which is inland but close to Coffs Harbour for the beaches, is a good place for teachers because it has two large private schools as well as state schools, and the university as well.  You'll be surrounded by academics!  

Lots of smaller towns along the coast which would offer the potential for the classic dream of the house by the sea at a more reasonable price, but it will depend on what you both do for a living.

[Ausvisitor]

I'd agree with most of Marissa's comment, except for the "Don't go to Sydney" bit.

Sydney is a fantastic city and by far the best place to live in NSW if you can afford it.

So it depends on the funds you are bringing and the salary you can command.

If you sell your UK house for £500k (and it is all equity) you are starting with $950k as a deposit, if you can then earn $250k in salary (between the family) then properties in the $2.5M range are achievable. Plenty of nice family homes within 45 minutes commute the absolute centre of Sydney. 

Also Sydney property is essentially a liquid asset, when you want to sell it will sell in days, so whilst it costs more than say Alice Springs to buy property, when you want to move on it is easier to release those funds, and more likely the value has been retained or grown.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Ausvisitor

[Guest]

Thank you both for your replies! That’s really helpful
 

Unfortunately we would not have anywhere near that amount of money!! (We wish!) we would have a good amount of equity in our house, but we are only young so not loads! 

I’m not really sure how much we would be earning there…my partner is a barber/hairdresser and I am a teacher so we’re not rich lol!! I worked out maybe 140,000 between us just from looking at internet! (But not sure? Does this seem about right? We are both experienced in our professions) I don’t think we could afford Sydney looking at those prices! 

[Marisawright]

3 minutes ago, Kristie said:

Thank you both for your replies! That’s really helpful
 

Unfortunately we would not have anywhere near that amount of money!! (We wish!) we would have a good amount of equity in our house, but we are only young so not loads! 

I’m not really sure how much we would be earning there…my partner is a barber/hairdresser and I am a teacher so we’re not rich lol!! I worked out maybe 140,000 between us just from looking at internet! (But not sure? Does this seem about right? We are both experienced in our professions) I don’t think we could afford Sydney looking at those prices! 

That’s what I meant about Sydney. It’s like someone in the UK thinking of living in London.  It’s a fantastic place but much more expensive than the rest of the country. 

With your skills, the state is your oyster as there’s demand for both your skills even in smaller cities 

[Ausvisitor]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

That’s what I meant about Sydney. It’s like someone in the UK thinking of living in London.  It’s a fantastic place but much more expensive than the rest of the country. 

With your skills, the state is your oyster as there’s demand for both your skills even in smaller cities 

I'd live in Newcastle in a hearbeat, it's a lovely place, but I am "stuck" with Sydney because of what I do, those roles just don't exist outside of Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.

If my skills would allow me to work outside a metropolis, I would in a heartbeat as wonderful as Sydney is, the traffic, people and noise get to you after a while. I love London, but I prefer the Cotswolds, the difference is in the UK you can commute London - Cotswolds in a decent amount of time, not the same case in Sydney

[Guest]

We definitely want to be somewhere quieter but preferably somewhere ‘beachy’. We’re from Yorkshire so not used to the business of cities!! 

[Marisawright]

6 hours ago, Kristie said:

We definitely want to be somewhere quieter but preferably somewhere ‘beachy’. We’re from Yorkshire so not used to the business of cities!! 

How's this for "beachy" - that's the city of Newcastle you're looking at.

Having said that, Newcastle is the same size as Edinburgh, so it's still a fairly big, bustling city. You might be happier in a smaller coastal town.  Homely is a good place to find reviews of towns, (though bear in mind there are always trolls saying nasty things for the sake of it, and real estate agents advertising themselves, so take the extremes with a pinch of salt) 

https://www.homely.com.au/search/suburbs-in-mid-north-coast-new-south-wales

https://www.homely.com.au/search/suburbs-in-illawarra-new-south-wales

It will really come down to where you can get a job teaching, though, so it will likely be a case of booking a holiday let somewhere for a few weeks until you know where you can get a job.

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Marisawright

[Quoll]

If you're a teacher, wanting a permanent teaching job you may have to just go where the jobs are. NSW has a system whereby teachers are expected to do a rural or remote placement for a few years in order to get "points" to be considered for the more desirable positions. They may offer you something in Dubbo or Hay or any other small NSW town inland and expect you to be there for 2-3 years - both of those are about as far from the beach as  you can get.  If you want to teach in the private system the next biggest employer is the Catholic system but they pretty much like you to be a good Catholic.  

If you are secondary Maths/Science you're in with a better chance than if you are primary.

If you don't mind not being a teacher then the world is your oyster, go for what you can get. Bear in mind, there's not a shortage of teachers in Australia, many new graduates can't get jobs and leave the profession before they start and as  a teacher you do have good skills that transfer to other areas. A good barber is probably going to be OK anywhere. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Quoll

[Marisawright]

23 minutes ago, Quoll said:

If you're a teacher, wanting a permanent teaching job you may have to just go where the jobs are. NSW has a system whereby teachers are expected to do a rural or remote placement for a few years in order to get "points" to be considered for the more desirable positions.

Goodness, is NSW still doing that?

@Kristie, if that's the case, it's not necessarily a bad thing.  My ex-husband was a teacher and when we arrived, Victoria had the same system.   He ended up being posted to a small rural town, about four hours' drive inland!   We thought it would be an ordeal but in the end, it worked out really well and it gave us a chance to learn about rural Australia.

Unfortunately my job isn't widely available in the country, so after a year, we decided we needed to move on.  My oh got a job in a private school and off we went.  There are lots of private schools which aren't Catholic!

 

[Guest]

I am a secondary teacher with 6 years experience.

Yes, I know I would be going where I could get a job. I would be looking for a job prior to moving, all being well.

Just trying to get a few stories from people who have emigrated with a family regarding which areas may be good. Although we LOVED Sydney, we are a little terrified of the size of it!

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, Quoll said:

If you're a teacher, wanting a permanent teaching job you may have to just go where the jobs are. NSW has a system whereby teachers are expected to do a rural or remote placement for a few years in order to get "points" to be considered for the more desirable positions. They may offer you something in Dubbo or Hay or any other small NSW town inland and expect you to be there for 2-3 years - both of those are about as far from the beach as  you can get.  If you want to teach in the private system the next biggest employer is the Catholic system but they pretty much like you to be a good Catholic.  

If you are secondary Maths/Science you're in with a better chance than if you are primary.

If you don't mind not being a teacher then the world is your oyster, go for what you can get. Bear in mind, there's not a shortage of teachers in Australia, many new graduates can't get jobs and leave the profession before they start and as  a teacher you do have good skills that transfer to other areas. A good barber is probably going to be OK anywhere. 

Also, would this be case if applying 190 ? 

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, Kristie said:

Also, would this be case if applying 190 ? 

Yes,Immigration and Education have totally separate rules.

[Quoll]

2 hours ago, Kristie said:

Also, would this be case if applying 190 ? 

Yup, getting a job and getting a visa are two entirely different issues.  People do seem to think that if a job is on the list for a visa then that automatically equates to there being lots of job vacancies, which, for some occupations like teaching is not true. Well, there may be job vacancies but mainly because they are in places where nobody wants to live.  What secondary subjects do you teach?  Some are more in demand than others and they generally reckon you need a couple of strings to your bow.  Maths and science generally in demand, humanities and PE not so much. You're not likely to get a job before you arrive really.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Quoll

[calNgary]

3 hours ago, Kristie said:

Also, would this be case if applying 190 ? 

I found this link see if it helps you.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teach-nsw

and here is the link for Seek.com to give you an idea of what vacancies are out there -   https://www.seek.com.au/Education-Teacher-jobs/in-NSW

 

  Cal x

[Guest]

8 hours ago, calNgary said:

I found this link see if it helps you.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teach-nsw

and here is the link for Seek.com to give you an idea of what vacancies are out there -   https://www.seek.com.au/Education-Teacher-jobs/in-NSW

 

  Cal x

Thank you ! It’s good when people are helpful! (Instead of making you more worried)

I’m guessing that now is not a great time for vacancies though with new school year starting :)

[Quoll]

9 hours ago, Kristie said:

Thank you ! It’s good when people are helpful! (Instead of making you more worried)

I’m guessing that now is not a great time for vacancies though with new school year starting

No, not really, the main round of job advertising is August/September time. Casual relief is all year round. No point  in worrying either, you know the old saying "Hope for the best, plan for the worst and take whatever comes" - never more true than when moving to a foreign country.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Quoll said:

No, not really, the main round of job advertising is August/September time. Casual relief is all year round. No point  in worrying either, you know the old saying "Hope for the best, plan for the worst and take whatever comes" - never more true than when moving to a foreign country.

If moving to the other side of the world doesn’t make you worried I don’t know what would!

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Kristie said:

If moving to the other side of the world doesn’t make you worried I don’t know what would!

I guess there's a difference between worrying whether you should even be moving (which is a worry you shouldn't ignore) and worrying about all the things that could go wrong once you've made that decision (which is pointless, because they're out of your control).  

[Parley]

10 hours ago, Kristie said:

Thank you ! It’s good when people are helpful! (Instead of making you more worried)

I’m guessing that now is not a great time for vacancies though with new school year starting

Some people on here are very negative and discouraging to new migrants.

Just make sure you do your planning before hand and you will be fine.

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, Parley said:

Some people on here are very negative and discouraging to new migrants.

Just make sure you do your planning before hand and you will be fine.

Thank you!

We are definitely researching and planning!! I only wanted to find out where might be good for us and seem to have got a tonne of feedback about my profession and how I may be unlikely to get a  job!

 

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, Kristie said:

We are definitely researching and planning!! I only wanted to find out where might be good for us and seem to have got a tonne of feedback about my profession and how I may be unlikely to get a  job!

When you think about it, it would be pretty mean if we let you spend hours researching towns and setting your heart on living in this town or that, if the reality is that you'll have no choice.

Having said that, I found this on the NSW Education Dept's site, so it sounds as though things are changing and they are advertising some jobs:

"Apply for permanent positions

In accordance with the staffing agreement between the department and the NSW Teachers Federation, significant numbers of vacancies are filled through open advertisement. Available positions can be found on the IworkforNSW website, JobFeed webpage or via the Teach NSW JobFeed e-newsletter.

Subscribe to JobFeed to have a list of newly advertised permanent teaching positions delivered to your inbox each Wednesday. To increase your chances of gaining employment in NSW public schools, consider applying for positions in high-demand metropolitan and/or rural and remote locations."