Advice needed!

[Guest stephferraby]

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I are looking into emigrating to Adelaide but I'm concerned about the cost of living and job opportunities. We have two boys aged 2 and 1 so we can't take too much of a risk.

 

My husband is an Accountant and we would be applying for a visa on his occupation - he is ACCA qualified which I've read is not well known in Australia, Im sure he could get some work but possibly nothing like the responsibilities and salary he has here.

 

I'm currently doing a post 16 PGCE in the UK but have been told I can't teach in Australia as they don't have this role (a level college). I have youth work and govt experience but would need to earn enough to cover childcare costs for my two boys.

 

Has anyone got similar experiences to share?

 

How much money can a family live comfortably on in Australia including rent, bills, going out etc?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Steph

[Guest Guest75]

Hi Steph.

 

I've absolutely no specific advice for you .

 

Just wanted to say welcome to the forum.

Spend plenty of time trawling through the posts and threads in here,it's amazing what you can learn.

The search engine is brilliant.

 

I'm sure there is an agency here that specialises in accountants, can't remeber the name though.

 

Good luck:):)

[Riponian]

I would research as much as you can and yes your PGCE is not recognised over here you have to do the whole degree I believe.

If you cna get PR visa then you can get a lot of help from the government with Family assistance and Child Care Benefit which makes a huge difference.

If not then I know others who are struggling but making the most of it you juts have to be careful what you spend your money on.

 

Contact recruitment agencies find out what the work situation is like for accountant and maybe try some of the big firms.

 

As for how much it costs it differs greatly from family to family and where you live etc. Have a look a recent thread

http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14454&highlight=geps

 

Good luck hope that helps

Michelle

[Guest ben&sharon]

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I are looking into emigrating to Adelaide but I'm concerned about the cost of living and job opportunities. We have two boys aged 2 and 1 so we can't take too much of a risk.

 

My husband is an Accountant and we would be applying for a visa on his occupation - he is ACCA qualified which I've read is not well known in Australia, Im sure he could get some work but possibly nothing like the responsibilities and salary he has here.

 

I'm currently doing a post 16 PGCE in the UK but have been told I can't teach in Australia as they don't have this role (a level college). I have youth work and govt experience but would need to earn enough to cover childcare costs for my two boys.

 

Has anyone got similar experiences to share?

 

How much money can a family live comfortably on in Australia including rent, bills, going out etc?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Steph

 

 

Hi Steph!

 

I've got bags of information for you on this, but I'll try and keep to the point!!

 

First off - don't underestimate the strength of the ACCA qualification. Whilst it isn't as recognised out here as the CPA, it's still quite strong and of equal value. All of the agencies are aware of it and will grade your husband accordingly.

 

If you choose to make your visa application through him, he will need to have his skills assessed by an Australian accountancy body first and will be awarded membership of that body automatically if successful. I chose to got through the NIA, simply because it was the easiest route - because we don't learn about Australian Tax and GAAP in our ACCA qualification, there would have been some additional study in order to go through CPA, but the NIA is largely Management Accounting and so the extra is not necessary. I figured I didn't need any more pressure before we left!!

 

As for employment, there are jobs out there, but obviously no guarantees, and it really depends on exactly what your husband is doing in the Finance world. I'm in corporate finance and always have been, so I can only speak from that side, but I do know that all of the major accoutancy firms have offices in Adelaide - I deal with KPMG and PwC on a regular basis.

 

So I registered with Hays before we got here (they are far and away the biggest finance agency in Adelaide and the best well known) and met with a lady called Caroline Rosenthal (caroline.rosenthal@hays.com.au), who was fabulous; she got me an interview within three days of our meeting and I was offered the job on the same day.

 

It was a bit of a case of right place, right time, because the role is perfect for me - I'm working as a Finance Manager within a manufacturing organisation. The salary is about the same as I was being paid for a similar role in the UK, but the difference in work culture is what sets it apart. I no longer work past 5pm unless it's REALLY unusual - my colleagues and the CEO all have kids, as do I, and we all want to get home to them in the evening. There is a lively social club and the people are just fantastic to work with. Stress is not really a word in my vocabulary any more!

 

I don't know much about teaching, but there are plenty of teachers on here who will be able to help you with that; I can tell you about childcare costs, though, and you may be in for a nice surprise. Even at full cost, nurseries here are cheaper than the UK, and the best bit is that if both of you are working, the SA Government repay half of your childcare fees back to you every quarter. Total cost after the rebate for us is around $600 per month for full time daycare (7.30am until 6.30pm if we need it).

 

And as for living costs; we own a bigger house here than in we did in the UK and in a much nicer area. As previously said, I earn about the same as I did in the UK, but my husband is earning a fair bit less at the moment. I would say that we have about the same living standard as we always did; with perhaps a bit left over at the end of the month. BUT the beaches and parks are all free and the weather is unreal, so there's always something to do.

 

I'll stop gabbling now and give you a chance to digest. I've probably made it sound like nirvana, which I didn't mean to - we still get up every morning and go to work and come home tired, and we still have down days, but when the sun's shining and my little boy is jumping around in the sea every weekend, it's hard not to feel positive about it all - neither of us have had a second's doubt about the move since we got here.

 

Don't hesitate to pm me with any questions - technical or otherwise - it's nice to see another accountant considering the move - there aren't that many of us on here (think they all want to go to Sydney where the money is!!).

 

Hoping I've given you something to think about......

 

Sharon.

[Guest Guest75]

Two top,helpful posts

 

Ain't this what it's all about:notworthy:

[coolerking]

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I are looking into emigrating to Adelaide but I'm concerned about the cost of living and job opportunities. We have two boys aged 2 and 1 so we can't take too much of a risk.

 

My husband is an Accountant and we would be applying for a visa on his occupation - he is ACCA qualified which I've read is not well known in Australia, Im sure he could get some work but possibly nothing like the responsibilities and salary he has here.

 

I'm currently doing a post 16 PGCE in the UK but have been told I can't teach in Australia as they don't have this role (a level college). I have youth work and govt experience but would need to earn enough to cover childcare costs for my two boys.

 

Has anyone got similar experiences to share?

 

How much money can a family live comfortably on in Australia including rent, bills, going out etc?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Steph

 

 

Hi,

the issue with your PGCE is Australia wide. You would need to do a course here to be able to teach but you maybe able to teach at TAFE but maybe someone on here can help.

 

Good luck,

Cooler

[Guest stephferraby]

That is really helpful everyone thank you, Steph