GarethB

It's so bloody annoying, what don't the locals understand about pulling into the left lane unless overtaking!

Reckon I've seen a few Jock's in here before as well?

As usual a story with little facts to grab the headlines. My youngest goes into childcare 3 days a week. Centre charges $70 per day, after CCB we pay approx $36 per day, then at the end of each quarter we get half our out of pocket expenses back again, ie $18, making the total cost only $18 for the day!! Even if my partner was on min wage on her 15 hour per week job that's little over an hours wage, so even working just a 5 hour day is still worth it! Also bearing in mind if you earn less than$20K (which on a 15 hour PPT role she will) per year you pay zero tax. The system here is very generous even by western standards, stay positive!

HepB is not given in the UK and only recommended in high risk groups, eg jobs where there is likely exposure to blood, HepB positive parents, sharers of needles etc. I would seriously research the need for this one, I assume your child doesn't fit into any of those categories. If given, protection will only last until their late teens anyway, probably when most people are likely to need protection from this disease. As for Chicken Pox, the vaccination in the UK is not on the NHS schedule probably due to it NOT being a killer disease. Don't we all remember having chicken pox as kids? If you do happen to get it you then then have life long immunity, something the vaccination will not give you. See the NHS website for more details http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Chickenpox/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Absolutely, best place in the world to live, don't listen to the doom slayers and whingers................... Really frustrates me reading the endless comments on this site regarding cost of living, government, jobs, wages etc. Some people just need a reality check and dare I say it take personal responsibility for Everything in their lives, no one here is living in a third world country not knowing where the next meal is coming from!

if you rent, generally just pay water supply and usage, say $150 a qtr. If you own the property looking at $250-$300 per qtr for family of 4 with a garden

Agree with costs at 1.8 x UK, but absolute nonsense about high costs compared to wages...As per previous posts (by me) not everyone in Australia can earn over $100K per year working for the government at exactly 38 hours per week (and never a minute more or I'll call the Union) and have a huge house with pool and obligatory 5.0l V8 commodore!!! Min wage in UK circa $7 per hour....so based on 1.8 means $12.60 here in wages when in reality the min wage on most awards here is over $17 p/h (permanent)i!!!! that's 2.5 greater than UK. Doesn't that mean costs here are lower as a proportion of take home wages? Enjoy the lifestyle here for what it is; great services, great public (free) places to go, cheap fuel, bigger housing, higher wages, fantastic weather!, if not stay in the UK and blow "better salary" on your shoebox house and enjoy sitting in the traffic on the 1 hour plus commute to work every day of the week! I know where I'd rather be!

Budget for 2-3 % agent fee. You wont get 1% like in the UK

Just love watching the natives in their natural surroundings..........

Joe Hockey you're a legend! Don't need to bring back Maggie now....

Not a fan of the man himself but some of these proposed changes are much needed. Any newbies here will be amazed by the generosity of FTB A & B and lower taxation than the UK. As for targeting welfare, as in the UK there are far too many bludgers that simply don't want to work, very different from those who cannot due to age or disability . Having lived in regional SA for 4 years and now back in Adelaide for the past 3 its very sad that unskilled workers need to be brought in to the jobs the locals don't want to do (eg harvesting & dairy farming) whilst the commodore equipped young male sits at home smoking and drinking all day. That may be a stereotype but one that's prevalent north & south Adelaide and regional cities like Mt Gambier/Murray Bridge. I still find it a positive thought that 2 adults on min wage (F/T), lets say $67K PA combined before tax, here can afford to rent a decent size house, own a car(s), live, eat and have access to amazing hospitals, parks, libraries, beaches, cheap petrol etc etc etc. Compare that to the UK scenario of combined income of 27K pounds, petrol double, extortionate parking for the few "free" places to go, and living in a shoebox, then having to pay a license fee to watch the box because eating out is prob not an option. On a positive you won't be charges $10 for a pint of Guinness........maybe the UK does have something to offer? Yes overall cost of living is higher here but the far higher wages and lower taxes more than make up for this. No need for the country to live beyond it's means when people just need a reality check, especially the natives who wouldn't have experienced what most of us have in the UK. Rant over thanks for reading

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/medicare/reciprocal-health-care-agreements/health-care-for-visitors-to-australia

Totally agree Lisa, at the end of the day if you can own the roof over your head at the same or similar cost to renting then a 5% deposit is just fine. I purchased my house 18 months ago with only a 5% deposit and yes the LMI was a rip off but here today my house has now been valued at $140K more than my purchase price (with less than $20K spent on renos). I remember my best mate having a 100% mortgage in the UK back in 1999,anyone remember those?, paid heaps extra in interest charges (and LMI) but when he also moved to Adelaide back in 2006 he used the equity from his UK 2 bedroom shoebox to buy one of those 6 bedroom cardboard houses in Mawson Lakes, in cash! It is about emotion and ultimately being happy where you live, whilst being sensible about what you can afford. Isn't that the reason why we all moved from the UK to live here? If you have a 20% deposit great, I did for my first house in regional SA in 2007, but moving back to Adelaide that wasn't the case..........if I'd limited myself to the belief that I had have a 20% deposit to move to Adelaide I'd still be trapped in a regional SA city with next to zero growth in equity and far fewer of the lifestyle benefits of living in an Adelaide suburb. The only thing I would recommend is that as a couple ensure that one wage can cover the mortgage, that way if circumstances change eg kids, job change/loss at least one wage is keeping that roof over your head.

Lived in Mt Gambier for a while and everyone asks...."How are we?" when just addressing one person!!

Dick Glazebrook and his son Mark (DGA Consultants,in the city near Gouger St) They are excellent and Dick sits on the national board of the authority who regulate all immigration agents in Australia. He's also a Pom who's been here for over 40 years and knows every visa option inside out. Ive had a few friends now go through them and all would recommend.

The actual test takes about 10 minutes although they say its a 1 hour test. Once that's done (you cant fail it by the way) just have to wait for your local council to contact you to attend their next citizenship ceremony. Go along to that and you're done.

Any car parts for a European car...had my Holden (Vauxhall) Astra serviced yesterday, I was recomended to have new wiper blades (unique to the Astra), cost $72!!. Purchased Oem blades from the Uk last night...$20 delivered