any recommendations for places in OZ?

[tamie]

Hi there!

I'm working on relocating to Australia and was just wondering on the cost of living. I have a 17months baby. I am looking for a place not like New York but at the same time lively (not remote) and cheap. what would be the best place to raise a child and with cheaper cost of living?

thanks.

[ceridwyn]

Hi there!

I'm working on relocating to Australia and was just wondering on the cost of living. I have a 17months baby. I am looking for a place not like New York but at the same time lively (not remote) and cheap. what would be the best place to raise a child and with cheaper cost of living?

thanks.

Gee you know, everything is relevant to the wages. Australia is not a panacia that people tend to think it is. If you want a city on maybe a 40 percent size of New York, Sydney or Melbourne is the go, but these are very expensive to live anywhere, house, flat, food, electrity, gas you name it everything is going up, and up. Everyone is concerned that soon the órdinary person' on ordinary wages will not make the cost of living soon.

Country places cost more to live because transport etc. petrol is higher, housing is cheaper, rent is not as with many immigrants and people from the city, comes lack of housing... as the government has not increased government housing to cope with the increase..so the country areas have felt this most of all. Food more expensive. Wages do not change if you go to the country areas. NSW QLD, SA

Even in the cities the hospitals are feeling the population growth and poor planning for increasing infrastructure as people wait for beds in hospitals that years ago were just adequate.

If contract is your thing, then your wages will be casual and usually 25 percent higher than your conterparts working permanently. Childcare is another thing, I have heard in Melbourne there are usually long waiting lists so I suppose no different to NY.

In conclusion there are no cheap places in Australia, everything is relevant, they you may find some things very cheap compared to the US of A you will find other things very, very expensive. Just depends were you are. Cheap to you may be expensive to me. Even the smaller cities cost of living is high.

On saying that, I think I live in the best country in the world. The government gives benefits to just about anyone after very short waiting periods and thats why everyone wants to come here and once here your family have just about free access to the place so thats another good thing.

so if you want to come, by all means come, again I think its a great place to be, but it is no paradise when it comes to the cost of living.

[talaxandra]

I have to disagree a little with ceridwyn - though costs are going up on a number of fronts (including utilities and housing, both renting and owning), Aussies still have it pretty good. We've certainly weathered the GFC far better, at least thus far.

I do speak only from a Melbourne perspective, but there are good employment opportunities for qualified people, renting on a single income's possible, and if you're careful about how you shop (Aldi, markets, and not too much pre-packaged food) you can eat well without spending a lot.

Having just returned from a business trip to Singapore and London I think we compare pretty favourably in terms of living costs. I'm at work now, so can't do too much site searching, but this one compares living costs state by state - according to it there's pretty much parity between the US (as a whole) and Australia (as a whole); this site, in the other hand, says that you can live on A$757 in Australia for what would cost you $A1,000 in America. These sites compare Australia and the US, while the 2010 Worldwide cost of living survey puts New York (number 27) right between Sydney (24) and Melbourne (33).

Hope that helps :) And check here, for information on immigrating. If you do decide to come on down, search the Aussie/NZ forum for the many threads comparing the relative merits of each capital city - there's often quite heated and partial discussion!

[ceridwyn]

I agree the best place in the world having travelled over quite some places before parenthood and yes other countries seem to be just out there, compared to us,

but we are not cheap living country, compared to our wages and cost of living. I live as a single Mum its practically impossible to do anything with my children but just survive.

Especially if you come here and cannot access our Centrelink payments for child assistance and child care payments for awhile, so the fees are the highest.

Then if you can get the childcare, sometimes can if you are full fee paying and not subsidised.

If you are a nurse and need to working shift work child care is limited, except through council family day care, the cost of the care and then they ask for payment for the food, just astromiical. Bring your Mum.

I get a little bit sick of people thinking this is the place to live because it is cheap, when most of us parents that are not on benefits, earn just over, are struggling with or without the packet food. Sometimes packet food is cheaper because the cost of transporting the fresh stuff to us means a fresh fruit and veg are very expensive.

It is the quality of life that is better here, but with all these shootings and stabbings, bashings, taxi drivers attacking old ladies, etc etc, happening I do not think we and our children are no longer a safe place to live, I am beginning to doubt this.

