GETTING IN
“It is more expensive here in Australia, there is no getting away from that. But then again, you can spend your time at the beach, and that doesn’t cost you anything”
rental property far outstrip supply. Anyone considering
moving to Australia to work in this industry would be wise to thoroughly investigate housing options in advance.
Higher costs of living are still outweighed by lifestyle benefi ts for some, including Kerry Drumm, a fi lm animation editor in her forties who emigrated to Adelaide from the Wirral with her husband Steve in 2010. “It is more expensive here, there is
no getting away from that. But then again, you can spend your time at the beach and that doesn’t cost you anything,” she says. Not everyone falls in love with the
great outdoors, however, and this was an oft cited reason for returning to the UK, says Roger Burrows. “Time and time again we saw ‘we came here for the weather but we can’t bloody stand it, it’s so hot, we hate putting all the slap on the kids and we only walked 100 metres up the road and we couldn’t walk any further’. “If you look at the dream, it’s
adverts for Foster’s lager and a bit of a ‘have fun in the evening’ type of culture, but it is not really like that. It is a very suburban, family-oriented way of living and there is not the same sort of pub culture that people from the UK are familiar with.” For Alex Pollard, a university
researcher who moved to Sydney in 2006 but returned to Brighton in 2008, the lifestyle proved just too ‘dreary’. “I was very disappointed by
the dominant bland, suburban culture of Sydney. It is basically one huge suburb in search of a city.” Most of the time,
however, it isn’t the lifestyle that drives people away, it is the country’s location at the end of a 20-hour fl ight. Burrows’ research found that family commitments and homesickness were the most frequently cited
reasons for heading home. Sometimes – just like anywhere in the world – you just need to adapt, as Shanaz and Anton Steele (above) found after deciding to move to Brisbane last year from Glasgow. “We wanted to come over with no ties as we were determined that it was to be a permanent move, “ says Shanaz, who was pregnant at the time. “The move itself was stressful because we had to sell our Scottish home and business fi rst”. However Anton found work quickly after deciding to change careers from hairdressing to property development. “I have been busy looking after
seven-month-old Taila and our other two daughters Leila, nine, and Mischa, three, but I plan to resume my accountancy career later this year,” she adds. “The children have settled in
well and we’ve not had any major problems. I have a sister out here and we’d been to visit, so I had a good idea of what the lifestyle would be like and it has lived up to our expectations. “There are times when I miss my
family, but I am settled here and I don’t see us moving back.”
Australia’s General Skilled Migration Programme allows those with certain professions to move there without a job offer. The current list is heavily skewed towards tradespeople and those in engineering and medical professions. Some states also have their own lists, sometimes with widened criteria, so it’s worth checking these if your occupation isn’t on the country list. The Employer Sponsored Workers visa allows employers in Australia to sponsor foreign workers for a period of up to four years.
For those aged between 18-30, a working holiday visa can be a good way of testing Australian waters. It allows applicants to work there for up to 12 months, with the possibility of a 12 month extension. See
www.immi.gov.au
UP FOR SALE DOWN UNDER
Where: Byron Bay Price: $525,000 (£357,000)
Three bedroom house with backyard and garage in one of NSW’s most popular coastal areas.
www.ljhooker.com.au
Where: Mornington Price: AUD$660,000 (£449k)
Modern three-bedroom home in quiet cul de sac in vibrant expat hotspot near Melbourne. Comes with a huge shed with a bathroom – big potential there.
www.kenwrightre.com.au
Where: Sydney
Price: Offers over $700,000 (£476,000)
Two-bedroom apartment with a harbour view just minutes from the water in Manly, one of Sydney’s most popular suburbs.
www.ljhooker.com.au
FOR MORE HOMES IN AUSTRALIA
www.aplaceinthesun.com/australia
aplaceinthesun.com 55
AUSTRALIA
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