Life in Australia 2 years on

[Becontree Boy]

My wife and I moved to Australia from Yorkshire in 2006. I'm posting this two and a half years later. We spent our first 15 months in Brisbane and then

moved to Melbourne. Thought I'd hold off until now before posting as first impressions of a new contry are not always the ones that count. So here are my impressions after being here for a while.

 

It's clear that UK migrants to Australia have diverse experiences after moving abroad. I've known people land here and decide it's all been a terrible

mistake. Within two weeks they've have upped sticks and returned home. Others we have met have really positive experiences and continue to feel that they

have reached the promised land.

 

We can only speak about our own feelings and experiences, but we hope there is enough in these comments to be of value to somebody else.

 

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to move to Australia at all. My wife's father was Australian - because of this, and because he never adopted

British citizenship, the way was open for her to apply for Australian citizenship at a relatively late age. I travelled in on her coat tails on a "partner" visa.

We moved to Brisbane's southern suburbs because other family members already lived in Queensland.

 

I worked in IT for a major UK fashion chain. My wife is a social worker. Our two children, now adults had already left home.

 

We moved because we wanted a change. We were but comfortable enough in our own home but the British weather was getting us down. We'd always fancied living

abroad and had visited Brisbane on holidays, so it wasn't hard for us to make the decision to move when my wife's Australian citizenship certificate finally

arrived in the post.

 

We knew we were taking a calculated risk in moving to Oz. What has subsequently become clear is how important luck and timing is to the longer term sucess

of any migration plans.

 

Two and a half years after arriving, we're here to stay. This is a very safe country to live in. As we get older, we do not feel threatened by out of

control youth in our local streets. This is not to say there aren't social problems: TV news bulletins speak of violent youths and binge drinking but you

would have to go out of your way to find it [if you are looking for that then try Kings Street, Melbourne on a Saturday night at about 2am].

 

The biggest worry for us has been work. We expected to settle down in permanent employment within six months of arriving in Australia. In reality I've

landed my first permanent job after over two years as a temporary contractor. Fortunately, the firm I work for is a good payer and the people are work with are friendly and easy to get along with. But contracting has not always been lucrative, and the quality of management and workplace culture has varied

considerably from firm to firm.

 

Temporary work has meant renting rather than buying a home - a big step backwards after owning a house in the UK for 20 years.

 

But now we're back on the starting block. We're hoping to buy our own home sometime in the next 6 months, house prices here are falling and for the first

time since arriving it looks like we're going to be back in the game. Incidently, the government's recent, temporary increase in the "first time buyers"

grant by $7,000 is really going to help.

 

In the light of our experience, be prepared for the migrant's rite of passage: a period of time when working life may be a bit of a struggle as you seek to

establish yourself in a new land.

 

Remember -

 

1. Employers will often put more weight on Australian work experience than that gained overseas - even if it is at a humbler level. Be prepared to do your

time. Remember that even if you work for a nationally known company in the UK, it is unlikely that the Average Australian boss will have heard of it. Take

heart though, eventually that Aussie experience will start to count.

 

2. Use the contract market to gain that experience. In IT there seems to be a lot of recruiters from the UK or with UK experience. There are people out

there who will go the extra mile to get you in a job.

 

3. Please give a hand up to any South Asian migrants you come across if you work in IT. If you think you're having it hard, the chances are that there is

somebody fom the indian sub-continent who is having an even harder time. It seems that even with qualifications gained as a student in an Australian

University, many Indian, Pakistani, and Sir Lankan migrants are doing jobs well below the level warranted by their skills, qualifications and experience.

 

So outside of work, how have we found Australia?

 

We felt we outgrew Brisbane pretty quickly. It's a great place for an extended holiday but for us it wasn't the place to spend the rest of our lives. I

enjoyed the climate, but my wife, who is an asthma sufferer found it was too humid in summer. But outside of South East Queensland you have to go some

considerable miles to see something new. After a few months we thought we'd "done it all" and struggled to find new places to see at weekends.

