Thinking About Working in Australia

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Posted: 6/27/2012 7:34:40 PM EDT

I am a Civil Engineer with 15+ year experience looking for a change. It appears that there are some jobs in the land development arena available in Australia, which I am sure is driven by the mining industry. I am considering finding a job that pays high, but the quality of life may be lower, or something that pays less with a higher quality of life. If I could bank some money and take a few longer periods of time off, I could grind out work in a less than desirable area. Right now I am getting paid less and working ridiculous hours and I've gutted it out for too long. Basically, I don't anticipate a future for myself anymore where I am working at now.

Specific to Australia, have any of you guys went over there for long periods for work, or know anyone? Does the cost of living plus taxes typically even out the pay vs. the US or do you come out ahead in Australia? From what I could tell, it is $7,000 to get a 5 year Visa for skilled workers who are not sponsored. That seems risky. Is there a certain way to get a job and Visa that is the most effective?

Thanks

Posted: 6/27/2012 7:55:23 PM EDT

[#1]

Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.
First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.
Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

Posted: 6/27/2012 7:56:58 PM EDT

[#2]

Mind the dropbears.

Posted: 6/27/2012 8:01:40 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.
First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.
Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

ya no thanks

Posted: 6/27/2012 8:14:36 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.
First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.
Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

I quit chew 2 years ago, but that is lame to ban it. I like Scotch more than Jack. I will keep my guns here and am fine with that. I do need a knife to keep myself from getting raped by a kangaroo, so I may have to bend the rules on that.....the knife part, not the kangaroo raping part. My initial preference is to be as close to the Snowy Mountains as possible, but Melbourne is an option. I would love to be able to fly to New Zealand every so often to do some fishing.

Posted: 6/27/2012 8:18:12 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.
First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.
Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

ya no thanks

Not even for double the money when all I do here is work anyways? If the amount of take home money is not significantly more, I won't go. That is what I am interested in learning about. If the visa is $7,000, what else am I missing.

Posted: 6/27/2012 8:26:06 PM EDT

[#6]

Melbourne is a beautiful city. I worked at a winery in Australia for about 4 months. I can't give too much in-depth information, but I do know that my pay coupled with the high conversion rate ended up being quite high for my line of work. This was in 2010. I worked about an hour and a half north of Melbourne, and frequented the city on the weekends. I found the people to be top notch and fun to be around. I felt safe my entire time there. I try and stay out of rougher areas no matter what county I'm in, though...

I found the quality of food available to be generally high. Good meat, good fruits and veggies. Melbourne is an amazing city for restaurants. Booze is expensive as hell - they have an astronomical tax rate on it apparently.

Based on my experience, I would say go for it. I wouldn't move to Oz forever, but I sure wouldn't mind a five year stint. Even if you only break even, I think it would be worth it for the experience. I worked in New Zealand for a few months as well, and while the pay was crappy there working in Australia and vacationing in New Zealand is awesome. Much higher wages and a better conversion rate from Australian to Kiwi dollars. New Zealand is a breathtaking country.

Posted: 6/27/2012 8:28:06 PM EDT

[#7]

Everything over there is venomous.

Posted: 6/27/2012 8:36:53 PM EDT

[#8]

Posted: 6/27/2012 8:38:39 PM EDT

[#9]

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:11:45 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.
First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.
Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

This but people in Sydney are like people in NYC, if you think New Yorkers are dicks, you'll think the same of sydneysiders.

Wages always, always look good here, it's not until you figure in cost of living, and taxes when you realize you fucked yourself work wise, unless you're in a highly paid job, and don't mind living cheap. People say Sydney is the most expensive as far as cost of living, true, but we're talking maybe 10-20% more than Canberra or Brisbane when I looked last. So for me and my skills I'd be much better off back home in Nebraska.

You could always get a working holiday visa, good for a year, has restrictions though but I've never heard of immigration checking up on you. 4 years ago when I came I think you were limited to 20 hour weeks and you couldn't work the same job longer than so many months, again, they never checked.

I never did get the whole "CHEW IS ILLEGAL" thing when 9 times out of 10 if a cop catches someone with weed nothing and I mean nothing happens. I don't give a fuck if my neighbor gets high, why do you care if I dip? I don't, but like most of the laws here I just

and go about my way looking forward to when I can go home again.

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:18:29 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:

Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.

First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.

Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

Exchange rate is now about 1AUD=1USD. Fluctuates a few cents. Makes it more expensive for you to move here, but cheaper for you to move back to the US

Knives are easy to get. You just can't carry them around. If you are out in the bush, or your job needs you to carry a knife, then you can carry one. Guns are gettable but they are expensive.

Chewing tobacco can be found at most petrol stations...hardly anyone except old people and truckers buy it. JD is everywhere! EVERY liquor store has it! I personally have a couple of bottles, as well as a bottle of Gentleman Jack.

I'm in Sydney. I have a mate that works for Theiss, which is a bigarsed engineering company.

There are mines all around the country, and pay is INSANE. Typically you work 3 weeks at the mine, then they will fly you home for a 2 week break. Truck drivers get about 150k. 1st year mining engineers get about 110k.

Taxes are much higher here than in the US. Income tax is about 40% or so, depending in your income. Food and rent is also higher, but you can still live very comfortably with a 50k income.

What do you want to know?

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:21:41 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Everything over there is venomous.

Yeah, this ^^^^

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:22:42 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.

First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.

Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

This but people in Sydney are like people in NYC, if you think New Yorkers are dicks, you'll think the same of sydneysiders.

Wages always, always look good here, it's not until you figure in cost of living, and taxes when you realize you fucked yourself work wise, unless you're in a highly paid job, and don't mind living cheap. People say Sydney is the most expensive as far as cost of living, true, but we're talking maybe 10-20% more than Canberra or Brisbane when I looked last. So for me and my skills I'd be much better off back home in Nebraska.

You could always get a working holiday visa, good for a year, has restrictions though but I've never heard of immigration checking up on you. 4 years ago when I came I think you were limited to 20 hour weeks and you couldn't work the same job longer than so many months, again, they never checked.

I never did get the whole "CHEW IS ILLEGAL" thing when 9 times out of 10 if a cop catches someone with weed nothing and I mean nothing happens. I don't give a fuck if my neighbor gets high, why do you care if I dip? I don't, but like most of the laws here I just

and go about my way looking forward to when I can go home again.

Sydneysiders arent so bad! Maybe you have just been unlucky?

Sydney is damn expensive to live in. Canberra is actually probably worse at the moment. Rent is INSANE there, and if you do decide to buy property, there is shit all capital gain. Brisbane and Melbourne are closing in on Sydney too.

Chew is illegal? I remember seeing people buy it from petrol stations. Times may have changed though...or I may have gone to too many dodgy petrol stations...

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:23:59 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Everything over there is venomous.

Yeah, this ^^^^

Sharks and crocodiles arent venomous

You get used to it all

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:39:34 PM EDT

[#15]

Cocaine is $250 a gram there. However, hookers are legal.

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:39:48 PM EDT

[#16]

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:40:22 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Mind the dropbears.

First thing I heard when I was there!

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:43:11 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.
First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.
Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

This but people in Sydney are like people in NYC, if you think New Yorkers are dicks, you'll think the same of sydneysiders.

Wages always, always look good here, it's not until you figure in cost of living, and taxes when you realize you fucked yourself work wise, unless you're in a highly paid job, and don't mind living cheap. People say Sydney is the most expensive as far as cost of living, true, but we're talking maybe 10-20% more than Canberra or Brisbane when I looked last. So for me and my skills I'd be much better off back home in Nebraska.

You could always get a working holiday visa, good for a year, has restrictions though but I've never heard of immigration checking up on you. 4 years ago when I came I think you were limited to 20 hour weeks and you couldn't work the same job longer than so many months, again, they never checked.

I never did get the whole "CHEW IS ILLEGAL" thing when 9 times out of 10 if a cop catches someone with weed nothing and I mean nothing happens. I don't give a fuck if my neighbor gets high, why do you care if I dip? I don't, but like most of the laws here I just

and go about my way looking forward to when I can go home again.

Nice try nark. . . the Ozzies call it "Chuff"

I spent a month in Nimbin 2 years ago. . . don't remember a whole lot other than everything runs on "Nimbin" time.

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:52:17 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:

Cocaine is $250 a gram there. However, hookers are legal.

Apparently heroin is cheaper here than the US.

Hookers are only legal in legal brothels.

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:56:13 PM EDT

[#20]

head to western AU.

thats where to get into the mining.

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:57:41 PM EDT

[#21]

I was there for work last year and loved it (Townsville). I thought the people were amazing. Super welcoming and helpful (Until you get on the roads...) The guns thing sucks but if guns are not the centerpiece of your life then no biggee. No crime really. Very few people really... The place is just so huge and spread out. I was a bit surprised at the number of venomous things there (maybe it was just the area I was in). Stinging trees WTF? Jelly fish that will kill you dead in minutes.

Posted: 6/27/2012 9:59:48 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.
First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.
Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

This but people in Sydney are like people in NYC, if you think New Yorkers are dicks, you'll think the same of sydneysiders.

Wages always, always look good here, it's not until you figure in cost of living, and taxes when you realize you fucked yourself work wise, unless you're in a highly paid job, and don't mind living cheap. People say Sydney is the most expensive as far as cost of living, true, but we're talking maybe 10-20% more than Canberra or Brisbane when I looked last. So for me and my skills I'd be much better off back home in Nebraska.

You could always get a working holiday visa, good for a year, has restrictions though but I've never heard of immigration checking up on you. 4 years ago when I came I think you were limited to 20 hour weeks and you couldn't work the same job longer than so many months, again, they never checked.

I never did get the whole "CHEW IS ILLEGAL" thing when 9 times out of 10 if a cop catches someone with weed nothing and I mean nothing happens. I don't give a fuck if my neighbor gets high, why do you care if I dip? I don't, but like most of the laws here I just

and go about my way looking forward to when I can go home again.

Sydneysiders arent so bad! Maybe you have just been unlucky?

Sydney is damn expensive to live in. Canberra is actually probably worse at the moment. Rent is INSANE there, and if you do decide to buy property, there is shit all capital gain. Brisbane and Melbourne are closing in on Sydney too.

Chew is illegal? I remember seeing people buy it from petrol stations. Times may have changed though...or I may have gone to too many dodgy petrol stations...

Horn use/ car ratio, holding doors open for old women/ male ratio is where I draw that conclusion. Maybe the Inner West where I am is worse. I'm from Nebraska, so it doesn't take much for us to consider someone impolite in all fairness.

I've asked about dip at tobacco shops, and that's where I heard about it being illegal. Last time I asked was in Chatswood, doubt that's the target demographic though.

I've never had a cop bug me about my Leatherman. The cops here are by far, literally the fucking nicest LEO's I have ever seen/dealt with. Aussie cops have amazing patience.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:01:29 PM EDT

[#23]

is this a bit of the old dreamtime?, or do you have a specific area in mind?.

I can provide info if it's Queensland.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:05:54 PM EDT

[#24]

I can't believe no one's mention the price of the fucking beer here:

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:10:51 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

Horn use/ car ratio, holding doors open for old women/ male ratio is where I draw that conclusion. Maybe the Inner West where I am is worse. I'm from Nebraska, so it doesn't take much for us to consider someone impolite in all fairness.

I've asked about dip at tobacco shops, and that's where I heard about it being illegal. Last time I asked was in Chatswood, doubt that's the target demographic though.

I've never had a cop bug me about my Leatherman. The cops here are by far, literally the fucking nicest LEO's I have ever seen/dealt with. Aussie cops have amazing patience.[/div]

Pretty sure dip is legal in South Australia. Probably a NSW thing. NSW is an odd place; it's definitely the biggest nanny state in the country. But the alternative to NSW is Queensland, and that's such an unappealing option you deal with the nanny state.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:11:23 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

head to western AU.

thats where to get into the mining.

Mining is everywhere now. I'm currently in Gunnedah (for business) in NSW and they have a ton of mines out here now. 3/4 of the people in the hotel I'm in work in the mines.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:12:53 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Can't say spent a lot of time there. My wife grew up over there. I was there 3 years ago for our honeymoon for a month, southern coast around Adelaide Canamble area. Great country with some serious negatives.

First of all, the people are great, in fact it kind of reminded me of growing up in Iowa in the 70's. The climate is great, and the food is awesome. When I was there the money exchange was also pretty cool, I think it was like 70 cents to the dollar.

Negatives, no guns, no knives, no chewing tobacco. Cigeretts are ok but no chew which was hell for me. I also had a hell of a time finding Jack Daniels.....had to settle for Scotch. Oh yeah, the TV sucked.

The sights are unbelievable, people are great, as was the food. But no weapons, no chew, and no JD......

R

This but people in Sydney are like people in NYC, if you think New Yorkers are dicks, you'll think the same of sydneysiders.

Wages always, always look good here, it's not until you figure in cost of living, and taxes when you realize you fucked yourself work wise, unless you're in a highly paid job, and don't mind living cheap. People say Sydney is the most expensive as far as cost of living, true, but we're talking maybe 10-20% more than Canberra or Brisbane when I looked last. So for me and my skills I'd be much better off back home in Nebraska.

You could always get a working holiday visa, good for a year, has restrictions though but I've never heard of immigration checking up on you. 4 years ago when I came I think you were limited to 20 hour weeks and you couldn't work the same job longer than so many months, again, they never checked.

I never did get the whole "CHEW IS ILLEGAL" thing when 9 times out of 10 if a cop catches someone with weed nothing and I mean nothing happens. I don't give a fuck if my neighbor gets high, why do you care if I dip? I don't, but like most of the laws here I just

and go about my way looking forward to when I can go home again.

Sydneysiders arent so bad! Maybe you have just been unlucky?

Sydney is damn expensive to live in. Canberra is actually probably worse at the moment. Rent is INSANE there, and if you do decide to buy property, there is shit all capital gain. Brisbane and Melbourne are closing in on Sydney too.

Chew is illegal? I remember seeing people buy it from petrol stations. Times may have changed though...or I may have gone to too many dodgy petrol stations...

Horn use/ car ratio, holding doors open for old women/ male ratio is where I draw that conclusion. Maybe the Inner West where I am is worse. I'm from Nebraska, so it doesn't take much for us to consider someone impolite in all fairness.

I've asked about dip at tobacco shops, and that's where I heard about it being illegal. Last time I asked was in Chatswood, doubt that's the target demographic though.

I've never had a cop bug me about my Leatherman. The cops here are by far, literally the fucking nicest LEO's I have ever seen/dealt with. Aussie cops have amazing patience.

Yeah the inner west is full of dickheads. Heaps of yuppies there. I live in the Hills district. Full of nice people. I strike up random conversations with people when waiting in lines all the time

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:15:14 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

I can't believe no one's mention the price of the fucking beer here:

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/191581_1906356699813_7153270_o.jpg

Budweiser is shit and nobody drinks it. Even XXXX is better. The local bottle shop sells beer INSANELY cheap though. They had imported Becks for $25 a case, and imported Sapporo for $27

But yeah alcohol here is much more expensive. Take some bottles of liquor with you.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:17:49 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Everything over there is venomous.

Yeah, this ^^^^

Sharks and crocodiles arent venomous

You get used to it all

My wife and I both actually really like Australia.

We loved Melbourne and could totally live there.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:22:35 PM EDT

[#30]

What sort of stuff do you do right now? If you have a geo tech or construction background you have a good chance getting on with a mining company. There is a global shortage of mining engineers and companies are going outside of the industry to fill the gaps.

Here are a few websites that should help you find something. I've only used Infomine, an Australian friend of mine recommended Seek.
Infomine.com
Seek.com
Miscojobs.com

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:33:19 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Everything over there is venomous.

Yeah, this ^^^^

Sharks and crocodiles arent venomous

You get used to it all

My wife and I both actually really like Australia.

We loved Melbourne and could totally live there.

Melbourne is definitely the place to go in Australia. Sydney is like an inconvenient and expensive New York city without the night or cultural life.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:36:30 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Everything over there is venomous.

Yeah, this ^^^^

Sharks and crocodiles arent venomous

You get used to it all

My wife and I both actually really like Australia.

We loved Melbourne and could totally live there.

Melbourne is definitely the place to go in Australia. Sydney is like an inconvenient and expensive New York city without the night or cultural life.

Melbourne is full of boring. When it's AFL time, it's full of drunks in scarves that love watching guys in short shorts grapple and grope each other.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:49:57 PM EDT

[#33]

I've lived over here for 2 years now, but I can't help with the Visa info, my company sponsored that and moved me over.

The cost of living here is very, very high. And I'm comparing this to an oil field town, which had a higher cost of living than growing up in Iowa. I'm paying 3x what I was paying in the US for a 2 bedroom apt currently. Even cheep beer here is expensive, and so is most food. With this, taxes are high, fuel is high, cars are expensive.

I'm doing ok b/c my company runs a different pay scale for here than the US to help offset it a bit. If you have to live where the mining or natural gas booms are going on, expect to pay even more.

If you want more info, feel free to IM me and I'll reply the best I can.

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:52:04 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
I've lived over here for 2 years now, but I can't help with the Visa info, my company sponsored that and moved me over.

The cost of living here is very, very high. And I'm comparing this to an oil field town, which had a higher cost of living than growing up in Iowa. I'm paying 3x what I was paying in the US for a 2 bedroom apt currently. Even cheep beer here is expensive, and so is most food. With this, taxes are high, fuel is high, cars are expensive.

I'm doing ok b/c my company runs a different pay scale for here than the US to help offset it a bit. If you have to live where the mining or natural gas booms are going on, expect to pay even more.

If you want more info, feel free to IM me and I'll reply the best I can.

oh yeah. When we're comparing cost of living it's to places like New York, DC, LA etc. Not the flyover states (anywhere in the flyover states).

Posted: 6/27/2012 10:57:37 PM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Everything over there is venomous.

Yeah, this ^^^^

Sharks and crocodiles arent venomous

You get used to it all

My wife and I both actually really like Australia.

We loved Melbourne and could totally live there.

Could not resist!

Posted: 6/27/2012 11:10:12 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I've lived over here for 2 years now, but I can't help with the Visa info, my company sponsored that and moved me over.

The cost of living here is very, very high. And I'm comparing this to an oil field town, which had a higher cost of living than growing up in Iowa. I'm paying 3x what I was paying in the US for a 2 bedroom apt currently. Even cheep beer here is expensive, and so is most food. With this, taxes are high, fuel is high, cars are expensive.

I'm doing ok b/c my company runs a different pay scale for here than the US to help offset it a bit. If you have to live where the mining or natural gas booms are going on, expect to pay even more.

If you want more info, feel free to IM me and I'll reply the best I can.

oh yeah. When we're comparing cost of living it's to places like New York, DC, LA etc. Not the flyover states (anywhere in the flyover states).

Yes the cost are like New York, DC, LA ect, but the areas in question (mining areas) are closer to living conditions of the fly over states. I'm glad I am based in Brisbane, b/c if I had to be based in the towns 8-12 hrs inland of Brisbane where I am working, my cost of living would be even higher, with very little to do on my free time.

Posted: 6/27/2012 11:15:26 PM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I've lived over here for 2 years now, but I can't help with the Visa info, my company sponsored that and moved me over.

The cost of living here is very, very high. And I'm comparing this to an oil field town, which had a higher cost of living than growing up in Iowa. I'm paying 3x what I was paying in the US for a 2 bedroom apt currently. Even cheep beer here is expensive, and so is most food. With this, taxes are high, fuel is high, cars are expensive.

I'm doing ok b/c my company runs a different pay scale for here than the US to help offset it a bit. If you have to live where the mining or natural gas booms are going on, expect to pay even more.

If you want more info, feel free to IM me and I'll reply the best I can.

oh yeah. When we're comparing cost of living it's to places like New York, DC, LA etc. Not the flyover states (anywhere in the flyover states).

Yes the cost are like New York, DC, LA ect, but the areas in question (mining areas) are closer to living conditions of the fly over states. I'm glad I am based in Brisbane, b/c if I had to be based in the towns 8-12 hrs inland of Brisbane where I am working, my cost of living would be even higher, with very little to do on my free time.

+1

You really don't want to actually live in a mining town. FIFO is the way to go.

If you can get a FIFO job, Melbourne is the best place for a young person, IMHO. Adelaide isn't bad for older folks.

Don't live in the Northern Territory under any circumstances.

Posted: 6/28/2012 12:12:17 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I've lived over here for 2 years now, but I can't help with the Visa info, my company sponsored that and moved me over.

The cost of living here is very, very high. And I'm comparing this to an oil field town, which had a higher cost of living than growing up in Iowa. I'm paying 3x what I was paying in the US for a 2 bedroom apt currently. Even cheep beer here is expensive, and so is most food. With this, taxes are high, fuel is high, cars are expensive.

I'm doing ok b/c my company runs a different pay scale for here than the US to help offset it a bit. If you have to live where the mining or natural gas booms are going on, expect to pay even more.

If you want more info, feel free to IM me and I'll reply the best I can.

oh yeah. When we're comparing cost of living it's to places like New York, DC, LA etc. Not the flyover states (anywhere in the flyover states).

Yes the cost are like New York, DC, LA ect, but the areas in question (mining areas) are closer to living conditions of the fly over states. I'm glad I am based in Brisbane, b/c if I had to be based in the towns 8-12 hrs inland of Brisbane where I am working, my cost of living would be even higher, with very little to do on my free time.

+1

You really don't want to actually live in a mining town. FIFO is the way to go.

If you can get a FIFO job, Melbourne is the best place for a young person, IMHO. Adelaide isn't bad for older folks.

Don't live in the Northern Territory under any circumstances.

Darwin is full of easy chicks.

Posted: 6/28/2012 2:27:31 AM EDT

[#39]

Lots of buddies of mine are engineers. Heaps of work at the moment.

Earn big bucks, live cheap - you will save mega bucks.

Never go to Sydney - ever.

QLD is the place to be.

Posted: 6/28/2012 2:47:10 AM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Never go to Sydney - ever.

QLD is the place to be.

Everyone from overseas HAS to go to Sydney.

Nothing in QLD except cane toads and shitty premiers and horrible beer...

Posted: 6/28/2012 2:49:05 AM EDT

[#41]

Thanks for all of the replies. I am serious about this as long as it makes financial sense. I have a job now, so I am not looking to move there just for the sake of moving there. It is a logical choice for me if the money is still high enough to offset cost of living. I work 60-70 hours a week and get paid for 40, and the salary is nothing to write home about. I need to change that and have come to terms that places around here are going to squeeze what they can out of you under similar circumstances because they can. From preliminary research without specific inquiries, I think I can make 140,000 there, but tthat may be bullshit when I get to the specifics.

My background is land development and I assume if the mining industry is booming, it is spawning growth that needs housing, infrastructure, etc. I have that engineering experience, or would consider learning something more specific to mining if an opportunity arose and it would present itself as a better job down the road when I gained experience. For those working in Australia, is the workload and hours generally geared towards 40 hours a week with decent amounts of vacation, or is it too varied to comment on? Someone mentioned being sponsored. Does that entail an obligation to work for a certain time period and penalties for leaving early? I don't want to be an indentured servant.

As far as places to live, if I get compensated decently with money and vacation, I could realistically live in a lot of areas. It won't be worse than being at work most of my waking hours now, except if I get bit by something poisonous

. Although I have had my fair share of rattlesnake encounters here. I would prefer to live somewhere near where I can do some trout fishing which is southeast Australia. Trips to Tasmania or New Zealand would be great, but also having something more local for quick get aways would be better. It would be a good break from the nanny state to get to remote areas in the outdoors a few days at a time.

Posted: 6/28/2012 2:56:07 AM EDT

[#42]

Stinging trees? $50 for a 24 of bud?

No.

Posted: 6/28/2012 3:01:49 AM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:
Thanks for all of the replies. I am serious about this as long as it makes financial sense. I have a job now, so I am not looking to move there just for the sake of moving there. It is a logical choice for me if the money is still high enough to offset cost of living. I work 60-70 hours a week and get paid for 40, and the salary is nothing to write home about. I need to change that and have come to terms that places around here are going to squeeze what they can out of you under similar circumstances because they can. From preliminary research without specific inquiries, I think I can make 140,000 there, but tthat may be bullshit when I get to the specifics.

My background is land development and I assume if the mining industry is booming, it is spawning growth that needs housing, infrastructure, etc. I have that engineering experience, or would consider learning something more specific to mining if an opportunity arose and it would present itself as a better job down the road when I gained experience. For those working in Australia, is the workload and hours generally geared towards 40 hours a week with decent amounts of vacation, or is it too varied to comment on? Someone mentioned being sponsored. Does that entail an obligation to work for a certain time period and penalties for leaving early? I don't want to be an indentured servant.

As far as places to live, if I get compensated decently with money and vacation, I could realistically live in a lot of areas. It won't be worse than being at work most of my waking hours now, except if I get bit by something poisonous

. Although I have had my fair share of rattlesnake encounters here. I would prefer to live somewhere near where I can do some trout fishing which is southeast Australia. Trips to Tasmania or New Zealand would be great, but also having something more local for quick get aways would be better. It would be a good break from the nanny state to get to remote areas in the outdoors a few days at a time.

My visa is sponsored by my company b/c it was a transfer. With this, they also paid all of my moving expenses. I did have to sign an agreement with a time period and penalties for leaving early, b/c that is how my company works. This being said, Australia Immigration is very strict! I'm not sure you can get a long term business class visa without having work lined up?

Working time, well when I'm in the office, I'm 40-50 hrs a week, paid for 40. When I'm out in the field, I'm 84 hrs a week, but then I receive a field bonus to make up for it. You should get 4 weeks of annual leave per year here. Some jobs are rostered (ie 2 week on, 2 week off, or some variant). In regards to the mines, from what all the Aussies tell me, it is very hard to get into the mines if you don't know someone/have previous mine experience. I'm in oil and gas, so know more about that.

I'm all for living in Qld, but coming from overseas, I have been to Sydney once

Posted: 6/28/2012 3:07:04 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:

Thanks for all of the replies. I am serious about this as long as it makes financial sense. I have a job now, so I am not looking to move there just for the sake of moving there. It is a logical choice for me if the money is still high enough to offset cost of living. I work 60-70 hours a week and get paid for 40, and the salary is nothing to write home about. I need to change that and have come to terms that places around here are going to squeeze what they can out of you under similar circumstances because they can. From preliminary research without specific inquiries, I think I can make 140,000 there, but tthat may be bullshit when I get to the specifics.

My background is land development and I assume if the mining industry is booming, it is spawning growth that needs housing, infrastructure, etc. I have that engineering experience, or would consider learning something more specific to mining if an opportunity arose and it would present itself as a better job down the road when I gained experience. For those working in Australia, is the workload and hours generally geared towards 40 hours a week with decent amounts of vacation, or is it too varied to comment on? Someone mentioned being sponsored. Does that entail an obligation to work for a certain time period and penalties for leaving early? I don't want to be an indentured servant.

As far as places to live, if I get compensated decently with money and vacation, I could realistically live in a lot of areas. It won't be worse than being at work most of my waking hours now, except if I get bit by something poisonous

. Although I have had my fair share of rattlesnake encounters here. I would prefer to live somewhere near where I can do some trout fishing which is southeast Australia. Trips to Tasmania or New Zealand would be great, but also having something more local for quick get aways would be better. It would be a good break from the nanny state to get to remote areas in the outdoors a few days at a time.

You should easily be able to get 140k, especially with all that experience on your belt, but it depends on your skills and specific experience. A mate of mine got a job to trap and relocate animals in a mining area and gets about 90k a year for it...it's not even really mine related at all, yet pays a ton!

Land development may be able to get you a job with development companies too. There are plenty of land development projects. A family friend of mine migrated from England just to help develop some land here (IIRC she's some sort of architect).

General work hours are 9-5, 5 days a week. Mines are different though. They seem to run on 10-12 hour shifts, but that depends on the mine/company/contract/job.

Sponsoring is where you have a needed job/skill and a company pays for you to come over. They do the visa application and pay for it, but you usually have to work for the company for about 2 years.

As far as accomodation, some miners seem to just stay in motels when they are out of the mine. Seems to work for them.

Posted: 6/28/2012 3:19:10 AM EDT

[#45]

So how well do the Australian women like American men?

Within the next couple of weeks my job has me heading to an area several hours north east of Melbourne for six to eight months.

Posted: 6/28/2012 3:25:16 AM EDT

[#46]

I'd love to work in aussie land but for the fact everything tries to kill you

Posted: 6/28/2012 5:11:24 AM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:

So how well do the Australian women like American men?

Within the next couple of weeks my job has me heading to an area several hours north east of Melbourne for six to eight months.

Pretty good. Expect for the ones who have had their brains fucked out of 'em by the Marines and Navy guys...

I have noted a tendency for Americans to really charm the women. That will get you far. Its not the Aussie approach - we just get 'em drunk and try and root 'em. Both approaches work well!

OP - So you would be a civil engineer? Heaps of work there, as is structural. Experienced engineers are in demand, so i wouldnt be suprised if Immigration would fast track you. But i'm completely oblivious to the process. What about recruiting companies? They might be able to get the ball rolling.

And dont be paranoid about the animal life. Its drowning in the surf that kills the most overseas visitors.

Posted: 6/28/2012 5:15:30 AM EDT

[#48]

Quoted:

Nothing in QLD except cane toads and shitty premiers and horrible beer...

Screw that! Did you not see what Newman did to the Labor party this year? Took 40 odd seats off them and reduced them to 9. He is a true conservative - ex army Major and a civil engineer as well. He knows his stuff. He has put the boot into the arty crowd, banned same sex civil unions - cutting thousands from our bloated public service and clawing back the $64B debt left from the socialists.

He will be PM one day - you mark my words.