What do to first when we arrive.......

[mr luvpants]

So we have 15 weeks till we arrive in Brisbane and it has suddenly occurred to me that we have a lot to do when we arrive!:chatterbox:

 

So can anybody help me as to what or where we have to go and whether I have forgotten anything?

 

1. Go to bank to activate account and pick up cards.

 

2. Medicare (where?)

 

3. Change driving licences (where?)

 

4. TRN (where?)

 

Thanks guys

 

JOHN

[RobandCatherine]

For your TRN you need to look for Centrelink & I think you can apply for one online, Medicare have offices all over the place just pop in with your passports & it takes about 20 minutes & driving licence you'll have 3 months to sort so don't worry too much about - your states local Government will have shopfronts that you can pop into (ie Vicroads, Canberraconnect) and again it only takes about 20 minutes.

[Kabroom]

Hi John,

 

Are you heading for Brisbane? Which part?

 

Wendy

[Quoll]

I think you probably mean Tax File Number (TFN) Apply for a Tax File Number (TFN)

 

I'd say get a place to live and get a job would be really high up there in the list of priorities as well.

[Guest Guest31881]

So we have 15 weeks till we arrive in Brisbane and it has suddenly occurred to me that we have a lot to do when we arrive!:chatterbox:

 

So can anybody help me as to what or where we have to go and whether I have forgotten anything?

 

1. Go to bank to activate account and pick up cards.

 

2. Medicare (where?) Most major Shopping centres have a medicare office. They recommend you leave it about 10 days to make sure immigration have informed medicare that you have arrived. Take passport with you.

 

3. Change driving licences (where?) Local traffic office, find details in phone book or internet, you have 3 months to sort this out.

 

4. TRN (where?) TFN (tax file Number) Apply on line, you need your passport details, they tell you it takes a couple of weeks to come through but mine took about 5 days.You can still work while waiting for TFN. Just tell employer you have applied.

 

Thanks guys

 

JOHN

 

 

Hope that helps

[whopperdaisy]

Queensland Transport for drivers licences. They have a section on their website for new residents.

 

Worth buying a car early to avoid too many rental fees. Try sites like drive.com.au to get an idea of what is available.

 

You can also get a bit of a feel for potential areas you'd like to live on the ourbrisbane website - it has a lot of information on what each suburb is like.

 

Join the library. If you join at one in the Brisbane region it gives you membership of their entire network, so even if you move you don't have to join again. They are very good here.

 

Find a GP. I didn't til I needed one and calling round to find someone when in pain was not an experience I recommend.

[Guest guest30038]

If you're gonna be in temp accomodation John, you can use our addy for the bank details medicare etc and then change it once you get settled into longer term. Don't go for your driving licence before you are in longer term as you'll only have to change the details on it, once you move and sometimes, the queues in those places can be horrendous.

 

kev

[mr luvpants]

If you're gonna be in temp accomodation John, you can use our addy for the bank details medicare etc and then change it once you get settled into longer term. Don't go for your driving licence before you are in longer term as you'll only have to change the details on it, once you move and sometimes, the queues in those places can be horrendous.

 

kev

 

Thanks Kev. Will keep that in mind.

 

JOHN

[mr luvpants]

Hi John,

 

Are you heading for Brisbane? Which part?

 

Wendy

 

Not sure yet. It will depend on where the missus gets a job.

 

JOHN

[tracy123]

Hi John

 

It feels like it's taken a lifetime for you to get to this point and I've only been reading your posts :wubclub:

 

Here is a list of Medicare offices

 

Medicare Office Locator

 

I agree with Kev, you have a few months to sort out your licences, also if you get a speeding fine at least you wont get the points.

 

Have you got a bank account yet? If so they should of asked you where you wanted to activate your accounts once in Australia, if you are unsure get them sent into the cbd of Brisbane, at least that branch would be easy to find.

 

Good luck with everything, remember to try and breath and enjoy your adventure :wubclub:

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

So we have 15 weeks till we arrive in Brisbane and it has suddenly occurred to me that we have a lot to do when we arrive!:chatterbox:

 

So can anybody help me as to what or where we have to go and whether I have forgotten anything?