 

My happiest recollections are of the wildlife. Queensland really is unique: we had koala bears in the tree opposite our house and a goanna regularly parked

outside our unit to bask in the sun. Each evening we enjoyed the cacophany of magpie larks, exotic parrots, and kookaburra in our trees. One evening a

turtle as large as a dustbin lid walked up on our local beach to lay eggs. The dog walkers kindly popped her back into the sea.

 

The biggest disapointment was our neighbours. While Brisbane CBD may have buzzed at night, it existed for us as a faint red glow on a distant horizon. After

20 years as adopted Yorkshiremen with friendly neighbours, we found our new ones mostly taciturn and unable to sustain a conversation. I'm sure not everyone

in Brisbane is lke that: we got on very well with people we worked with in the CBD and are still in contact with some. But out of the town, our home felt as

if it was in an isolated and broody world.

 

In contrast, Melbourne has lived up to our expectations. It's a much bigger city and rightly claims to be the cultural capital of Australia. Museums,

theatres, art galleries, theatres: they're all here in good number. A more diversified migrant base means that most cuisines of the world are available. As

"veggies", we counted 42 solely vegetarian resturants listed before we came here. We stumbled on two without even looking for them on the first day we

arrived. That was pretty good news after the famine that was Queensland.

 

We rent in the Eastern suburbs. This prosperous piece of suburbia has been described as the city's jewel in the crown. Take a walk around Camberwell on a

Friday evening and share our delight at being able to walk out after a meal at an Afghani restuarant and then browse for books in Borders until 10pm.

 

We've got to know quite a few people around here. They are canny folk who know something of the world. And the cosmopolitan population here means that

dreary casual racism is less apparent here than in Queensland.

And mercy upon mercy, we do find something new and affordable to do and see each weekend.

 

So, I've become a devoted Melbournian and an Australian citizen.

 

It's difficult, to describe what Australian culture is though. Talk to the average Australian and they might have trouble too. There is the firm ground -

almost to the point of cliche: sporting prowess, the beach and barbie. After that it gets a little diffuse. From what I read there seems have been a brief

flowering of national identity in the immediate decades after the continent acheived nationhood in 1901. The poetry and writings of Banjo Paterson (he of

"Waltzing Matilda Fame") and his contempories who described country life. The mythology of the "Anzac Spirit" forged in defeat in Turkey during World War 1

is certainly important. So is the international respect for Australian film making. This has also provided the outside world with a window on certain

aspects of the Australian psyche. But in terms of owning a unique and distinctive culture, this is a stymied and stilted nation.

 

I think there are two very good reasons for this:

 

The first is that the country clings on to British Crown. Until it finally decides to cut its ties with the royal family it will never be free to find its

own place in the world. It came close to doing this a few years ago in a poorly worded national Referendum which republicans narrowly lost. Rudd's Labour

government is committed to another referendum soon. Only when a republic is formed will Austrialia begin cement its own identity.

 

The second reason is the state of denial which many non-indiginous Australians have about the historic and continuing supression of Indigenous (Aboriginal)

peoples and Indigenous culture.

 

Many indigenous communities in rural Australia appear to suffer third world living conditions. Whatever, reasons are given (and I've heard many) this is

unacceptable in a Western liberal nation and a matter for national shame.

From Victorian days until the very recent past, there was a systematic attempt to destroy aboriginal communities and culture. The routine removal of mixed

race children from aborginal mothers was an attempt to "breed out" aboriginality. For a first insight into how this worked it's worth looking for the DVD of

a film called "Rabbit Proof Fence".

 

The recent apology by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is a symbolic start to heal the wounds, but the 17 year difference in life expectancy between indiginous and non-indiginous Australians has to ended. Unless non-indigenous Australians demand that this be remedied as the number one priority of any Australian Government, then progress towards creating a true, proud Australian identity will never be acheived.

 

This project will be the hardest task that Australians will ever undertake. But unless life and living standards can be improved for "First Australians"

over the next couple of generations then Australia will truly be a "failed state".