Roll on summer, I have had enough of this depressing cold weather.

[talaxandra]

I admit that, as a non-parent, childcare isn't much on my radar. It probably helps that my hospital has an onsite daycare centre open with extended hours, though I have no idea what the rates are like. Places are available to the public as well as staff, so it's not oversubscribed.

I just read an article (I think in The Age's A2) about crime in Australia - pretty much across the board crime stats, particularly violence and drug-related crimes, are dropping; at the same time crime is getting more press than ever before, increasing fear. I can't find the article, but this site covers some of the same material, these "Age" articles discuss falling crime rates is NSW, SA and WA, though the news is more mixed about Melbourne.

[tamie]

Thanks guys for the insights.

Talaxandra, i looked at those websites and they have alot of information, thanks once again.

Just to comment on Ceridwyn's posts, am not looking at Australia as the cheapest place in the world but my question was ''what are some places that are cheaper as compared to other cities in OZ'. I'm sure u guys have some expensive and cheap places just like here in USA. Talk of crime, aah! its everywhere nowadays but i think Australia doesnt score highest on crime rate according to some research which is fair enough.

[talaxandra]

okay, so where to settle? i don't know how much you know about australia, so forgive me if any of this is well-trodden ground. except for canberra, all the capital cities are along the coast, with the majority (sydney, melbourne, brisbane, adelaide) along the south east coast. sydney, melbourne and brisbane are also the most populous and expensive capitals; perth is bigger than adelaide, but also way the hell over on the west coast, a distance pretty much equivalent to new york/los angeles

australian/usa land mass comparison (source)

also on the west coast and a long way away from anything else, is darwin - the closest port of call for christmas island (off-shore detention centre) and a number of asia pacific nations, nurses in darwin's major hospitals are hit first when catastrophic events happen - the bali bombings, for example.

though remote in themselves, perth and darwin are proper cities, with full amenities. but it takes a lot longer to get to anywhere else in the country.

canberra doesn't often get a look in when we discuss capitals, even though it's the capital of the nation as well as of the act. outsiders say it's a dull, purpose-built toy town, a transitional living place for politicians and the infrastructure that goes with them. insiders say that tourists only see the lifeless heart of the city, and that the real action happens a little further out, in the town centres. where i've never been, so it's toy town for me. but if you want more positive information click here.

so, melbourne, sydney, brisbane or adelaide? here's a site that comapres them for you, which may help :) or you could chose the right city based on your preference in shoes!

[tamie]

Hi talaxandra, i just finished looking at that website that compares cities and if what is written there is correct then am going for Melbourne. Again,thank you very much for all this, you are a star!

No, i dont know anything about Australia apart from what i have been looking at online.

[ceridwyn]

Aaah todays another day. Yeah come on over, guess I was a bit harsh

[talaxandra]

Well, not that I'm at all biased, but as a Melburnian I think you may have made the right decision If you lock that in, or want any Melbourne-specific info, you know where to find me! Good luck :)

[pedicurn, LPN, RN]

From my point of view in Sydney ... it is very possible to live fairly well as a single nurse, or as a couple with no children.

Having children changes the situation dramatically.

I don't think it's possible for a single-income nurse to fund a decent family home in a good area in Sydney. Just not possible. They mostly start at Au $ 800,000 - 1 million for anything respectable near good public schools. You might need to pay for private schooling which will increase your costs. I am talking about a proper detached home with a lawn and garden in a safe area.

As a nurse with children, a decent nice family home is only possible if one has a partner who earns a good income.

Don't forget I'm talking about Sydney which is super expensive. There are areas in Sydney that are cheaper ....west Sydney for example...but you should absolutely avoid anything there

[sassy_squirrel]

Ok so I was born and live in Darwin (at the moment that is).

There are only two hospitals in Darwin (The Royal Darwin Hospital (public) and Darwin Private Hospital). RDH is the largest teaching hospital and is also recognised as Australia's National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre.

Unfortunately the cost of living is very expensive (in comparison) and housing is extremely difficult to find. Also Darwin is not exactly on the West Coast - it's technically North West. Perth is on the West coast.