 

1. Go to bank to activate account and pick up cards.

 

2. Medicare (where?)

 

3. Change driving licences (where?)

 

4. TRN (where?)

 

Thanks guys

 

JOHN

 

Hi mate

 

and great replies everyone, but my useless advice is this.

 

Book into an hotel in Brisbane and go down to the Southbank area and go for an afternoon swim in the warm fabulous outdoor swimming pools and take a cooler bag with a load of beer in it so you can sit on the beach watching the sun going down and then have a barbie overlooking the river and city, drinking in the atmosphere like we did, its just fantastic.

 

All the best mate, you will love it.:jiggy:

[Guest Jeremy]

0. Get over jetlag

 

There's no point trying to do anything if you are dead on your feet.

 

(I'm not trying to be facetious. I know from experience that the first thing you need to do after any long flight is to recover.)

[Guest kevinboomer]

Hey guys,

 

We arrived and did all those things in the first couple of weeks. Its all pretty easy and straight forward. Car insurance etc we went to the RAC which is RACQ here. there are loads all over and gave us all our info on cars rego etc . Very helpfull and competative with lots of extras. I found when i changed my driving licence ( which took us about 30min) It opened alot of doors with regards to ID and moving forward. Its the first form of ID they ask for and if you are going to rent it is the biggest points winner. To change address you can go online and beleive it or not they send you a little sticker with your new address on it and you stick it on your licence.Too easy.

We did most things online it was easy. If you have a laptop you'll be good. TRN did online ABN did online. Medicare, just turn up with passports etc if you have aussie driving licence all good.

It all seems pretty daunting but you don't have to do it all in a week. We just made sure we did at least one thing every few days and it falls into place.

 

Kev&Lisa

[PontePom]

I totally agree with the driving license it's the first id they ask for and I find it's so much better to have it quickly. You can it for 1 year until you have a settled address. We just went for the 5 year one as it was cheaper.

Just got our medicare cards through so they are good also.

Also got my golden casket lottery card to play the Lotto over here...

Howard

[Bobbsy]

Well, if you're anything like us, the FIRST thing you'll want to do when you arrive is take a deep breath, have a light meal and a couple of drinks, then sleep in a real bed after 24 hours on airplanes!

 

Beyond that, the first four "business" things I'd suggest are:

 

-Sort out your bank (which you've already mentioned)

 

-Get an Aussie sim card for your phone(s) or a whole cheap pay as you go phone.

 

-Sort out internet access, possibly via your phone or a wireless dongle for your laptop

 

-Find a place to live so you have an address to give to all the people who need to know

 

The second two things on the above list are because you're going to find yourself needing to make a lot of use of "communications" over your first few weeks. Finding a place to live, sorting out cars, jobs, etc. etc. will all require you to be in contact. I spent a huge amount of time on the phone and online in my first few weeks.

 

Of the other things on your list, most will want a postal address and/or 100 points of identifcation:

 

Medicare: take your passports with visas in them to the nearest Medicare office. You can find a list in the phone book or online--in my experience, they seem to often be in big shopping centres. They'll give you temporary numbers in a cheap print out that fades off the paper in a few days, so note them down) and want to post you the real cards so you'll need some kind of address. We were able to use my son-in-laws house as a mail drop so consider something like that.

 

Tax File Number: You can apply online (I just Googled "tax file number" and found the application on the site. Again, though, you'll need a postal address.

 

Driving License: You have six months to do this. As a form of ID, it's useful to do it asap, but you'll be asked for "100 points of identification, some of which have to prove your address, so you'll likely have to wait until you have a house and some utility bills.

 

Bob

[tracy123]

for a mobile phone I'd recommend 3G

 

The only reason is you can get a pay and go Skype phone, now if you can get your family onto 3G skype over here all your calls to and from Australia will be for free.

 

Don't buy it in the UK as it won't work in Australia, trust me I know :yes: