Need advise? Melbourne or Brisbane

[alzo]

Thanks kuroca. Appreciate the feedback.

Did briefly think about our RRSPs but resigned myself to the fact that if I tried to take it out I would have to give 25-30% to the govt. Are there options/alternatives anyone is aware of?

Can you educate me on the need for private healthcare? I ask as if you have public medicare card why would you need private healthcare? Again I am assuming the healthcare system is similar to the canadian health care where in most cases you have to use the public system and your company covers you for private coverage (dental, medications, some procedures etc).

[CharR]

I wish I had gotten a criminal record check from Canada prior to moving here... it's way easier to do it from within Canada and some jobs will want that here. Depends what you do of course, and you might already have yours done if you've gone through the visa process, but just something I found to be a pain in the bum when I had to do it from here.

Also there are tons of products and stuff from the US/Canada that you can't buy in Oz (lots you can as well, of course) so if you have any favorite soaps/shampoos/vitamins or any of that sort of thing (checking of course that none of the ingredients are prohibited and what not) stock up and bring some with you. It's just creature comforts that aren't THAT important but it always bugs me that I can't get my favorite soap here.

[kuroca]

Hi

As for the medical system here- it's a mix between a Canadian and American system. Yes we have medicare and it is reasonably good. For example when I go to the doctor for a 30 minute appointment it will cost me $140 of which I will get $60 back from medicare and nothing from insurance. At the dentist medicare covers nothing but my health insurance cover 65% of the cost and I was $40 out of pocket on my last visit.

Your job will NOT offer you health coverage unlike in most Canadian companies. Very few do this and it is not the norm. Most people buy their own. I guess it depends on your beliefs on health care. You don't have to make the decision before you leave Canada. Also if you're over 31 and without private health care coverage you will get slugged on your taxes.

I also agree with the above comment. Get an RCMP record check before you leave. They take forever to come through and it can be very frustrating.

[alzo]

Great thanks. The info on having to get private health insurance was valuable as I was not aware of this. I'll have to check online to get an idea what the monthly cost will be look like.

What about your equivalent of RRSPs? How does it work in Australia. I have read up on the topic and from what I gather your employer is to hold back a certian percentage (9% or 10%) every year to go towards a superannuity fund and then when you retire you get a monthly pension payment based on what you put into the fund.

[kuroca]

Yes it's called superannuation (super) and it's a forced savings. I'm not an expert on this but I can give you a bit of info.

- if you're in a full-time permanent position you and your employer will contribute to the super fund. For example I contribute 5% and my employer contributes 10%. However I work for the government as a teacher so that might be a bit on the higher side.

- if you are in a casual position, you contribute nothing and your employer contributes 9%

- the money is invested into a suite of shares according to your general preferences- high risk, general risk etc.

- you can draw upon it once you retire and you have met the age requirement.

- I think if you decide to leave the country you can withdraw the money but at a penalty

Sorry that's as much as I know.

[BobinOz]

Hi alzo,

So far all the reply that you've gotten generally sums up what I have in mind. Just want to add cherry on your cake in welcoming you in Australia. Either you decide to go to Melbourne or Brisbane, what matters most is your choosing the right country to move to. Hope nothing less but the best for you. See you around mate!

[comet555]

I just wanted to add that when we got our drivers license in Brisbane I did not need to do any sort of tests. They just had a look at my Alberta drivers license and checked it on a list and gave me a QLD one. I still have my Alberta license and it's completely untouched. This was in 2007, so this may be a new thing. Also it may vary state to state too.

My only other comment is that if I wouldn't bother unless you need to, or really want it. We only have it because my husband makes too much and it we don't have private health we'll have to pay for extra tax (it's cheaper for us to take out the private health). The thing I don't like is that if you do go to a private hospital you'll still likely end up having to pay a gap fee so will end up with a bill. On the otherhand if you go public you won't. So even though we have private I'll never use it for hospitals, but will use the extras like dental, etc.

The other issue with private health is if you take it up after you're 30 it's always going to be a bit more expensive. So if you're going to be in Oz long term and think you'll want it/need it later on then it'll be cheaper to get it now. Even if you're over 30 when you arrive they will give you a one year grace period to sort it out before they make you pay extra for taking it out over 30. In our case we knew we were only going to be here for several years so I wasn't really worried about paying extra for taking it out later.

You can get more info here:
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/pathw ... 01/002/030

My only last comment is about shipping stuff. We didn't ship anything, but I will mention that if you do ship stuff be very careful about christmas decorations. If they think there any living things in there (pinecombs, needles, a tree, etc) you could get charged extra for destroying the items that aren't allowed in. So get rid of anything "living" and make sure you label it very careful so that it doesn't get a lot of extra attention. Like "artificial christmas tree" instead of christmas tree, or just decorations, etc.

-- Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:02 pm --

Oh, and a regular doctors appointment (15 min) would cost about $55 and once you claim from medicare you're probably only out of pocket about $20 I think. Sometimes you can find doctors who bulk bill, so you wouldn't be out of pocket anything.

[CharR]

Same thing for me in Victoria with my drivers licence. VicRoads just looked at my Canadian one and handed me a Victoria one. No test or anything.