[Guest tiff]

Brilliant post, I posted mine before I read yours.:biglaugh: But your is far better executed.

 

I have only been here 3 weeks, and am getting used to the cultural differences and adapting nicely.

 

Shirley

[Elliott-Family]

brilliant informative post, we are hoping to come to melbourne next year, so are pleased to read your information on it

 

Claire

[mindblower]

Excellent posting, interesting.

[Guest WARDStoOZ]

Nice post!

 

Thanks,

 

Dan x

[Guest Rickard Family]

What a brilliant and honest post!, it sounds like it's been a long road, but nice to hear your settled now, thanks.

 

Lou x

[Guest missy44*123]

really good post i will be hopfully coming over to melborne to live next year as my brother lives there but coming for a holiday in 8 weeks cant wait never been before x

[TaniaColin]

Great post, so pleased that you seem really happy and settled

Good luck to you and your family

Tania X

[Jackboots]

thats an interesting and informative read , thank you. best wishes for your life down under.

[Guest UGandSMUG]

Great post many thanks. We are also headed for Melbourne and I am a fellow IT'er (Networking...).

[TheBrammies]

Great post

[Guest ellie2]

Great post, very informative, glad you have settled and and are enjoying your new life.

 

Christine

[Guest stockies]

Fab post !!!!!!!!!!

 

Claire. XX

[ali]

Great Post .... Welcome to PIO

[The Boy Somerset]

Glad to see you're settled in Melbourne. We live in Brisbane, and have found that the inner northern suburbs are friendly. I agree that the south side can be a bit ordinary.

 

Somerset

[Guest mollyb]

Really enjoyed reading your post. I love to hear positive comments and opinions about Melbourne. I`ts our chosen destination, if we ever get there!! Thanks.

[Guest trixabella]

reading your post was brilliant

 

it has made me think twice about moving to brisbane as myself and my 14 year old suffer quite bad with asthma and you mentioned that the hummidity didnt agree with your wifes asthma.

 

bit of a bummer tho as my husband has a job to go to in brisbane but i wouldnt want to move somewhere that is going to make our health bad.

 

melbourne has always been our second choice so im now off to do more internet research on melbourne.

[Guest Guest9973]

A smashing and honest post.

 

I hope you continue to settle.

 

You should do well - coming from the same county as me - I'm a Leeds lad:biglaugh::notworthy:

[Guest Cane Family]

Great post, to the point.

 

Glad you have settled and enjoying the dream.

[Guest horatio8]

Good honest post right on the nose. Glad you are enjoying Melbourne. Good luck for the future.

 

Stevied

[Guest Angelcake]

What a well written, truthful account of your time in Aus so far.

 

Very informative, thanks very much for posting.

 

Angelcake

[Becontree Boy]

Good luck with your Melbourne plans UGandSMUG. Take careful note of the timing of your departure though: the job market really dips here between now and February. Contracts are a bit thin on the ground. The new financial year starts in July, so that would be a good time to arrive.

 

You will find plenty of permanent and contract recruitment agencies specialising in IT. I've worked through both Candle and Hayes IT and have found them both honest and pragmatic. I worked through Candle in both Brisbane and Melbourne and they've found me my permanent role: once you are a known commodity then they'll work hard to keep you.

[Guest junglegeorge45]

Many thanks for your forthright and honest post about life in the Great Brown. I'm planning on moving to Melbourne to accept work in I.T., so I find myself in a somewhat similar boat to yourself, albeit slightly different as I'm single.

 

Although I'm no stranger to migration, having emigrated first from the UK to the US in 1985, and then US to Taiwan in 2005, I suppose my biggest concern has to be that after the extraordinary wait, will Australia live up to my expectations?

 

While I do understand the necessity to thoroughly screen every applicant wanting to come to Australia, I don't understand why it all takes so long, especially for someone like me, who has pre-loaded everything and who has a job waiting. As others have said, life basically gets put on hold while jumping through these hoops, but why does it all take so long?

 

Alex.

[AnxiousMum]

Fantastic post very informative. Thanks