Near Marion: Medicare, Centrelink and drivers license: quick and easy!

[Guest anne314]

Hey there guys,

 

We arrived a week ago, and we got so much help, it is amazing! We rented an unfurnished house in Hallett Cove for two months, and within two days it was partially furnished... thanks to our wonderful neighbours!!!! They lended us a fridge, microwave, table, chairs, bed, sofa, and so on..... whow, it was above and beyond! We feel very lucky to have such a wonderful start of the rest of our lives!

 

Anyway, we just wanted to share some of our experiences, as it might be useful if you are about to emigrate.

 

We noticed that near Marion Westfield shopping centre it is quite easy to get your essential administrative stuff done. You can get your Ozzie drivers license at 1 Milham street, and that is just a two minute walk from the Centrelink/ Medicare building (8 Warracowie Way,Oaklands Park SA 5046). For our drivers license we needed a proof of address (we used our rental agreement), our passports, current drivers license, bank card and we had to fill in a form. They took our photo's on the spot and we were given temporary drivers licenses, and the real licenses will be send to our home address.

 

We applied for Medicare, and that was fairly quick and easy too. At Centrelink, the guy told us that we can register and claim online, and that we don't need to register if we were not claiming yet.

 

It is all very close to the Westfield shopping centre, which is huge! There is free parking. At Westfield we got our mobile phones set up on our first day, as well as our internet connection. We needed our Ozzie phone numbers on a few occassions, such as when we activated our bank account. We applied for our TFN online, which will be send to us whithin 28 days. We were stuck in traffic quite a few times, from Marion to Hallett Cove, especially from 4 - 6 pm. Also due to heavy road works.

 

In the first week we carried our passports, drivers licenses, proof of address, visas and so on, with us in a case binder and we were able to get everything done.

 

On PIA I had read some messages that Adelaide felt like going back in time, but we don't really feel that way. We noticed that our bank offers internet banking and they also offer mobile banking, just as they do at home. It is all really easy. At Woolworths they have a self service check-out which saves a lot of time.

 

All in all, everything just takes up more time than we were used to, because it is all new. That includes finding free parking spots near the Glenelg boulevard for example ;-) So next time, I would allow ourselves a bit more time to sort those things out, prior to meeting for an appoitment, it is just less stressful that way!

 

Anyway, I hope this helps. We love it here and we are so glad we have made the move :-)

 

Cheers,

Anne

[jo_marnes]

Great post Anne, you seem to be finding your way - well done. It can all be very daunting to begin with but you are doing a great job. Now hopefully this rain will clear off and bring you some fab Aussie sunshine! xx

[DAVID.CHRISTINE]

Welcome to Hallett cove you've done well getting sorted onwards and upwards good luck